This hymn was written no later than August 1773, for it is quoted in a letter by John Newton (see Biographies), and then published in 1774 in Twenty-six Letters on Religious Subjects by Omicron, a pseudonym for Newton. It appeared in other publications soon after, and then in the Olney Hymns, 1779, all of which were written either by Newton or William Cowper. The fact that this hymn of six stanzas, No. XV in Book Ill, is here signed “C” indicates that Cowper was the author, and furthermore that it was not written after an attempted suicide even though Cowper did attempt to take his own life more than once. The title of the hymn is “Light Shining Out of Darkness”; a footnote to the last stanza reads: “John 13: 7, ‘Thou shalt know hereafter.”

William Cowper was born at Berkhampstead, near Watford, Hertford_ shire, England, on November 26, 1731, He pronounced his name Cooper, as did his forebears (his great-grandfather’s great-grandfather was lord mayor of London in the mid-sixteenth century). When Cowper was only 6 years old, his mother died; this upset his highly strung and sensitive nature, all the more so as he was sent to a boarding school at Markyate, where he was mercilessly bullied. For his secondary education he went to Westminster School; then he worked in a solicitor’s office and trained for the legal profession, although he never practiced. His father died in 1756; whereupon his friends arranged for him to become a clerk in the House of Lords, Parliament’s upper house, but he had a complete nervous breakdown when he realized that he had to appear in person for an oral examination for this post. His mental state was not improved by his fruitless love for his cousin Theodora, whose father forbade the match. He spent the next 18 months in a mental institution; during his periods of mental instability he attempted suicide by poison, by hanging himself, by the knife, and later by drowning. However, he found relief and comfort in the home of the Reverend and Mrs. Morley Unwin at Huntingdon in 1765. Unfortunately, Unwin died two years later after an accident, but Mrs. Unwin cared for Cowper like a mother. Having already met and been befriended by John Newton, Cowper, with Mrs. Unwin, moved to Olney in Buckinghamshire, where Newton was the Anglican curate. Cowper planned marriage with Mrs. Unwin, but unfortunately he suffered a bout of very severe depression, and the marriage became postponed permanently.

Cowper recovered and collaborated with Newton, whom he assisted in his ministry; 348 Olney hymns (68 by Cowper) were composed and used in their revival meetings in the town. After Newton moved to London in 1780 and under the influence and encouragement of another friend, Lady Austen, Cowper produced some of his best literary work. Having already published his Poems in 1782, in 1783 he wrote the “Journey of John Gilpin,” and in 1785, his long poem The Task, which established him as a leading poet. He also wrote Anti-Thelyphthora in 1781, which was a reply to his cousin Martin Madan’s (see SDAH 21 1) book advocating polygamy. Between the years 1785 and 1791 he translated Homer, the Greek poet, into English. He died at East Dereham on April 25, 1860. Cowper also wrote SDAH 336, “There Is a Fountain,” and SDAH 315, “C) for a Closer Walk!”

The tune DUNDEE is one of 12 old melodies assigned to any psalm of that particular meter. Thus it differed, for example, from OLD H UNDREDTH (SDAH 16), which was specifically limited to Psalm 100. DUNDEE appeared as a melody in The CL Psalmes of David, Edinburgh, 1615, where it was named FRENCH TUNE. It was harmonized in the Scottish Psalter of 1625. In Scotland for almost three centuries it has been associated with Psalm 121. In English psalters, for example, Ravenscroft’s of 1621, it is named DUNDY TUNE. DUNDEE as a name commemorates the Scottish town on the Firth of Tay that strongly upheld Protestant doctrines and became a haven of refuge for persecuted Christians, even as Geneva had been earlier. The melody is notable for its progression from one note to the next, generally in steps of one tone, which makes it easy for congregational singing. The greatest interval is a fifth, from do to so, or vice versa.