New Year – from darkness toward light - As constant as the pulsar's pulse - a hymn for the first Sunday in the New Year or for a Watchnight Service
1 As constant as the pulsar's pulse,
as certain as the rising sun;
in darkness love will never die,
nor horror snuff our human worth.
2 The sounding of a baby's cry
as suckling, taken from her breast,
demands a mother's full concern,
so you have heard our hoarse lament.
3 Our cry goes out through all the world,
through this and each succeeding age;
your glance returns our wanting gaze,
and none escape your light or love.
Metre: LM Tune: HEREFORD (Wesley)
Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2002 © Stainer & Bell Ltd,
London, England copyright@stainer.co.uk .
Please include any reproduction for
local church use on your CCL Licence returns.
All wider and any commercial use requires
prior application to Stainer & Bell Ltd.

Image (c) Andrew Pratt 2025