John Greenleaf Whittier's The Light That Is Felt

“The Light that is Felt” by John Greenleaf Whittier presents the connection between the light of the Lord through faith, and the darkness of trying to pursue something without His needed help. In “The Light that is Felt”, John G. Whittier uses imagery and a metaphorical statement to display that with faith, the light of the Lord can be felt, even through hard and dark times. The imagery of “A tender child of summers three,” and “We older children grope our ways” illustrates the comparison between a young child and an adult (Whittier 1, 6). Children at a young age are willing and summarily seek help from others. In contrast, adults possess responsibility and assume they need to accomplish everything on their own.Additionally, John Whittier writes that “We older children grope our ways / From dark behind to dark before;” (6-7).
This illustration gives a tone of depression. However, deeper into the poem he writes, “And faith is small and hope delays; / Take Thou the hands of prayer we raise, / And let us feel the light of Thee!” (13-15). Whittier shows that with faith and prayer towards the Lord, an individual can feel the light of Him, even through the darkest times. In comparison to the sad tone, the image of hand in hand prayer and showing faith gives an inspirational tone towards the reader. Furthermore, a metaphorical phrase is also used to portray how faith leads to a comforting feeling of relief. He states, “Paused on the dark stair timidly. / ‘Oh, Mother! Take my hand,’ said she, / ‘And then the dark will all be light.’” (4-5). The representation of the mother in the poem is similar to that of an angel’s. A mother is always nearby when in a time of need, which is comparable to the nearness of an angel to an