John Greenleaf Whittier: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

The Quaker of the Olden Time

John Greenleaf Whittier

“The Quaker of the Olden Time” as printed in The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier (1895).

John Greenleaf Whittier: Collected Lyrics Text 210 1895 · historical text
Public domainBalladAmerican song
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

The Quaker of the olden time!

How calm and firm and true,

Unspotted by its wrong and crime,

He walked the dark earth through.

The lust of power, the love of gain,

The thousand lures of sin

Around him, had no power to stain

The purity within.

With that deep insight which detects

All great things in the small,

And knows how each man’s life affects

The spiritual life of all,

He walked by faith and not by sight,

By love and not by law;

The presence of the wrong or right

He rather felt than saw.

He felt that wrong with wrong partakes,

That nothing stands alone,

That whoso gives the motive, makes

His brother’s sin his own.

And, pausing not for doubtful choice

Of evils great or small,

He listened to that inward voice

Which called away from all.

O Spirit of that early day,

So pure and strong and true,

Be with us in the narrow way

Our faithful fathers knew.

Give strength the evil to forsake,

The cross of Truth to bear,

And love and reverent fear to make

Our daily lives a prayer!

Credits

Written by John Greenleaf Whittier

Words by John Greenleaf Whittier. Historical text published in The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier (1895); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Complete Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier (1895), “The Quaker of the Olden Time”

Every text in this 1895 collected edition is by John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892), who died more than 133 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide; the edition carries a Wikisource PD-old determination.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

View copyright evidence · Transcription terms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Retrieved 2026-10-27. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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