In 1939 when Britain had entered into the dark, unknowingness of the Second World War, King George VI quoted in his Christmas message this excerpt from a poem by Minnie Louise Haskins:I said to the man
who stood at the gate of the year,
“Give me a light that I may tread safely
into the unknown.”
And he replied,
“Go out into the darkness
and put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be to you
better than the light
and safer than a known way!”[1]
Image: “That shall be…better than the light…”
[1] This poem was written in 1908 by Minnie Louise Haskins. It was used at the funeral of Her Majesty the Queen Mother on 2 April 2002. Her husband, King George VI, started his Christmas address to the nation in 1939 with it as well. Source: <>
