Awake, my soul, lift up thine eyes

Awake, my soul, lift up thine eyes. Anna Laetitia Barbauld. [Watchfulness.] This vigorous hymn on Christian watchfulness and spiritual warfare was written by Anna Laetitia Barbauld (née Aikin) and contributed to Dr. William Enfield's collection, Hymns for Public Worship (Warrington, 1772, No. 126), under the title "The Conflict." It was composed in 6 stanzas of 4 lines. Mrs. Barbauld reprinted the poem in her Poems (London, 1773) and it was later preserved in her collected Works (1825, volume I, page 330).

The hymn achieved substantial popularity and was widely adopted by congregations across Great Britain and North America throughout the nineteenth century. Its stirring imagery of spiritual combat and reliance on divine strength made it a favorite selection for general worship. The complete original text appears in Charles Rogers's Lyra Britannica (1867, page 34) and in Lord Selborne's Book of Praise (1862, page 485), though Lord Selborne incorrectly dated the hymn's origin to 1773 instead of 1772.