Songs by the Way, by George Washington Doane (1860)

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"Songs by the Way"
The Poetical Writings of the Right Rev. George Washington Doane, D.D., LL.D.

Arranged and Edited by His Son, William Croswell Doane

New York: D. Appleton, 1860.

THE BANNER OF THE CROSS.

FLING out the Banner! Let it float,
     Sky-ward, and sea-ward, high and wide;
The sun, that lights its shining folds,
     The Cross, on which, the Saviour died.

Fling out the Banner! Angels bend,
     In anxious silence, o'er the sign;
And vainly seek to comprehend
     The wonder of the love divine.

Fling out the Banner! Heathen lands
     Shall see, from far, the glorious sight,
And nations, crowding to be born,
     Baptize their spirits in its light.

Fling out the Banner! Ski-sick souls,
     That sink and perish, in the strife,
Shall touch, in faith, its radiant hem,
     And spring, immortal, into life.

Fling out the Banner! Let it float,
     Sky-ward, and sea-ward, high and wide;
Our glory, only in the Cross;
     Our only hope, the Crucified.

Fling out the Banner! Wide and high,
     Sea-ward, and sky-ward, let it shine:
Nor skill, nor might, nor merit, ours;
     We conquer only in that sign.

RIVERSIDE, 2D SUNDAY IN ADVENT, 1848.

Project Canterbury