The Poetical Works of Robert Montgomery Collected and Revised by the Author |
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GOD SAVE THE CHURCH. |
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 | The Poetical Works of Robert Montgomery |  |
GOD SAVE THE CHURCH.
“I speak concerning Christ and the Church.”
Eph. v. 32.
God save the Church! and guard Her free,
Whom Christ ordain'd on earth to be
A sacramental guide and friend,
Our creed to mould, and heart amend.
Whom Christ ordain'd on earth to be
A sacramental guide and friend,
Our creed to mould, and heart amend.
God save the Church! from Christ She came,
And proved Her apostolic name
When Rome's Augustine vainly tried
To get her free-born faith denied.
And proved Her apostolic name
When Rome's Augustine vainly tried
To get her free-born faith denied.
170
For long before the Danish clan,
Or Saxon, o'er rent England ran,
The monks of Bangor move in glory
Through the stern page of British story.
Or Saxon, o'er rent England ran,
The monks of Bangor move in glory
Through the stern page of British story.
God save the Church! sectarian Mind
In prayerless reason bound and blind,
From Her serene repulse hath met,
Whose crown remains unsullied yet.
In prayerless reason bound and blind,
From Her serene repulse hath met,
Whose crown remains unsullied yet.
Science and learning, art and song,
Around Her name and nature throng;
Hero and sage, and saint and martyr
Have gloried in Her heaven-seal'd charter.
Around Her name and nature throng;
Hero and sage, and saint and martyr
Have gloried in Her heaven-seal'd charter.
So, when I read th' historic past,
And see how persecution's blast
By rack and dungeon, fire and hate,
In vain besieged her queenly state,
And see how persecution's blast
By rack and dungeon, fire and hate,
In vain besieged her queenly state,
Present and future both appear
Enlink'd with her sublime career;
In whom unchanged by friends or foes
The apostolic life-blood glows.
Enlink'd with her sublime career;
In whom unchanged by friends or foes
The apostolic life-blood glows.
God save the Church! we challenge all
Who English archives dare recall,
To match her sainted roll of men
Whose lives recall'd St. John again.
Who English archives dare recall,
To match her sainted roll of men
Whose lives recall'd St. John again.
Parochial Watchmen, pure and high
Whose worth and wisdom near'd the sky,—
Eternity enshrines their name
Who won their crowns through fire and flame!
Whose worth and wisdom near'd the sky,—
Eternity enshrines their name
Who won their crowns through fire and flame!
Howe'er ungrateful Time forget
On earth to pay the lauding debt,
Delighted Angels watch'd below
Their counterparts in pureness glow.
On earth to pay the lauding debt,
Delighted Angels watch'd below
Their counterparts in pureness glow.
God save the Church! whose rites control,
Chasten, subdue, and calm the soul;
Something of earth, but more of heaven
To all Her prayer and praise is given.
Chasten, subdue, and calm the soul;
Something of earth, but more of heaven
To all Her prayer and praise is given.
Time and eternity appear
To melt the sigh, and move the tear,
As oft her liturgy of love
Lifts man below to God above.
To melt the sigh, and move the tear,
As oft her liturgy of love
Lifts man below to God above.
Majestic, too, her haunted shrines,
Where sentiment with stone combines:
Chantry and choir, and arch, and nave
Where lie the buried pure and brave,
Where sentiment with stone combines:
Chantry and choir, and arch, and nave
Where lie the buried pure and brave,
Breathe mute, but magic eloquence,
And through the eye to soul dispense
A wordless power of inward prayer,
Born of the creed,—that God is there.
And through the eye to soul dispense
A wordless power of inward prayer,
Born of the creed,—that God is there.
Nor be forgot our ivied fanes
Which crest the hills, and dot the plains;
Where gothic roof and graceful tower
Wield o'er the heart a witching power:
Which crest the hills, and dot the plains;
Where gothic roof and graceful tower
Wield o'er the heart a witching power:
So hush'd and heavenlike seems the spot
That time and turmoil are forgot;
And Nature her lone sabbath keeps
Where child, or village patriarch, sleeps.
That time and turmoil are forgot;
And Nature her lone sabbath keeps
Where child, or village patriarch, sleeps.
171
God save the Church! for rich and poor
Alike expands Her gracious door,
Who from the cradle to the grave
Watches the Souls Christ died to save.
Alike expands Her gracious door,
Who from the cradle to the grave
Watches the Souls Christ died to save.
The peerage of the Church are those
In whom the Saviour's image glows;
And in the poorest, grant, that we
God's noblemen by saintship, see.
In whom the Saviour's image glows;
And in the poorest, grant, that we
God's noblemen by saintship, see.
There, prince and peasant, man and child,
Learn saving wisdom undefiled;
And nought is hid by Godhead spoken
To conscience bruised, or spirit broken.
Learn saving wisdom undefiled;
And nought is hid by Godhead spoken
To conscience bruised, or spirit broken.
But, most because the Word of Heaven
Is purely to the people given
In British language, broad and free,
Church of my Fathers! love I thee.
Is purely to the people given
In British language, broad and free,
Church of my Fathers! love I thee.
God save the Church, and save the Queen!
Mitre and Throne have ever been
To weal and woe alike related,
By Truth revered, and Treason hated.
Mitre and Throne have ever been
To weal and woe alike related,
By Truth revered, and Treason hated.
God save the Church! be this our cry
Both while we live, and when we die;
For, rail Her foemen as they will,
The Church is England's glory still!
Both while we live, and when we die;
For, rail Her foemen as they will,
The Church is England's glory still!
| The Poetical Works of Robert Montgomery | |