 | The Last Crusade |  |
27
THE RED CROSS.
‘Forget also thine own people and thy father's house.’
These do not beg for easy places,
They only would where'er the strife
Blunt on their souls the surgeon's knife;
Easing sore wounds with gentle graces,
They give themselves, their light, their life.
Ah, shine the shadow on their breast,
The truth beneath is loveliest.
They only would where'er the strife
Blunt on their souls the surgeon's knife;
Easing sore wounds with gentle graces,
They give themselves, their light, their life.
Ah, shine the shadow on their breast,
The truth beneath is loveliest.
Within they wear the Cross, it blazes
And burns and hallows the whole heart,
That they may bear a Christly part;
To minister with prayers and praises,
Wherefrom the springs eternal start,
They crave to serve the suffering most,
The lot of peril is their post.
And burns and hallows the whole heart,
That they may bear a Christly part;
To minister with prayers and praises,
Wherefrom the springs eternal start,
They crave to serve the suffering most,
The lot of peril is their post.
These are for Love the Great Forgetters,
For this they carry load and curse,
And choose the weary toil or worse;
They scorn to deem the world their debtors,
Their home is but God's universe.
Worship their work, they offer up
To Him their sacramental cup.
For this they carry load and curse,
And choose the weary toil or worse;
They scorn to deem the world their debtors,
Their home is but God's universe.
Worship their work, they offer up
To Him their sacramental cup.
Theirs not the soiling want of wages
Or hireling's meed, if sorrow cried—
They with the Master have lived and died;
Where the red foam of battle rages,
With Him too they are crucified.
To share the burden or bruises rough
Were honour rich and rank enough.
Or hireling's meed, if sorrow cried—
They with the Master have lived and died;
Where the red foam of battle rages,
With Him too they are crucified.
To share the burden or bruises rough
Were honour rich and rank enough.
28
They have heard the Voice and seen the Vision
And passed behind the fleshly bond,
To the vast heights and deeps beyond;
They have taken thence the grand decision
That faith shall never more despond.
And marcheth in the Red Cross line,
The Man our Brother, Love Divine,
And passed behind the fleshly bond,
To the vast heights and deeps beyond;
They have taken thence the grand decision
That faith shall never more despond.
And marcheth in the Red Cross line,
The Man our Brother, Love Divine,
Above them waves the unseen banner
That waved above the martyrs old,
Made in Christ's heavenly sainted mould;
Theirs lofty might, the lowly manner,
That garner out of pain its gold,
They fight upon their knees, and bring
With them the breath and power of spring.
That waved above the martyrs old,
Made in Christ's heavenly sainted mould;
Theirs lofty might, the lowly manner,
That garner out of pain its gold,
They fight upon their knees, and bring
With them the breath and power of spring.
If from the army a sister falleth,
Others without the thought of thanks
Step forth to fill a thousand blanks;
Sweet souls that feel the Master calleth,
Whose strength alone can steel their ranks.
If cometh life, if cometh loss,
They wear within the saving Cross.
Others without the thought of thanks
Step forth to fill a thousand blanks;
Sweet souls that feel the Master calleth,
Whose strength alone can steel their ranks.
If cometh life, if cometh loss,
They wear within the saving Cross.
| The Last Crusade | |