God of our fathers, known of old

Representative Text

1 God of our fathers, known of old,
Lord of our far-flung battle-line,
Beneath whose awful hand we hold
Dominion over palm and pine;
Lord God of hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget--lest we forget!

2 The tumult and the shouting dies;
The captains and the kings depart;
Still stands thine ancient sacrifice,
An humble and a contrite heart.
Lord God of hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget--lest we forget! A-men.

3 Far called, our navies melt away;
On dune and headland sinks the fire:
Lo, all our pomp of yesterday
Is one with Nineveh and Tyre!
Judge of the nations, spare us yet,
Lest we forget--lest we forget!

4 If, drunk with sight of power, we loose
Wild tongues that have not thee in awe,
Such boastings as the Gentiles use,
Or lesser breeds without the law--
Lord God of hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget--lest we forget!

5 For heathen heart that puts her trust
In reeking tube and iron shard,
All valiant dust that builds on dust,
And, guarding, calls not thee to guard,
For frantic boast and foolish word--
Thy mercy on thy people, Lord!

Amen.

Source: Service Book and Hymnal of the Lutheran Church in America #347

All representative texts • Compare texts^ top

Author: Rudyard Kipling

Born: December 30, 1865, Bombay (now Mumbai), India. Died: January 18, 1936, London, England. Buried: Westminster Abbey, London, England. Kipling, Rudyard, the well-known poet and story-teller, was born at Bombay, India, Dec. 30, 1865, and now (1906) lives at Burwash in Sussex. His noble poem, "The Recessional," was written in 1897 at the time of the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, contributed to the Times for July 17, 1897, and first published by the author in his The Five Nations, 1903, p. 214, beginning "God of our fathers, known of old" (National). It has passed into Sursum Corda, Phil., 1898, The English Hymnal, 1906. [Rev. James Mearns, M.A.] --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)  Go to person page >

^ top

Text Information

First Line: God of our fathers, known of old
Author: Rudyard Kipling (1897)
Meter: 8.8.8.8.8.8
Language: English
Refrain First Line: Lest we forget
Copyright: Public Domain
^ top

Timeline

^ top
Suggestions or corrections? Contact us


Advertisements