Scripture Verse

O God, our fathers have told us, what work Thou didst in their days, in the times of old. Psalm 44:1

Introduction

Words: Charles B. Bots­ford, 1888. Ap­peared in The Morn­ing Hour, by Irv­ing Em­er­son, O. B. Brown & George E. Gay (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: Ginn, 1891), num­ber 88.

Music: Mis­sion­ary Chant Hein­rich C. Zeu­ner, 1832 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pic­ture of Bots­ford or Zeu­ner (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Illustrious sires! Undaunted seers!
Their lives illume succeeding years,
They heard the call Divine and knew,
As Abram did, the summons true.

No parted floods entice their feet;
No pillared clouds their vision greet;
In faith sublime they cross the sea,
For Christ’s dear sake and liberty.

This land they seek—theirs to subdue;
In laws, religion, life make new;
They plant the Church, the state, the school,
Enthrone the people’s right to rule.

Departed heroes! sainted, they
Behold the homage now we pay,
Rejoice the glo­ri­ous fruit to see
From freedom’s Plymouth planted tree.

The children true, till latest sun,
Shall share the faith their fathers won;
To other lands their message bear,
And in the final triumph share.

Our God, the Pilgrims’ guide, we seek
To know Thy will; within us speak;
That word, a light, shall guidance give,
And in Thy precepts we shall live.