Scripture Verse

Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:12

Introduction

Words: Al­fred H. Miles, in The Spir­it of Praise, ed­it­ed by Al­fred Ar­thur (Cleve­land, Ohio: Ing­ham, Clarke & Com­pa­ny and Lau­er & Yost, 1882), num­ber 158.

Music: Dun­dalk Al­fred H. Miles, 1882 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Miles (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

The trump­et call of du­ty
Is sound­ing thro’ the air!
It calls for strength and beau­ty,
It calls the brave and fair;
It calls to strife and sor­row,
To pre­sent toil and pain,
But vic­to­ry to­mor­row
Shall bring eter­nal gain.

Refrain

The bat­tle ev­er rag­es
Betwixt the false and true;
And while the con­flict wag­es,
We must be fight­ing, too.

Our fa­thers fought be­fore us,
And tri­umphed in the past;
Their spir­its hov­er o’er us,
And sound the trump­et blast.
Arise with might and vi­gor,
And smite each er­ror down,
For they who serve with vi­gor,
With joy shall wear the crown.

Refrain

Wherever pride op­press­es,
Wherever ills ab­ound,
Wherever wrong dis­tress­es,
Our bat­tle­field is found;
Wherever du­ty calls us,
And con­sci­ence bids us go,
Whatever else be­falls us,
We can but tri­umph know.

Refrain