The Cyber Hymnal ‎#13638

13638. Illustrious Sires! Undaunted Seers!

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

2 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.

3 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.

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

5 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.

6 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.

Text Information

• First Line: Illustrious sires! Undaunted seers!
• Title: Illustrious Sires! Undaunted Seers!
• Author: Charles B. Botsford (1888)
• Meter: LM
• Language: English
• Source: The Morning Hour by Irving Emerson, O. B. Brown, and George E. Gay (Boston: Ginn, 1891)
• Copyright: Public Domain

Tune Information

• Name: MISSIONARY CHANT
• Composer: Heinrich Christoph Zeuner (1832)
• Meter: LM
• Key: A♭ Major
• Copyright: Public Domain