THE CROSS AND THE FLAG
WILLIAM HENRY, CARDINAL O’CONNELL
in The Catholic School Journal
HAIL, banner of our holy faith,
Redemption’s sacred sign,
Sweet emblem thou of heavenly hope
And of all help divine,
We bare our heads in reverence
As o’er us is unfurled
The standard of the Cross of Christ
Whose blood redeemed the world.
Hail, banner of our native land,
Great ensign of the free,
We love thy glorious Stars and Stripes,
Emblem of liberty;
Lift high the cross, unfurl the flag;
May they forever stand
United in our hearts and hopes,
God and our native land.
THE ROAD TO FRANCE
DANIEL M. HENDERSON
Permission to reproduce in this book
The 1917 prize of the National Arts Club of New York was awarded to Mr. Henderson’s poem. It was chosen out of more than four thousand that were submitted.
THANK God, our liberating lance
Goes flaming on the way to France!
To France—the trail the Gurkhas found;
To France—old England’s rallying-ground!
To France—the path the Russians strode!
To France—the Anzacs’ glory road!
To France—where our Lost Legion ran
To fight and die for God and man!
To France—with every race and breed
That hates Oppression’s brutal creed!
Ah, France, how could our hearts forget
The path by which came Lafayette?
How could the haze of doubt hang low
Upon the road of Rochambeau?
How was it that we missed the way
Brave Joffre leads us along today?
At last, thank God! At last, we see
There is no tribal Liberty!
No beacon lighting just our shores,
No Freedom guarding but our doors.
The flame she kindled for our sires
Burns now in Europe’s battle-fires.
The soul that led our fathers west
Turns back to free the world’s opprest.