The Southern Cross

Bearing the Sav­ior’s sto­ry

O’er ma­ny leagues of flood

’Neath Af­ric’s sky of glo­ry

In mid­night pray­er I stood

While oth­er con­stel­la­tions

The South­ern Cross out­shone

And said

Go teach all na­tions

The cross

that wins the crown.

Take

Lord! oh

my de­fend­er!

The grate­ful her­ald prayed

My ut­ter­most sur­ren­der

Of heart and hand and head!

The cross of suf­fer­ing

wear it

Came whis­pered o’er the sea:

Fear not

for thou canst bear it:

Christ bore it once for thee.