| |
| AMBASSADOR of Christ you go | |
| Up to the very gates of Hell, | |
| Through fog of powder, storm of shell, | |
| To speak your Master’s message: “Lo, | |
| The Prince of Peace is with you still, | 5 |
| His peace be with you, His good-will.” | |
| |
| It is not small, your priesthood’s price, | |
| To be a man and yet stand by, | |
| To hold your life while others die, | |
| To bless, not share the sacrifice, | 10 |
| To watch the strife and take no part— | |
| You with the fire at your heart. | |
| |
| But yours, for our great Captain Christ, | |
| To know the sweat of agony, | |
| The darkness of Gethsemane, | 15 |
| In anguish for these souls unpriced. | |
| Vicegerent of God’s pity you, | |
| A sword must pierce your own soul through. | |
| |
| In the pale gleam of new-born day, | |
| Apart in some tree-shadowed place, | 20 |
| Your altar but a packing-case, | |
| Rude as the shed where Mary lay, | |
| Your sanctuary the rain-drenched sod, | |
| You bring the kneeling soldier God. | |
| |
| As sentinel you guard the gate | 25 |
| ’Twixt life and death, and unto death | |
| Speed the brave soul whose failing breath | |
| Shudders not at the grip of Fate, | |
| But answers, gallant to the end, | |
| “Christ is the Word—and I his friend.” | 30 |
| |
| Then God go with you, priest of God, | |
| For all is well and shall be well. | |
| What though you tread the roads of Hell, | |
| Your Captain these same ways has trod. | |
| Above the anguish and the loss | 35 |
| Still floats the ensign of His Cross. | |
| |
