The Martyrs' Hymn. Martin Luther (1483-1546). VI. Human Experience. Bliss Carman, et al., eds. 1904. The World's Best Poetry. IV. The Higher Life

Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry.
Volume IV. The Higher Life. 1904.

VI. Human Experience

The Martyrs’ Hymn

Martin Luther (1483–1546)

From the German by William Johnson Fox

FLUNG to the heedless winds,
Or on the waters cast,
The martyrs’ ashes, watched,
Shall gathered be at last;
And from that scattered dust,	5
Around us and abroad,
Shall spring a plenteous seed
Of witnesses for God.

The Father hath received
Their latest living breath;	10
And vain is Satan’s boast
Of victory in their death;
Still, still, though dead, they speak,
And, trumpet-tongued, proclaim
To many a wakening land	15
The one availing name.