Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, AN INDIAN FLAG, by FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

AN INDIAN FLAG, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The golden gates were opening
Last Line: The greatest and the best.
Subject(s): Christianity; India; Missionaries & Missions


THE golden gates were opening
For another welcome guest;
For a ransomed heir of glory
Was entering into rest:

The first in far Umritsur
Who heard the joyful sound,
The first who came to Jesus
Within its gloomy bound.

The wonderers and the watchers
Around his dying bed,
Saw Christ's own fearless witness
Safe through the valley led.

And they whose faithful sowing
Had not been all in vain,
Knew that the angels waited
Their sheaf of ripened grain.

He spoke: 'Throughout the city
How many a flag is raised
Where loveless deities are owned,
And powerless gods are praised!

'I give my house to Jesus,
That it may always be
A flag for Christ, the Son of God,
Who gave Himself for me.'

And now in far Umritsur
That flag is waving bright,
Amid the heathen darkness,
A clear and shining light.

A house where all may gather
The words of peace to hear,
And seek the only Saviour
Without restraint or fear;

Where patient toil of teaching,
And kindly deeds abound;
Where holy festivals are kept,
And holy songs resound.

First convert of Umritsur,
Well hast thou led the way;
Now, who will rise and follow?
Who dares to answer, 'Nay'?

O children of salvation!
O dwellers in the light!
Have ye no 'flag for Jesus,
Far-waving, fair, and bright?

Will ye not band together,
And, working hand in hand,
Set up a 'flag for Jesus,'
In that wide heathen land?

In many an Indian city,
Oh, let a standard wave,
Our gift of love and honor,
To Him who came to save;

To Him beneath whose banner
Of wondrous love we rest;
Our Friend, the Friend of sinners,
The Greatest and the Best.





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