Fling wide the sacred city gates,
Wide on the open air;
A higher Conqueror awaits
Than he whose name they bear.
He comes not in the strength of war,
Not in the midst of armed bands
For faint and weak those followers seem,
Low is the voice with which they plead—
Far in the east a star arose,
And still that guiding star hath shone
A glorious ending at its birth
Fling wide the ancient city's gates, Blackie, Walker Graham. The Imperial Gazetteer: A General Dictionary of Geography, Physical, Political, Statistical and Descriptive. 4 vols. London: Blackie & Son, 1856. Internet Archive. Inline version of a copy in the University of California Library. Web. 7 November 2018.
Landon, Latitia E. The Poetical Works of Miss Landon. Philadelphia: E.L. Cary and A. Hart, 1839.
Hathi Trust Digital Library version of a copy in the New York Public Library. Web. 17 July 2020.
Last modified 18 July 2020
He comes not in its pride;
No banners are around his car,
No trumpets at his side.
The Christian Chief appears,
No swords are in his followers' hands,
They strive with prayers and tears.
Yet mighty is their voice:
The Ganges' old and holy stream
Will in the depths rejoice
A voice of peace and love;
Peaceful and loving is the creed
Whose emblem is the dove.
And with its rising brought
God's own appointed hour to those
By whom it had been sought.
O'er all its light.hath won;
And it will still keep shining on
Until its work be done.
Was to that planet given:
For never will it set on earth
Till earth is lost in heaven.
The hours of night are past,
And Christ, the Conqueror, awaits
Earth's holiest and her last.
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