Scripture Verse

Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. Mark 8:34

Introduction

portrait
Charles H. A. Dall (1816–1886)

Words: Charles H. A. Dall, in Sing­ers and Songs of the Li­ber­al Faith, ed­it­ed by Al­fred P. Put­nam (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: Ro­berts Bro­thers, 1875), page 527, alt.

Music: Farm­er John Farm­er, 1892 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a bet­ter pho­to of Far­mer,

portrait
John Farmer (1835–1901)

Lyrics

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.