Onward, onward, men of heaven!

Bear the gospel banner high;

Rest not till its light is given—

Star of every pagan sky;

Send it where the pilgrim stranger

Faints beneath the torrid ray;

Bid the hearty forest ranger

Hail it ere he fades away.

2 Where the Arctic ocean thunders,

Where the tropics fiercely glow,

Broadly spread its page of wonders,

Brightly bid its radiance flow;

India marks its luster stealing;

Shivering Greenland loves its rays,

Afric, ’mid her deserts kneeling,

Lifts the untaught strain of praise.

3 Rude in speech, or wild in feature,

Dark in spirit, though they be,

Show that light to every creature—

Prince or vassal, bond or free:

Lo! they haste to every nation;

Host on host the ranks supply:

Onward! Christ is your salvation,

And your death is victory.