Hymn 644
What service shall we render thee
1 What service shall we render thee
O Fatherland we love?
What gift of hand, or heart, or brain
May our devotion prove?
The coming age invokes our aid,
Thy voice of old inspires;
Shall we, thy sons and daughter, be
Less worthy than our sires?
2 The service of the commonwealth
Is not in arms alone;
A nobler chivalry shall rise
That war has ever known;
Glad rivalries in arts of peace,
True ministries of life,
Shall supersede the arts of war
And calm our feverish strife.
3 Too long the pagan rule of force
Has held the world in thrall,
Too long the clash of arms has drowned
The higher human call.
O comrades, seek a nobler quest!
O keep a worthier tryst!
The laws of hate have had their day;
Proclaim the laws of Christ!
4 Lord of the nations, far and near,
Send forth Thy quickening breath,
Equip us for the tasks of life,
Save us from deeds of death:
Enlist us in Thy ranks to fight
Fair freedom’s holy war,
Whose battle-cry is Brotherhood,
Far-flung from shore to shore.