Bible Songs — Temperance Songs

Sound the Battle Cry

No. 1379
Tune SOUND THE BATTLE CRY.
Words W. F. S.
Music Wm. F. Sherwin.
Key B-flat major
Singing key A♭ major
Time 4/4
3 stanzas

Words

Sound the battle cry,See! the foe is nigh;Raise the standard highFor the Lord;Gird your armor on,Stand firm, ev'ry one,Rest your cause upon His holy word.

Chorus.

Rouse, then, soldiers! rally round the banner!Ready, steady, pass the word along;Onward, forward, shout aloud Hosanna!Christ is Captain of the mighty throng.

Strong to meet the foe,Marching on we go,While our cause we knowMust prevail;Shield and banner bright,Gleaming in the light,Battling for the right, We ne'er can fail.

O thou God of all,Hear us when we call,Help us, one and all,By thy grace;When the battle's done,And the vict'ry won,May we wear the crown Before thy face.

About this hymn

As printed As printed: hymn number «1379» (large, left), title «SOUND THE BATTLE CRY.» centred (condensed capitals with larger initials); under it the epigraph on one centred line, «"If God be for us, who can be against us?"—Rom. 8: 31.»; then «W. F. S.» at the left (words) and «WM. F. SHERWIN.» at the right (music); «Vigorously.» (italics) over the first bar; no meter, no reference line, no running head. The three stanzas are interlinear, three lines between the staves of systems 1–2, numbered «1.»–«3.» in system 1; the CHORUS (marked «CHORUS.» and «ff») has one line between the staves of systems 3–4 and is sung after each stanza. The verse lines are given here as lines of the poem (seven per stanza, four in the chorus). Syllable hyphens are joined («bat-tle», «ar-mor», «ho-ly», «Be-fore», «ral-ly», «Ho-sanna», «Cap-tain»; «ev - 'ry» as «ev'ry»; «a-loud» as «aloud» — the print cannot show whether the word has a hyphen of its own). The print sets a thin space before some «;», «!» and «?» («nigh ;», «See !», «soldiers !»); it is closed up here; apostrophes are written straight («ev'ry», «battle's», «vict'ry», «ne'er»). In stanza 2 the print runs «andbanner» together (no word space) and sets «bright,» in a narrower type; it is written «and banner bright,». Under the music: «By permission.» (centred) and the page number «587».