Soldiers, Who Are Christ’s Below

Soldiers, who are Christ’s below,
Strong in faith resist the foe:
Boundless is the pledged reward
Unto them who serve the Lord.

’Tis no palm of fading leaves
That the conqueror’s hand receives;
Joys are his, serene and pure,
Light that ever shall endure.

For the souls that overcome,
Waits the beauteous heavenly home,
Where the blessèd evermore
Tread, on high, the starry floor.

Passing soon and little worth
Are the things that tempt on earth;
Heavenward lift thy soul’s regard;
God Himself is thy Reward.

Father, who the crown dost give,
Savior, by whose death we live,
Spirit, who our hearts dost raise,
Three in One, Thy Name we praise.

Author: John Mason Neale

Year: 1851

This is Neale's translation of the medieval Latin hymn 'Pugnate, Christi milites'. It first appeared in his 'Mediaeval Hymns and Sequences' (1851). The English text is not original but a faithful rendering of the older anonymous Latin original.