Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE SIGN OF THE CROSS by JOHN HENRY NEWMAN

Poet Analysis

First Line: WHENE'ER ACROSS THIS SINFUL FLESH OF MINE
Last Line: ITS SOURCE HE CANNOT KNOW.
Subject(s): CROSS, THE;
WHENE'ER across this sinful flesh of mine
I draw the Holy Sign,
All good thoughts stir within me, and renew
Their slumbering strength divine;
Till there springs up a courage high and true
To suffer and to do.

And who shall say, but hateful spirits around,
For their brief hour unbound,
Shudder to see, and wail their overthrow?
While on far heathen ground
Some lonely Saint hails the fresh odour, though
Its source he cannot know.



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