Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Oceanica: Vol. XXXI. 1876–79.
The Southern Cross
By Charles Warren Stoddard (18431909)W
I find my eyes instinctive turning
Where, pure and marvellously pale,
Four sacred stars are brightly burning.
Two mark the bleeding palms extended;
And one the wounded feet adorns,—
In four the potent cross is blended.
The symbol there, and that immortal;
Those fair, celestial fires may grace
And beautify the heavenly portal.
Upon the wild, disastrous ocean,
Still turn my trusting eyes to greet
That flaming cross with true devotion.
Thy prayers and every just endeavor;
For only by the cross I live,
And by the cross I live forever.