Strike home, strong-hearted man! Down to the root br Of old oppression sink the Saxon steel. br Thy work is to hew down. In God's name then br Put nerve into thy task. Let other men br Plant, as they may, that better tree whose fruit br The wounded bosom of the Church shall heal. br Be thou the image-breaker. Let thy blows br Fall heavy as the Suabian's iron hand, br On crown or crosier, which shall interpose br Between thee and the weal of Fatherland. br Leave creeds to closet idlers. First of all, br Shake thou all German dream-land with the fall br Of that accursed tree, whose evil trunk br Was spared of old by Erfurt's stalwart monk. br Fight not with ghosts and shadows. Let us hear br The snap of chain-links. Let our gladdened ear br Catch the pale prisoner's welcome, as the light br Follows thy axe-stroke, through his cell of night. br Be faithful to both worlds; nor think to feed br Earth's starving millions with the husks of creed. br Servant of Him whose mission high and holy br Was to the wronged, the sorrowing, and the lowly, br Thrust not his Eden promise from our sphere, br Distant and dim beyond the blue sky's span; br Like him of Patmos, see it, now and here, br The New Jerusalem comes down to man br Be warned by Luther's error.