The royal banners forward go

The royal banners forward go. Venantius Fortunatus* (ca. 540-early 7th century), translated by John Mason Neale* (1818-1866). This is a translation of the Latin hymn, ‘Vexilla Regis prodeunt’*, written to celebrate the reception of the fragment of the true cross at Poitiers. It appeared in Neale’s Mediaeval Hymns and Sequences (1851) in five stanzas, followed by two more in square brackets: [O Cross, our one reliance, hail! This holy Passiontide, avail To give fresh merit to the Saint, And pardon to the penitent. From every spirit praises be To God the Blessed Trinity: Whom by the Cross Thou dost restore, Preserve and govern evermore.] [Neale added a note: ‘These verses were added when the...