MAN SAILS THE DEEP AWHILE 57
MAN SAILS THE DEEP AWHILE
MAN sails the deep awhile ;
Loud runs the roaring tide ;
The seas are wild and wide ; O'er many a salt, o'er many a desert mile,
The unchained breakers ride,
The quivering stars beguile.
Hope bears the sole command ;
Hope, with unshaken eyes,
Sees flaw and storm arise ; Hope, the good steersman, with unwearying hand,
Steers, under changing skies,
Unchanged toward the land.
O wind that bravely blows '
O hope that sails with all
Where stars and voices call ! O ship undaunted that forever goes
Where God, her admiral,
His battle signal shows !
What though the seas and wind
Far on the deep should whelm
Colours and sails and helm ? There, too, you touch that port that you designed—
There, in the mid-seas' realm,
Shall you that haven find.