“The Winds and the Sea Obey Him”

Who once hath heard the sea above her gravesSing to the stars her requiem, and on whomHer spell is laid of shoreward-sliding waves,Alternate gleam and gloom,In reverent mood and silent, standing whereHer hundred throats their diapason raise,Hath found the very perfectness of prayerAnd plenitude of praise.Thenceforward is his hope a thing apartFrom man’s perplexing dogmas, good or ill;Deep in the sacred silence of his heartHis faith abideth, still:—A faith that fails not, steadfast, humble, kind,Amid a vexing multitude of creedsThat bend and break with every passing wind,Like tempest-trampled reeds.

The tide of man’s belief may ebb or flow;Its swift mutations, many though they be,He heedeth not who once hath come to knowThe anthem of the sea.From sages and their blindly fashioned loreHe turns, to watch with reverential eyesThe seas men fear serve ceaselessly beforeThe God whom men despise!Through length of days and year succeeding yearEarth’s strongest power serves Heaven’s still stronger one,And all the winds, in holy-hearted fear,To do His bidding run.Ah, likewise serving, restless hearts, be still,And learn, like little children, of the way—Secure in Him, Whose strong enduring willThe winds and sea obey!