Sailor's Hymn

The tempest beat against my bark,The wrathful winds were high,And threatening blasts, like couriers broughtDark tidings from the sky;

And hoarsely o'er my sinking headRoll'd on the thundering sea,Then, from the regions of the dead,Oh Lord! I cried to thee.

The faithless Sun, behind the cloudWithdrew his guiding light,And every star its lamp withheldFrom that portentous night.

They fled, and left me all aloneIn darkness, and in fear,And so I told my woes to God,And He vouchsafed to hear.

Yes, from the lowest depths, to HimI rais'd a fervent cry,Why should a helpless worm despair,When such a friend is nigh?