Poems (Ford)/The Sea of Galilee

THE SEA OF GALILEE.
Oh, dark blue waters of Galilee,In the ages long ago,When the blessed Saviour came from heavenAnd walked among men below,How oft He trod on the breezy sodThat fringes thy sounding shore,Whose waves for Israel's fallen raceSob mournfully evermore.
When the trembling fishers paled with fear,As the night closed drear and dark,And shrieked to Him as the billows leapedAround their storm-tossed bark,The clouded brow of the heavens grew calmAs it heard the Master's word,And the angry waves cowered down in aweAt the mandate of their Lord.
The scathing breath of a fearful stormIs sweeping our country's breast;Each wave of strife from the fount of lifeHas borrowed a crimson crest;Oh, many a noble hero-lifeWill that fearful tempest drown,And many a wrecked and broken heartIn its angry waves go down.
Oh, Thou whose feet have firmly trodOn Galilee's ancient sea,Beneath whose glance the waves go down,And the tempest's black wings flee,Look down on the stormy souls of men,Who struggle against Thy will;Stretch out Thy hand o'er this sea of strife,And say to its waves, "Be still."
1861.