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 heaven And walked among men below,How oft He trod on the breezy sod That fringes thy sounding shore,Whose waves for Israel's fallen race Sob mournfully evermore.
When the trembling fishers paled with fear, As the night closed drear and dark,And shrieked to Him as the billows leaped Around their storm-tossed bark,The clouded brow of the heavens grew calm As it heard the Master's word,And the angry waves cowered down in awe At the mandate of their Lord.
The scathing breath of a fearful storm Is sweeping our country's breast;Each wave of strife from the fount of life Has borrowed a crimson crest;Oh, many a noble hero-life Will that fearful tempest drown,And many a wrecked and broken heart In its angry waves go down.
Oh, Thou whose feet have firmly trod On 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.