Second Sunday after Easter

Say, who are these once more afloat,
And toiling in their fishing boat,
Who, bending to the lab'ring oar,
Pull outward from Tiberias' shore,
And spread their nets upon the main,
And watch all night, but watch in vain?

And who is He upon the beach,
Where bends the shore with silent reach,
Watching, at morning's early dawn,
That net so vainly cast and drawn,
Bidding them, tho' it still seem vain,
Cast out, and wait, and hope again?

They are the children of the Lord,
Who once so freely at His word
Left ship and calling, His to be,
And now, on their accustomed sea,
Such healthful occupation find
As comforts best a troubled mind.

And He who loves them comes to teach
One lesson more, on that lone beach;
How, from rough hand, and hopeful heart,
They never more in life must part,
But baffled oft, must strive again,
When fishing for the souls of men.

In that long night of cheerless toil,
In that one morn's unlook'd-for spoil,
Their trials and their triumphs, all,
Shadow and gleam before them fall,
They see what they must do and bear,
They see how God will answer prayer.

Love reads at once the lesson taught
By the great draught of fishes caught —
Zeal taught by Love to Christ doth flee,
Plung'd fearless in the foaming sea,
Let others draw the net to shore,
His one sole thought is — to adore!

O Saviour! when on life's dark main
The Gospel net seems cast in vain,
When — through the long and cheerless night
No souls the fisher's toils requite —
Give them the grace content to be
With this one thought — they toil for Thee.

Some glorious morn the dawn will break
Upon them brightly, for Thy sake,
And patient love the past forget
In blessings of a teeming net,
Let down obedient to Thy word,
Ingathering thousands to the Lord.