The Mariner

Rudderless my shattered bark,
Driven by wild fatality,
Hurries through the tempest dark,
O’er the immeasurable sea.
Yet one star the clouds shines through;
Little star! shine on, I pray!
O that star is vanished too--
My last anchor breaks away.

Gloomy mists the horizon bound,
Furiously the waters roar;
Frightful gulfs are yawning round,
Fearful crags along the shore.
Then I cried in wild despair,
“Earth and heaven abandon me.”
Fool! the heavenly pilot there
May thy silent helmsman be.

Through the dark, the madden’d waves,
O’er the dangerous craggy bed;
Midst the night-envelop’d graves,
Lo! I was in safety led
By the unseen guardian hand;--
Darkness gone, and calm the air,
And I stood on Eden’s land;
Three sweet angels hailed me there!

Everlasting fount of love!
Now will I confide in Thee:
Kneeling midst the joys above,
Thy resplendent face I see:
Who can paint Thee, fair and bright,
Thy soul-gladdening beauty tell?
Midst heaven’s music and heaven’s light,
Purity ineffable!

O unutterable joy!
In Thy light to breathe, to be;
Strength and heart and soul employ,
O my God, in loving Thee.
Though my path were dark and drear,
Holiest visions round me rise;
Stars of hope are smiling there,
Smiling down from Paradise.