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.