AT SEA

O we go down to sea in ships—

But Hope remains behind,

And Love, with laughter on his lips,

And Peace, of passive mind;

While out across the deeps of night,

With lifted sails of prayer,

We voyage off in quest of light,

Nor find it anywhere.

O Thou who wroughtest earth and sea,

Yet keepest from our eyes

The shores of an eternity

In calms of Paradise,

Blow back upon our foolish quest

With all the driving rain

Of blinding tears and wild unrest,

And waft us home again.