The fisher’s boats were scattered o’er the broad and deep expanse
And the mingled sounds of busy life re-echoed from its banks,
Here Naz’reth’s populous city stretched its crowded noisy street,
And there Capernaum’s lofty towers the passing traveler greet;
Here the wild fig tree bends beneath its luscious watery load,
And there the light green olive spreads around the mountain side.
Oh! chosen land; how lovely then thy hills and valleys seemed,
That ’midst such beauty dwelt such sin, ah! who would then have deemed,
Upon those waves, one humble bark was making for the land,
Weary and faint, its inmates joyed as they approached the strand.