Our vessels are sometimes set afloat,
'Neath a bright and cloudless sky,
But far in the distance hid from view,
The breakers are sure to lie.
Others are launched on an angry sea,
When the waves are dashing high,
And the wild winds give a ghostly tone,
To the curlew's troubled cry.
But the good ship Faith is gaily launched,
For the pilot, Hope, is there,
And Love, with his flaming lamp of light,
Maketh all things wondrous fair.
Soon Faith is wrecked by a careless word,
And beautiful Hope is dead,
And Love, with the holy light of life,
In an angry moment fled.
And thus on the wide wild sea of life,
We are drifting day by day,
Without one thought of the solemn truth,
That we all shall pass away.