Alfred H. Miles, ed. The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907.
By The Mariners Midnight HymnCharlotte Elizabeth Tonna (17901849)
O T
The ocean’s caverned cell,
And lead the gathering waters there
To meet and dwell:
Tossed in our reeling bark
On this tumultuous sea,
Thy wondrous ways, O Lord, we mark,
And sing to Thee.
In all Thy wonders shown;
Though veiled is that eternal brow,
Thy steps unknown!
Invisible to sight—
But oh! to faith how near—
Beneath the gloomiest cloud of night
Thou beamest here.
In measured sweep we go,
Nor dread th’ unfathomable grave
That yawns below;
For He is nigh who trod
Amid that foaming spray,
Whose billows owned th’ incarnate God
And died away.
Imprint our tranquil eyes;
Though deep beneath the waters steal,
And circling rise;
Though swells the confluent tide,
And beetles far above,—
We know in whom our souls confide
With fearless love.
And waves of wilder foam,
Thou, Lord, those trusting souls wilt keep,
And waft them home;
Home, where no tempests sound,
Nor angry waters roar,
Nor troublous billows heave around
The peaceful shore.