When the parting bosom bleeds,

When their native shore recedes,

When the wild and faithless main

Takes them to her trust again,

Father! view the sailor’s woe—

Guide them wheresoe’er they go.

When the lonely watch they keep,

Silent on the mighty deep,

While the boisterous surges hoarse

Bear them daily on their course,

Eye that never slumbers! shed

Holy influence on their head.

When the Sabbath’s peaceful ray

O’er the ocean’s breast doth play,

Though no throngs assemble there,

No sweet church-bell warns to prayer,

Spirit! let thy presence be

Sabbath to the unresting sea.

When the raging billows dark

Thunder round the storm-tossed bark,

Thou who on the whelming wave

Didst the loved disciples save,

Thou canst hear them when they pray,—

Jesus, Saviour, be their stay!