The Gospel Miracles In A Series of Poetical Sketches: With Illustrative Conversations. By Richard Mant |
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THE TEMPEST STILLED. |
 | The Gospel Miracles |  |
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THE TEMPEST STILLED.
“Peace—be still!” the Saviour said,
And mildly rais'd his pillow'd head,
Wak'd by his followers' cry;
As, fear-struck at the stormy deep,
They rous'd him from his placid sleep;
“Lord, save us, or we die.”
And mildly rais'd his pillow'd head,
Wak'd by his followers' cry;
As, fear-struck at the stormy deep,
They rous'd him from his placid sleep;
“Lord, save us, or we die.”
Smooth o'er Tiberias' sunny sea,
The crystal lake of Galilee,
The vessel held her way;
While fearless, near the helm reclin'd,
The lowly Saviour of mankind
In soothing slumber lay.
The crystal lake of Galilee,
The vessel held her way;
While fearless, near the helm reclin'd,
The lowly Saviour of mankind
In soothing slumber lay.
With slumber sweet and deep he slept,
(Their vigils unseen angels kept,)
When down the mountain-steep
The winds a sudden tempest pour;
Around the beating surges roar,
And o'er the shallop sweep.
(Their vigils unseen angels kept,)
When down the mountain-steep
The winds a sudden tempest pour;
Around the beating surges roar,
And o'er the shallop sweep.
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“Peace—be still!” the Saviour said:
Rebuk'd, the winds and sea obey'd,
Submissive to his will;
Gently as on its mother's breast
The tender nursling sinks to rest;
And all was smooth and still.
Rebuk'd, the winds and sea obey'd,
Submissive to his will;
Gently as on its mother's breast
The tender nursling sinks to rest;
And all was smooth and still.
“What man is this? what more than man,”
The rescued train o'erpower'd began
With awe and glad surprise,
“Whose voice the winds and waves obey?”
Thus wonder gave her feelings way,
And reason thus replies.
The rescued train o'erpower'd began
With awe and glad surprise,
“Whose voice the winds and waves obey?”
Thus wonder gave her feelings way,
And reason thus replies.
Ask, who of yore with potent hand,
Threw round the sea a wall of sand;
And to its billows said,
“Thus far advance thy waves, O sea;
This thy perpetual boundary be;
And here thy pride be stay'd!”
Threw round the sea a wall of sand;
And to its billows said,
“Thus far advance thy waves, O sea;
This thy perpetual boundary be;
And here thy pride be stay'd!”
Ask, who of yore a place assign'd,
A dwelling for the viewless wind,
His treasure-house for war;
And taught the swift-wing'd storms to know,
Their season when abroad to blow,
And when their blasts to spare.
A dwelling for the viewless wind,
His treasure-house for war;
And taught the swift-wing'd storms to know,
Their season when abroad to blow,
And when their blasts to spare.
Then mark him here, in pow'r the same!
The human soul, the human frame,
To nature's frailty heir,
And prone at nature's call to steep
The senses in refreshing sleep,
His human race declare.
The human soul, the human frame,
To nature's frailty heir,
And prone at nature's call to steep
The senses in refreshing sleep,
His human race declare.
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Nor less the mild majestick word,
At once by winds and billows heard,
Of conscious might the sign,
And the deep calm o'er nature flung,
More clearly than an angel's tongue,
Declare his race divine.
At once by winds and billows heard,
Of conscious might the sign,
And the deep calm o'er nature flung,
More clearly than an angel's tongue,
Declare his race divine.
Still on that word his Church relies,
As thro' the world her course she plies,
At sea and far from land:
For oft, tho' all around be fair,
Danger hangs brooding in the air,
And storms are hard at hand.
As thro' the world her course she plies,
At sea and far from land:
For oft, tho' all around be fair,
Danger hangs brooding in the air,
And storms are hard at hand.
Then, Lord, to thee thy servants kneel;
Their sorrows thou hast learn'd to feel,
And thou canst hear their cry:
O, in the fearful hour of ill,
Say to the tempest, “Peace, be still!”
“Lord, save us, or we die.”
Their sorrows thou hast learn'd to feel,
And thou canst hear their cry:
O, in the fearful hour of ill,
Say to the tempest, “Peace, be still!”
“Lord, save us, or we die.”
| The Gospel Miracles | |