Waiting for Christ

On time's tempestuous ocean wide

No. 808
Metre C. M. D.
Tune PERSEVERANCE.
Words I. I. Leslie.
Music Unknown.
Key G major
Time 6/8
5 stanzas

Words

On time's tempestuous ocean wide,A gallant ship set sail,And out into the raging deepShe stood before the gale,Well fitted to abide the storm,And angry water's foam,And bring the captives that she boreUnto her haven home.

Long was to be her voyage—the time,Six thousand years almost,Ere she would make the highland hights,Along the heavenly coast;Yet with her sails expanded wide,On, on, she swiftly flew,Bearing with ardent hope and loveHer passengers and crew.

Oft tempests have assailed her round,And stormy winds rose high;And dark have been the mountain wavesThat bore her to the sky;But o'er them all, with steady helm,She onward pressed her way;Her compass, true unto the pole,Guides her to endless day.

Long, long, she has been out, and nowShe nears her haven home;A beacon light hangs o'er her bow,And bids her thither come;And voices joyful oft are heard,And music swelling high:"The land! the land! the land ahead!"With rapture now they cry.

Now soon will she be safely mooredAnd anchored in the bay;And all her passengers on shoreWill keep a festal day;And long their songs of joy will riseBeneath high heaven's dome;—They've passed the stormy sea of time,They've reached their haven home.

About this hymn

As printed As printed: running head «WAITING FOR CHRIST—CLOSING WORK.»; hymn number «808» (large), tune name «PERSEVERANCE. C. M. D.» centred over the music (condensed capitals, the «D.» small), «UNKNOWN.» at the right (capitals and small capitals). Stanza 1 is interlinear, between the staves, with «1.» before the braces: its first four lines are printed in two rows in braces under the repeated section of the music («{ On time's tempestuous o - cean wide, A gal-lant ship set sail, / And out in - to the rag - ing deep She stood be- fore the gale, }»: first and second time), then «Well fit - ted to a- / bide the storm, And angry water's foam, And bring the captives that she bore Unto her haven home.». The reference line «989, 486.» (bold italics) stands above stanza 2 in the left column; stanzas 2–5 are printed as text in that column; «I. I. Leslie.» in italics after stanza 5. In the text stanzas, lines 2, 4, 6 and 8 are indented. The print sets a thin space before «;», «:» and «!» («coast ;», «high :», «land !»); it is closed up here. «hights» (stanza 2) and «water's» (stanza 1) as printed. Pencil marks of the exemplar (an underline under «Six thousand years almost,», a note above hymn 809) are not printed matter and are not transcribed. Spelling, punctuation and capitals are the print's.