The Cyber Hymnal ‎#16326

16326. Now Weigh The Anchor

1 Now weigh the an­chor, hoist the sail,
Launch out up­on the path­less deep,
Resolved, how­ev­er veers the gale,
The des­tined port in mind to keep;
Through all the dan­gers of the way,
Deliver us, good Lord, we pray.

2 When tem­pests min­gle sea and sky,
And winds like lio­ns rage and rend,
Ships o’er the mount­ain-wa­ters fly,
Or down un­fa­thomed depths des­cend,
Though skill avail not, strength de­cay,
Deliver us, good Lord, we pray.

3 If light­nings from em­bat­tled clouds
Strike, or a spark in sec­ret nursed,
From stem to stern, o’er masts and shrouds,
Like dooms­day’s con­fla­gra­tion burst,
Amid the fire Thy pow­er dis­play,
Deliver us, good Lord, we pray.

4 Through yield­ing planks, should ocean urge
Rude en­trance, flood­ing all be­low,
Speak, ere we found­er in the surge—
"Thus far, nor far­ther shall ye go;
Here, ye proud waves, your fu­ry stay";
Deliver us, good Lord, we pray.

5 With cord­age snapped, and can­vas riv’n,
Through straits thick-strewn with rock and shoal,
Along some gulf-stream, dark­ly driv­en,
Fast wedged ’midst ice­bergs at the pole,
Or on low break­ers cast away,
Deliver us, good Lord, we pray.

6 Save, or we per­ish—calms or storms,
By day, by night, at home, afar,
Death walks the waves in all his forms,
And shoots his darts from ev­ery star;
Want, pain, and woe man’s path way­lay,
Deliver us, good Lord, we pray.

Text Information

• First Line: Now weigh the an­chor, hoist the sail
• Title: Now Weigh The Anchor
• Author: James Montgomery
• Meter: 88.88.88
• Language: English
• Source: Sacred Poems and Hymns for Public and Private Devotion (New York: D. Appleton, 1854)
• Copyright: Public Domain
• Notes: Alternate tunes: ST. PETERSBURG by Dmitri S. Bortniansky, STELLA by Henri F. Hemy, SAGINA by Thomas Campbell

Tune Information

• Name: ST. CATHERINE
• Arranger: James George Walton (1864)
• Meter: 88.88.88
• Key: F Major or modal
• Source: Crown of Jesus Music by Henri F. Hemy (London: Thomas Richardson & Sons, 1864)
• Copyright: Public Domain