Hallowed Hymns, New and Old ‎#25

25. Man the Life-Boat!

1 Man the life-boat! Man the life-boat!
Strong and short above the roar,
Sounds the order to the watchers
On the tempest-beaten shore,
Hark! again the guns appealing!
Signals burn for swift relief;
There are men and wives and children,
Facing death, on yonder reef!

Chorus:
Man the life-boat! Man the life-boat!
Help, for Christ's sake, them that drown!
In the peril of great waters,
Let them not go down!

2 Man the life-boat! Man the life-boat!
Fog and night and cruel sea,
All the odds of death against them,
And eternal jeopardy.
Thou, who bidd'st us dare the surges,
Stay us at the struggling oar!
Nay! go with us to the rescue!
Shall they sink in sight of shore? [Chorus]

3 Man the life-boat! Man the life-boat!
Courage, fellow men! 'Tis He,
Guiding us to your deliv'rance,
Once that trod the Galilee!
Lo, the Church that carrieth Jesus,
Not death's flood-gates shall o'erwhelm;
Scourging storms but urge us shoreward,
Life and Love are at the helm! [Chorus]

4 Man the life-boat! Man the life-boat!
Think how once on breaking deck
Thou didst stand aghast, till Jesus
Brought thee from the lurching wreck.
To the oars then! O Redeemer
Let Thy heart throb thro' our hand,
Till the souls in mortal danger,
Find thro' Thee the solid land. [Chorus]

Text Information

• First Line: Man the life-boat! Man the life-boat!
• Title: Man the Life-Boat!
• Author: M. Woolsey Stryker
• Refrain First Line: Man the life-boat! Man the life-boat!
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1908
• Topic: Deliverance; Rescue

Tune Information

• Name: [Man the life-boat! Man the life-boat!]
• Composer: Hubert P. Main
• Key: B♭ Major