O we go down to sea in ships-- <br />But Hope remains behind, <br />And Love, with laughter on his lips, <br />And Peace, of passive mind; <br />While out across the deeps of night, <br />With lifted sails of prayer, <br />We voyage off in quest of light, <br />Nor find it anywhere. <br /> <br />O Thou who wroughtest earth and sea, <br />Yet keepest from our eyes <br />The shores of an eternity <br />In calms of Paradise, <br />Blow back upon our foolish quest <br />With all the driving rain <br />Of blinding tears and wild unrest, <br />And waft us home again.<br /><br />James Whitcomb Riley<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/at-sea-9/
