When winds breathe soft, along the silent deep,
The waters curl, the peaceful billows sleep:
A stronger gale the troubled waves awake;
The surface roughens, and the ocean shakes.

More dreadful still, when furious storms arise,
The mounting billows bellow to the skies;
On liquid rocks the tottering vessels toss'd,
Unnumbered surges lash the foaming coast:
The raging waves, excited by the blast,
Whiten with wrath, and split the sturdy mast.

When, in an instant, he who rules the floods,
Earth, air, and fire, Jehovah God of gods!
In pleading accents speaks his sovereign will,
And bids the waters and the winds be still.
Hush'd are the winds, the waters cease to roar;
Safe are the seas and silent as the shore.

Now say, what joy elates the sailors breast,
With prosp'rous gale so unexpected blest!
What ease, what transport in each face is seen!
The heavens look bright, the air and sea serene:
For ev'ry 'plaint we hear a joyful strain
To him, whose power unbounded rules the main.