captain's daughter

The Captain’s Daughter

We were crowded in the cabin,
    Not a soul would dare to sleep--
It was midnight on the waters,
    And a storm was on the deep.
 
’Tis a fearful thing in winter.
   To be shattered by the blast.
And to hear the rattling trumpet
   Thunder, “Cut away the mast!”
 
So we shuttered there in silence--
   For the stoutest held his breath,
While hungry sea was roaring
   And the breakers talked with Death.
 
As thus we sat in darkness,
   Each one busy with his prayers,
“We are lost!” the captain shouted
   As he staggered down the stairs.
 
But his little daughter whispered,
   As she took his icy hand,
“Isn’t God upon the ocean,
   Just the same as on the land?”
 
Then he kissed the little maiden,
   And we spoke in better cheer,
And we anchored safe in harbor
   When the morn was shining clear.
 
James T. Fields (1817-1881)