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Hymns for Second Advent Believers 74

Ship Zion

Studio

1WHAT vessel are you sailing in?
Declare to us the same.
Our vessel is the Ark of God,
And Christ our Captain's name.

RefrainHoist every sail to catch the gale,
Each brother ply his oar;
The night begins to wear away,
We soon shall reach the shore.

2And are you not afraid some storm
Your bark will overwhelm?
No, bless the Lord, we need not fear;
Our Father's at the helm.
Hoist every sail; &c.

3Our compass is the sacred Word;
Our anchor blooming hope;
The love of God our maintop sail,
And faith our cable rope.
Hoist every sail; &c.

4We've look'd astern, and many toils
The Lord has brought us through;
We're looking now ahead, and lo!
The land appears in view.
Hoist every sail; &c.

5The sun is up, the clouds are gone.
The heavens above are clear;
The City bright appears in sight,
We're getting round the pier.
Hoist every sail; &c.

6And when we all are landed safe,
On the celestial plain,
Our song shall be, worthy's the Lamb
For rebel sinners slain.
Hoist every sail; &c.

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
8.6.9.7
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 44% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABCBD
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

WHAT vessel are you sailing in?˘/˘˘˘/˘˘8A
Declare to us the same.˘/˘˘˘/6B
Our vessel is the Ark of God,/˘/˘˘˘/˘/9C
And Christ our Captain's name.˘//˘/˘/7B

Verse 2

And are you not afraid some storm˘˘˘˘˘///8A
Your bark will overwhelm?˘/˘/˘/6B
No, bless the Lord, we need not fear;˘/˘/˘/˘/8C
Our Father's at the helm./˘/˘˘˘/7B
Hoist every sail; &c.//˘˘//6D

Verse 3

Our compass is the sacred Word;/˘/˘˘˘/˘/9A
Our anchor blooming hope;/˘/˘/˘/7B
The love of God our maintop sail,˘/˘//˘??/9C
And faith our cable rope.˘//˘/˘/7B
Hoist every sail; &c.//˘˘//6D

Verse 4

We've look'd astern, and many toils//??˘/˘/8A
The Lord has brought us through;˘/˘/˘/6B
We're looking now ahead, and lo!//˘/˘/˘/8C
The land appears in view.˘/˘/˘/6B
Hoist every sail; &c.//˘˘//6D

Verse 5

The sun is up, the clouds are gone.˘/˘˘˘/˘/8A
The heavens above are clear;˘/˘˘/˘/7B
The City bright appears in sight,˘/˘/˘/˘/8C
We're getting round the pier.//˘/˘/6B
Hoist every sail; &c.//˘˘//6D

Verse 6

And when we all are landed safe,˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
On the celestial plain,˘˘˘/˘/6B
Our song shall be, worthy's the Lamb/˘/˘˘/˘˘/9C
For rebel sinners slain.˘/˘/˘/6B
Hoist every sail; &c.//˘˘//6D

Refrain

Hoist every sail to catch the gale,//˘˘/˘/˘/9A
Each brother ply his oar;//˘/˘/6B
The night begins to wear away,˘/˘/˘/˘/8C
We soon shall reach the shore.˘/˘/˘/6B

Counted by machine from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. It cannot hear emphasis or a poet’s licence, so treat it as a place to start reading, not the last word.