William Baxter Storm and Calm (1851)

 

T H E

L A D I E S '   R E P O S I T O R Y .
J A N U A R Y,   1 8 5 1 .

 

S T O R M   A N D   C A L M .
BY WILLIAM BAXTER.
SAILING o'er life's pathless ocean,
    Not a star could I descry,
To direct my sea-tossed vessel
    In the dark and stormy sky.

Fearful rose the angry billows,
    Broke each mast, and rent each sail;
At the mercy of the tempest,
    On I swept before the gale.

Frowning rocks rose o'er the waters,
    Dangers round me seemed to close;
But, amid despair and darkness,
    Lo! the morning star arose.

Guided by its gentle beamings,
    Wafted on by breezes bland,
Soon I trust to moor my vessel
    Safely at the wished-for land.

Men are all poor storm-tossed sailors;
    God's blest book the holy star
That, with bright and pure revealings,
    Lights their pathway from afar.

It will lead where storms of passion
    And despair shall ever cease,
To that calm and blessed heaven
    Where God;s smile diffuses peace.

 

[The Ladies' Repository 11 (January 1851): 25.]

ABOUT THE ELECTRONIC EDITION

      William Baxter's "Storm and Calm" was first published in The Ladies' Repository: A Monthly Periodical Devoted to Literature and Religion, Vol. 11, No. 1, January 1851, p. 25. This volume, edited by B. F. Tefft, was published in Cincinnati by L. Swormstedt and J. H. Power and in New York by G. Lane and L. Scott. The poem was reprinted in The Millennial Harbinger, Fourth Series, Vol. 1, No. 11, November 1851, p. 660.

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
Derry, PA

Created 16 April 2000.
Updated 28 June 2003.

William Baxter Storm and Calm (1851)
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