Signal us with that watchword of the deep,
The watchword that her boldest seamen gave
The winds of the unknown ocean-sea to keep,
When round their oaken walls the midnight wave
Heaved and subsided in gigantic sleep,
And they plunged Westward with her flag unfurled.
Hark, o'er their cloudy sails and glimmering spars,
The watch cries, as they proudly onward sweep,--
_Before the world ... All's well!... Before the world_ ...
From mast to calling mast
The counter-cry goes past--
_Before the world was God!_--it rings against the stars.