fed the belly of the beast
And he shoveled round the compass roads
to the west, back to the east
The endless toil, the heat and noise,
and the darkness black as coal
And the endless apatite of fire
on the voyage from young to old
he was nearer, my God, to Thee
In the crucible of the cruel sea
he was nearer, my God, to thee
In the crucible of the cruel sea
My father was a signal man
He rendered speech and sight
The snap of flags and the winter wind
And the flashing of the light
The ceaseless hold of wind and cold
And the straight horizon grey
And the seeming endlessness of night
And the dawning of the day
He was nearer, my God, to Thee
And the crucible of the cruel sea
He was near, my God, to Thee
An d the crucible of the cruel sea
And all the men, so much like them,
Who disappeared in a flash of light
from the face of the rolling sea
An d the sinking of their simple hopes
And the unforgiving emptiness
of the ocean's rise and fall
They were nearer, my God,
they were nearer, my God, to Thee
In the crucible of the cruel sea
They were nearer, my God,
they were nearer, my God, to Thee
In the crucible of the cruel sea
