Poem for the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity

My boat so small
(from the Breton Fisherman’s Prayer)

My boat so small,
the sea so wide,
be near me, Lord,
through wind and tide.

In sun and calm,
in fruitful days,
the work is yours
and yours the praise.

But when the waves
are mountain-high,
be good to me
and hear my cry.

In surging seas
and tempest-tossed,
let neither life
nor faith be lost.

Adrift, when strength
and courage fail.
O spirit, breathe
to fill my sail.

When dark the night,
the harbour far,
show through the cloud
a guiding star.

My voyage done,
all trouble past,
to haven bring
my soul at last.

The sea so wide,
my boat so small,
may Christ to me
be All-in-All.

Timothy Dudley-Smith b.1926

You will find Timothy Dudley-Smith hymns in most hymn books and you may well have sung his
lovely hymn version of Mary’s song, the Magnificat, Tell out my soul the greatness of the Lord.
Now in his 90s he is still writing powerful hymns, which are of course also poems and prayers,
which we can use to speak simply and directly to God – the best kind of prayers. In these
overwhelming days you might like to sing and pray this poem/prayer, using the well know tune
Tallis’ Canon.

-Tina Lamb