Man the life-boat! Man the life-boat!
Strong and short above the roar,
Sounds the ord­er to the watch­ers
On the tem­pest bea­ten shore,
Hark! again the guns ap­peal­ing!
Signals burn for swift re­lief;
There are men and wives and child­ren,
Facing death, on yon­der reef!

Refrain

Man the life-boat! Man the life-boat!
Help, for Christ’s sake, them that drown!
In the per­il of great wa­ters,
Let them not in sin go down!

Man the life-boat! Man the life-boat!
Fog and night and cru­el sea,
All the odds of death against them,
And eter­nal jeo­par­dy.
Thou, who bidd’st us dare the surg­es,
Stay us at the strug­gling oar!
Nay! go with us to the res­cue!
Shall they sink in sight of shore?

Refrain

Man the life-boat! Man the life-boat!
Courage, fel­low men! ’Tis He,
Guiding us to your de­liv­er­ance,
Once that trod the Ga­li­lee!
Lo, the Church that car­ri­eth Je­sus,
Not death’s flood-gates shall o’er­whelm;
Scourging storms but urge us shor­eward,
Life and Love are at the helm!

Refrain

Man the life-boat! Man the life-boat!
Think how once on break­ing deck
Thou didst stand aghast, till Je­sus
Brought thee from the lurch­ing wreck.
To the oars then! O Re­deem­er
Let Thy heart throb thro’ our hand,
Till the souls in mor­tal dan­ger,
Find thro’ Thee the so­lid land.

Refrain