Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Asia: Vols. XXI–XXIII. 1876–79.

Syria: Galilee

Peace! It Is I

By Anonymous

(Falsely ascribed to Anatolius, Patriarch of Constantinople)
Translated by J. M. Neale

FIERCE was the wild billow,

Dark was the night;

Oars labored heavily,

Foam glimmered white;

Mariners trembled,

Peril was nigh;

Then said the God of God:

“Peace! it is I!”

Ridge of the mountain-wave,

Lower thy crest!

Wail of the stormy wind,

Be thou at rest!

Peril can none be,

Sorrow must fly,

Where saith the Light of Light:

“Peace! it is I!”

Jesu, Deliverer!

Come thou to me!

Soothe thou my voyaging

Over life’s sea!

Thou, when the storm of death

Roars, sweeping by,

Whisper, O Truth of Truth!

“Peace! it is I!”