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| THERE were seven fishers, with their nets in their hands, | |
| And they walked and talked by the seaside sands; | |
| Yet sweet as the sweet dew-fall | |
| The words they spake, though they spake so low, | |
| Across the long, dim centuries flow, | 5 |
| And we know them, one and all— | |
| Ay! know them and love them all. | |
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| Seven sad men in the days of old, | |
| And one was gentle and one was bold, | |
| And they walked with downward eyes; | 10 |
| The bold was Peter, the gentle was John, | |
| And they all were sad, for the Lord was gone, | |
| And they knew not if he would rise,— | |
| Knew not if the dead would rise. | |
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| The live-long night, till the moon went out | 15 |
| In the drowning waters, they beat about; | |
| Beat slow through the fog their way; | |
| And the sails drooped down with wringing wet, | |
| And no man drew but an empty net, | |
| And now ’twas the break of the day,— | 20 |
| The great, glad, break of the day. | |
| |
| “Cast in your nets on the other side!” | |
| (’Twas Jesus speaking across the tide;) | |
| And they cast and were dragging hard; | |
| But that disciple whom Jesus loved | 25 |
| Cried straightway out, for his heart was moved, | |
| “It is our risen Lord,— | |
| Our master, and our Lord!” | |
| |
| Then Simon, girding his fisher’s coat, | |
| Went over the nets and out of the boat,— | 30 |
| Ay! first of them all was he; | |
| Repenting sore the denial past, | |
| He feared no longer his heart to cast | |
| Like an anchor into the sea,— | |
| Down deep in the hungry sea. | 35 |
| |
| And the others, through the mists so dim, | |
| In a little ship came after him, | |
| Dragging their net through the tide; | |
| And when they had gotten close to the land | |
| They saw a fire of coals on the sand, | 40 |
| And, with his arms of love so wide, | |
| Jesus, the crucified! | |
| |
| ’Tis long, and long, and long ago | |
| Since the rosy lights began to flow | |
| O’er the hills of Galilee; | 45 |
| And with eager eyes and lifted hands | |
| The seven fishers saw on the sands | |
| The fire of coals by the sea,— | |
| On the wet, wild sands by the sea. | |
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| ’Tis long ago, yet faith in our souls | 50 |
| Is kindled just by that fire of coals | |
| That streamed o’er the mists of the sea; | |
| Where Peter, girding his fisher’s coat, | |
| Went over the nets and out of the boat, | |
| To answer, “Lov’st thou Me?” | 55 |
| Thrice over, “Lov’st thou Me?” | |
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