1 If you cannot on the ocean
Sail among the swiftest fleet,
Rocking on the highest billows,
Laughing at the storms you meet;
You can stand among the sailors,
Anchor'd yet within the bay,
You can lend a hand to help them,
As they launch their boats away.
Refrain:
As they launch their boats away,
As they launch their boats away;
You can lend a hand to help them,
As they launch their boats away.
2 If you are too weak to journey
Up the mountain, steep and high,
You can stand within the valley,
While the multitudes go by;
You can chant in happy measure,
As they slowly pass along,
Tho' they may forget the singer,
They will not forget the song.
Refrain:
They will not forget the song,
They will not forget the song;
Tho' they may forget the singer,
They will not forget the song.
3 If you have not gold and silver
Ever ready to command;
If you cannot tow'rds the needy
Reach an ever-open hand;
You can visit the afflicted,
O'er the erring you can weep,
You can be a true disciple,
Sitting at the Saviour's feet.
Refrain:
Sitting at the Saviour's feet,
Sitting at the Saviour's feet,
You can be a true disciple,
Sitting at the Saviour's feet.
4 If you cannot in the conflict
Prove yourself a soldier true;
If, where fire and smoke are thickest,
There's no work for you to do;
When the battle-field is silent,
You can go with careful tread,
You can bear away the wounded,
You can cover up the dead.
Refrain:
You can cover up the dead,
You can cover up the dead.
You can bear away the wounded,
You can cover up the dead.
5 If you cannot in the harvest
Garner up the richest sheaves,
Many a grain both ripe and golden
Will the careless reapers leave;
Go and glean among the briars,
Growing rank against the wall,
For it may be that their shadow
Hides the heaviest wheat of all.
Refrain:
Hides the heaviest wheat of all,
Hides the heaviest wheat of all.
For it may be that their shadow
Hides the heaviest wheat of all.
6 Do not, then, stand idly waiting
For some greater work to do;
Fortune is a lazy goddess,
She will never come to you.
Go, and toil in any vineyard,
Do not fear to do or dare;
If you want a field of labor,
You can find it anywhere.
Refrain:
You can find it anywhere,
You can find it anywhere.
If you want a field of labor,
You can find it anywhere.
Source: International Song Service: with Bright Gems from fifty authors, for Sunday-schools, gospel meetings, missionary and young people's societies, prayer-meetings, etc. #149
Gates, Ellen, née Huntingdon, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, is the author of several popular pieces in the American Mission and Sunday School hymn-books. Of these the following have passed from the American books into Sankey's Sacred Songs and Solos:—
1. Come home, come home, you are weary at heart. Invitation.
2. I am now a child of God. Saved through Jesus.
3. I will sing you a song of that beautiful land. Concerning Heaven.
4. O the clanging bells of time. Yearning for Heaven.
5. Say, is your lamp burning, my brother. Watching and Waiting.
Concerning her poem which is used as a hymn in America, "If you cannot on the ocean" (Duty), Duffield says her account of its origin is as follows:—"The lines were written upo… Go to person page >
My Starred Hymns
My FlexScores
My Hymnals
My Purchased Files
