Rossiter Worthington Raymond: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Far Out on the Desolate Billow

Rossiter Worthington Raymond

“Far Out on the Desolate Billow” as printed in The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920).

Rossiter Worthington Raymond: Collected Lyrics Text 1 1920 · historical text
Public domainHymnSacred song
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Army and Navy Hymnal, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

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Far out on the des-o-late bil-low

The sai-lor sails the sea,

A-lone with night and the tem-pest,

Where count-less dan-gers be;

Yet ne-ver a-lone is the Chris-tian,

Who lives by faith and prayer;

For God is a friend unfailing,

And God is everywhere.

Far down in the earth's dark bossom

The min-er mines the ore;

Death lurks in the dark be-hind him,

And hides in the rock be-fore.

Yet ne-ver a-lone is the Chris-tian,

Who lives by faith and prayer;

For God is a friend un-failing,

And God is ev-ery-where.

Forth in-to the dread-ful bat-tle

The stead-fast sol-dier goes;

No friend, when he lies a-dy-ing,

His eyes to kiss and close.

Yet ne-ver a-lone is the Chris-tian,

Who lives by faith and prayer;

For God is a friend un-failing,

And God is ev-ery-where.

Lord, grant as we life's o-cean,

Or delve in its mines of woe,

Or fight in its ter-ri-ble conflict,

This com-fort all to know,

That ne-ver a-lone is the Chris-tian,

Who lives by faith and prayer;

For God is a friend un-failing,

And God is ev-ery-where.

A-men

Credits

Written by Rossiter Worthington Raymond

Words by Rossiter Worthington Raymond. Historical text published in The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Army and Navy Hymnal (1920), “Far Out on the Desolate Billow”

The 1920 published edition is in the public domain in the United States (pre-1931 publication). Entries whose credited author died more than 70 years ago are also in the public domain in life-plus-70 jurisdictions; traditional and anonymous entries are public domain. Pages whose scan quality is below the proofread threshold are held for review.

How to read this historical text and its source

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Retrieved 2026-10-26. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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