Classic Poem

Ye who in ships go down into the seas,
And search for riches on the mighty deep,
You see its wonders and its mysteries,
While ocean's waving fields ye plough and reap.

What treasures ye bring home, and precious gems,
Rare gifts from hidden cave, or sea-girt isle,
To deck fair brows and princely diadems,
And rear the merchant's stately palace-pile.

But not so rich a treasure can ye find,
Plough as ye may your treasure-yielding field,
Bring from its jewelled depths each rarest kind,
Glean all the pearly grain its harvests yield:

So rich a gem is not in all the seas
As that in which all wealth and beauty blend,
The “Pearl of price,” which Christ doth freely place
Upon the bosom of his humblest friend.