When the mariner, sailing over tropic seas, looks for relief from his weary watch, he turns his eyes toward the southern cross, burning luridly above the tempest-vexed ocean. As the midnight approaches, the southern cross begins to bend, the whirling worlds change their places, and with starry finger-points the Almighty marks the passage of time upon the dial of the universe, and though no bell may beat the glad tidings, the lookout knows that the midnight is passing and that relief and rest are close at hand. Let the people everywhere take heart of hope, for the cross is bending, the midnight is passing, and joy cometh with the morning.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Using a nautical metaphor, the speaker urges hope that relief from hardship is near.
- In plain terms
- Just as sailors know night passes, people should hope for better times.
- What can you take from it?
- Hardship is temporary; hope and relief eventually come.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- How do we find hope in struggle?
- What makes relief feel near?
Another view
It offers comfort without specifying how relief will actually occur.
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