Once a captain, homeward bound, In a startled moment found He was running on to land, And the shoals were close at hand: Sudden sight and sudden shout, And the ship was turned about. Steering by the compass, he Thought himself far out at sea; But the astonished captain learned That the needle had been turned By a nail some carpenter Heedless drove, and left it there. So with many a gallant ship On our life-long ocean trip: Ah, what fatal wreck has been Where a single tiny sin With its steady, sure control Turned the compass of the soul! |