The ark of God in safety rode. Bishop C. Wordsworth of Lincoln. [For use at Sea.] Appeared in The Holy Year, 1862, p. 216, in 20 stanzas of 4 lines, and entitled, "Prayers at Sea—The Sailors' Hymn," In later editions it is divided into four parts thus—
Pt. i. "The ark of God in safety rode."
Pt. ii. “O Thou Whose way is on the waves."
Pt. iii. "Our bodies are with earthly food."
Pt. iv. "The stars will fall, the sun be dark."
These parts are in the 1869 Appendix to the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Psalms & Hymns, st. vi. of the original being omitted. This revision was made by the author. In the S. P. C. K. Church Hymns, 1871, is a cento composed of st. i., ii., v., xi., xv.-xx.
-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)