James begins by comparing the Church to a ship in a storm, poorly guided by its pilot (nauchier, i.e. the Pope): The literary quality of the verses is neither astounding nor disappointing, but the song was clearly written at a moment when James was in conflict with the Papacy, perhaps with a propagandistic end, to prove his piety and fidelity to the Church if not the Papacy.
Jakob begynder med at sammenligne kirken med et skib i en storm, som styres dårligt af sin kaptajn (nauchier, dvs. paven): Den literære kvalitet af versene er hverken forbløffende eller skuffende, men sangen blev helt klart skrevet på et tidspunkt, hvor Jakob var i konflikt med Paven, måske med en propagandistisk slutning for at vise hans fromhed og troskab mod kirken om ikke paven.