96

SABBATH THOUGHTS

I bless Thee, Father, for the grace
Thou me this day hast given,
Strengthening my soul to seek Thy face,
And list the theme of heaven.

I bless Thee that each workday care
Thy love hath lull'd to rest,

And every thought whose wing has prayer
Thine answering word hath blest.

I bless Thee, Father! Those dark fears
That linger'd round my heart,

That called for murmurs, doubts, and fears,
Thy mercy bade depart.

O Thou alone couldst send them hence
On this bless'd day of peace,

And with Thy spirit's pure incense

Bid workday turmoils cease.

GRACE AGUILAR

97

SEDER-NIGHT

Prosaic miles of streets stretch all around
Astir with restless, hurried life, and spanned
By arches that with thunderous trains resound,
And throbbing wires that galvanize the land;

THE HOPE OF NATIONS

Gin-palaces in tawdry splendor stand;
The newsboys shriek of mangled bodies found;
The last burlesque is playing in the Strand-
In modern prose all poetry seems drowned.

Yet in ten thousand homes this April night,
An ancient People celebrates its birth
To Freedom, with a reverential mirth,
With customs quaint, and many a hoary rite,
Waiting until, its tarnished glories bright,
Its God shall be the God of all the earth.

227

ISRAEL ZANGWILL

98

THE HOPE OF NATIONS

A PASSOVER HYMN

The sullen ice has crept from many fields;

The conflict, though so turbulent, is past; Again the spring its wealth of verdure yields; The probing sun has conquered cold at last.

It is the Paschal of reviving earth,

The longed-for resurrection of its charms; Each bud, prophetic type of freedom's birth, A conquest each o'er winter's dread alarms.

And all the sunny joys, till now concealed,

Are emblems bright of freedom's blessèd morn, When Israel's rescue first the truth revealed:

"To free and equal rights all men are born!"

Then let our festival to all proclaim

Who yearn for liberty's enkindling sun, And let the nations join the glad acclaim, "Our God is One-Humanity is one!"

FROM THE HEBREW

Translation by Deborah Kleinert Janowitz

99

HYMN FOR PENTECOST

When Thou didst descend upon Sinai's mountain, It trembled and shook 'neath Thy mighty hand, And the rocks were moved by Thy power and splendor;

How then can my spirit before Thee stand

On the day when darkness o'erspread the heavens, And the sun was hidden at Thy command?

The angels of God, for Thy great name's worship, Are ranged before Thee, a shining band,

And the children of men are waiting ever

Thy mercies, unnumbered as grains of sand.

The Law they received from the mouth of Thy glory,

They learn and consider and understand;

Oh! accept Thou their song, and rejoice in their

gladness

Who proclaim Thy glory in every land.

JEHUDA HALEVI

Translation from the Hebrew by Mrs. Henry Lucas

THE HEAVENLY LIGHT

229

100

THE HEAVENLY LIGHT

SHABUOTH

When Israel to the wilderness

Had fled from Pharaoh's cruel might,
The Eternal sent, to lead them on,
A cloud by day, a fire by night.

And, guided by that heavenly flame,
The beacon from Jehovah's hand,
The chosen people safely reached
Their destined goal, the promised land.

Yet not alone in days of yore

Has God His wondrous mercies shown,
For still He grants to all mankind
A glorious light to lead them on;

A lamp of radiant, glowing hue,

By Israel borne in every clime,

Through fire and flood, through tears and blood. With courage grand and faith sublime.

When all the world was steeped in sin,

The Hebrews braved the nations' wrath

And nobly followed still the guide
That led them on in virtue's path.

That beacon is the Decalogue,

Proclaimed from Sinai's flaming height,

And burning, as each age rolls by,

With purer, grander, holier light.

Oh, glorious flame! Thy sparkling beams
With radiant splendor shine to-day;
Nor time, nor change, nor tyrant's power
Can quench or dim one holy ray.

Oh, heavenly lamp! Thy light shall shine
Till sin and hate from earth depart;
Till wrong shall fail and right prevail,
And justice rule the human heart.

May that bright beacon guide us still,

E'en like God's own untiring hand, That we, when this life's storms are o'er, May reach with joy the heavenly land.

MAX MEYERHARDT

ΙΟΙ

SHABUOTH

Let praise and song and psalmody
In chorus rise to God on high!
For He hath made this glorious day!
Be glad! Rejoice! Hallelujah!

From heaven came in brilliant rays
The law, which shines on all our ways;
Its gentle light now casts its beams
On all that dark and hidden seems.

It leads us to the realms of light
Upon our path through early night,
And sanctifies our life and will,
Our duty ever to fulfil.