STOP
Early Journal Content on JSTOR, Free to Anyone in the World
This article is one of nearly 500,000 scholarly works digitized and made freely available to everyone in
the world by JSTOR.
Known as the Early Journal Content, this set of works include research articles, news, letters, and other
writings published in more than 200 of the oldest leading academic journals. The works date from the
mid-seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries.
We encourage people to read and share the Early Journal Content openly and to tell others that this
resource exists. People may post this content online or redistribute in any way for non-commercial
purposes.
Read more about Early Journal Content at http://about.jstor.org/participate-jstor/individuals/early-
journal-content .
JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary source objects. JSTOR helps people
discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content through a powerful research and teaching
platform, and preserves this content for future generations. JSTOR is part of ITHAKA, a not-for-profit
organization that also includes Ithaka S+R and Portico. For more information about JSTOR, please
contact support@jstor.org.
A SONG OP REDEMPTION 269
Tuo of the Sabbath Morning Hymns, recited between
Passover and Pentecost.
A SONG OF REDEMPTION.
From the Hebrew of Ibn Gebirol.
Captive of sorrow on a foreign shore,
A handmaid as 'neath Egypt's slavery:
Through the dark day of her bereavement sore
She looketh unto thee.
Restore her sons, O mighty One of old !
Her remnant tenth 1 shall cause man's strife to cease 2 .
O speed the message; swiftly be she told
Good tidings, which Elijah shall unfold:
Daughter of Zion, sing aloud! behold
Thy Prince of Peace !
Wherefore wilt thou forget us, Lord, for aye 3 ?
Mercy we crave!
O Lord, we hope in thee alway;
Our King will save!
Surely a limit boundeth every woe,
But mine enduring anguish hath no end;
My dreary years are spent in ceaseless flow,
My wound hath no amend.
O'erwhelmed, my helm doth fail; no hand is strong
To steer the bark to port, her longed-for aim.
How long, Lord, wilt thou my doom prolong?
When shall be heard the dove's sweet voice of song 4 ?
O leave us not to perish for our wrong,
Who bear thy name!
1 Isa. vi. 13. 2 Isa. xix. 24. 3 Lara. v. 20. 4 Song of Songs ii. 12.
VOL. VIII. T
270 THE JEWISH QUARTERLY REVIEW
Wherefore wilt thou forget us, Lord, for aye?
Mercy we crave!
Lord, we hope in thee alway;
Our King will save!
Wounded and crushed, beneath my load I sigh,
Despised and abject, outcast, trampled low;
How long, Lord, shall I of violence cry,
My heart dissolve with woe ?
How many years, without a gleam of light,
Has thraldom been our lot, our portion pain !
With Ishmael, as a lion in his might,
And Persia, as an owl of darksome night 1 ,
Beset on either side, behold our plight
Betwixt the twain.
Wherefore wilt thou forget us, Lord, for aye?
Mercy we crave!
Lord, we hope in thee alway ;
Our King will save!
o
Is this thy voice?
The voice of captive Ariel's 2 woe unhealed?
Virgin of Israel, arise! rejoice!
In Daniel's vision, lo! the end is sealed 3 :
When Michael on the height
Shall stand aloft in strength,
And shout aloud in might,
And a Redeemer come to Zion at length 4 !
Amen, amen, behold,
The Lord's decree foretold.
E'en as thou hast our souls afflicted sore,
So wilt thou make us glad for evermore 5 !
1 Alluding probably to the persecutions which Jews suffered both under
the Crescent and the Cross.
2 Isa. xxix. 1, 2. 8 Dan. xii. 4 Isa. lix. 20.
4 Ps. xc. 15.
A SONG OF LOVB 271
Wherefore wilt thou forget us, Lord, for aye?
Mercy we crave!
Lord, we hope in Thee alway;
Our King will save !
Nina Davis.
A SONG OF LOVE 1 .
From the Hebrew of Rabbi Isaac ben Reuben Alfasi.
My noble love!
dove of wondrous grace !
What aileth thee that thou dost weep in woe 1 ?
Messiah cometh unto thee : then go,
Fly to thy resting-place.
I am thy Saviour, who will ransom thee ;
Thy hope from ancient day:
Know that in truth I say,
I, thy Eedeemer, I will set thee free 2 ,
My noble love !
My Mighty Love!
Where is thy troth of yore,
The vision of the seers of ages gone,
Proclaiming to the lone, the outcast one,
Whose glory is no more,
That she shall yet be sought, again shall shine,
A very great delight?
Thine is redemption's right,
Yea, and the power of sole possession thine 3 ,
My Mighty Love!
My noble love!
1 found delight in thee,
O fair one! when I saw thee in thy youth,
And passing o'er thee with my bond of truth,
Betrothed thee unto me.
1 A dialogue between God and Israel. 2 Ruth iii. 12. 3 Jer. xxxii. 8.
T 2,
