Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, LAMENT FOR JERUSALEM, by MARION MOSS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

LAMENT FOR JERUSALEM, by                    
First Line: Jerusalem! On thy ruin'd walls
Last Line: Amongst the nations take thy stand?
Subject(s): Jerusalem; Jews; Judaism


JERUSALEM! on thy ruin'd walls
The sun yet sheds its glittering rays,
And shines amid thy lonely halls
As once it shone in happier days:
And Judea's clime is still as fair,
Though Judah's sons are outcasts there.

How long shall pagan foot profane
Jehovah's hallowed shrine;
And memories alone remain
Of all that once was thine?
How long shall we, thy children, roam
As exiles from our native home?

To weep o'er Salem's blighted fame,
To gaze upon her stand,
Is all the heritage we claim
Within our fatherland;
To mourn o'er our free parents' graves
That we, their children, are but slaves.

When will that glorious hour come?
When shall we once more see
Thy temple rear its stately dome,
Thy children with the free?
And thou, our fair, ill-fated land
Amongst the nations take thy stand?





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