Page:Poems of Emma Lazarus vol 2.djvu/161

Wise, honorable, just, God-fearing men,
Shall yo condemn or ever ye have heard ?
Sore, one at least owns here the close, kind name
Of Brother — unto him I torn. At least
sit among yon who have wedded wives,
Bear the dear title and the precious charge
Of Husband — unto these I speak. Some here,
Are crowned, it may be, with the aacred name
Of Father — unto these I pray. All, all
Are ions — all have been children, all have known
The love of parents — unto these I cry ;
Have mercy on us, we are innocent,
Who ore brothers, husbands, fathers, sons as ye I Look you, we have dwelt among yon many years, Led thrifty, peaceable, well-ordered lives.
Who can attest, who prove we ever wrought
Or ever did devise the smallest harm,
Far less this fiendish crime against the State ?
Rather let those arise who owe Hie Jews
Some debt of unpaid kindness, profuse alms,
The Hebrew leech's serviceable skill.
Who know our patience under injury.
And ye would see. if all stood bravely forth,
A motley host, led hy the Landgrave's self,
Recruited from all ranks, and in the rear.
The humblest, veriest wretch in Nordhausen.
We know the Black Death is a scourge of God.
la not our flesh as capable of pain.