Page:Poems of Emma Lazarus vol 2.djvu/183

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THE DANCE TO DEATH.
165


He may die fall of years upon his bed.
Te who nurse rancor haply in your hearth,
Fear ye we perish unavenged ? Not so !
To-day, no ! nor to-morrow! but in God's time,
Otir witnesses ariae. Ours is the truth,
Ours is the power, the gift of Heaven. We hold
His Law, His lamp, His covenant, His pledge.
Wherever in the ages shall arise
Jew-priest, Jew-poet, Jew-ainger, or Jew-saint —
And everywhere I see them star the gloom —
In each of these the martyrs are avenged !

RABBI JACOB.

Bring from the Ark the bell-fringed, eilken-bound
Scrolls of the Law. Gather the silver vessels.
Dismantle the rich curtains of the doors.
Bring the Perpetual Lamp ; all these shall burn,
Fop Israel's light is darkened, Israel's Law
Profaned by strangers. Thus the Lord hath said:[1]
"The weapon formed against thee shall not prosper.
The tongue that shall contend with thee in judgement
Thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage
Of the Lord's servants and their righteousness.
For thou shalt come to peoples yet unborn.
Declaring that which He hath done. Amen ! "

  1. Conclusion of service for Day of Atonemtmt.