Written on Board the Medway, in the South Seas.
THE sun had gone down, and his last feeble ray
On the high hill of Zion was melting away,
When under the shade of a sycamore tree,
I heard the lament of the old Maccabee:
“Go, all in thy glory, and sink in the west!
Go, shine, thou bright sun, on a land of the blest!
For the children of Judah, they ask not thy light;
More fit for their grief are the shadows of night!
“Alas, for thee, Judah! the host of the Lord
Is smitten before the idolater’s sword!
And Zion weeps under the Syrian’s rod,
And an idol is reared in the temple of God!
“O City of David! thy heroes are gone!
For the gentile profane sits on Solomon’s throne!
And the fearful Jew bends to an image abhorred,
Where his forefathers oft paid their vows to the Lord.
“‘Tis the Lord who afflicts for the sins of our line!
‘Tis he who chastises with mercy benign!
For the children of Judah long long have forgot
The hand that appointed and blessed their lot!
“Yet God shall return and his promise fulfil;
He will gather his outcasts and favour them still.
Then comfort! ye mourners, and hope in his word;
Tho’ all should forsake you, yet will not the Lord.
“For the Shiloh shall come to his temple ere long,
And the mourners of Zion return with a song.
Thy sorrow, O Judah, may last for a night,
But joy everlasting returns with the light.”
(John Dunmore Lang)
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Based on Topics: God Poems, Night Poems, Light Poems, Sadness Poems, Nature Poems, Success Poems, Sin Poems, Grief Poems, Children Poems, Heroism PoemsBased on Keywords: shiloh, afflicts, medway, idolater