Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, IN PALESTINE, by CLINTON SCOLLARD


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

IN PALESTINE, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Lone is the land of a thousand wars, the home of a solemn peace
Last Line: While the jackal has his haunt in the tomb of hiram, king of tyre.
Subject(s): Palestine; Religion; Theology


LONE is the land of a thousand wars, the home of a solemn peace,
Where the past still shows her myriad scars as the marching years increase;
No more are the princes proud of yore than the ashes blown from a pyre,
And the jackal has his haunt in the tomb of Hiram, king of Tyre.

A turbaned guard keeps stolid ward by the Zion gate in the sun,
And the paynim bows his shaven brows at the shrine of Solomon;
On the chosen altars long, long quenched is the flame of the sacred fire,
And the jackal has his haunt in the tomb of Hiram, king of Tyre.

Great Herod's pride, with its columned aisles, is grown with the olive bough,
And Gath and Dan are but crumbling piles, while Gaza is gateless now;
The sea on the sands of Ascalon sets hands to a mournful lyre,
And the jackal has his haunt in the tomb of Hiram, king of Tyre.

But the starry fame of one holy name still burns through the mists of death;
It has set the crown of Time's renown on the brow of Nazareth,
It has blazoned Bethlehem for aye the heart of the world's desire,
While the jackal has his haunt in the tomb of Hiram, king of Tyre.





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