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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO JUDAH HA-LEVI by M. L. R. BRESLAR

First Line: IMPASSIONED HOURS, WHEN HEBREW WAS THE KEY
Last Line: AND FROTH IT FULL OF TEARS FOR SPAIN'S DECLINE.
Subject(s): JEWS; JUDAH HA-LEVI (1075-1141); JUDAISM; YEHUDA BEN SHEMUEL HA-LEVI; ABU AL-HASAN;
IMPASSIONED hours, when Hebrew was the key
To sweetest rivalries 'twixt man and man.
And poets sat enthroned amidst a clan
Of choristers divine. How blithesomely

Those skylarks trilled, and flooded earth and sea
With music, till the words enchanted fell
In mute prostration 'neath the wizard's spell,
And master note in Hebrew minstrelsy.

At sunrise, or in watches of the night,
When half a world is sunk in drowsiness,
Sing to me of Castilian skies, O Sprite!
Where Lilith veils her luresome loveliness,
And I will stretch a tankard for the wine,
And froth it full of tears for Spain's decline.



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