ANCIENT pages of the Talmud, Legends, tales that there I view, In my mournful life and dreary Oftentimes I turn to you. When at night amid the darkness On mine eyes sleep will not rest, And I sit alone, and wretched, With my head upon my breast, In those hours, as a star shines In the azure summer night, Memories amid my sadness Then begin to glimmer bright. I recall my love, my childhood; Those sweet hours come back again When I still was free from sorrow, Free from anger, free from pain. I recall those times, long vanished, When I quaffed, without alloy, Life's first, best and sweetest chalice, Freedom, mirthfulness and joy. Those old years so sweet and precious Pass again before mine eyes, And the pages of the Talmud In my memory arise. Oh! the precious ancient pages! All the lights and stars I see Burning, shining in those pages; They can ne'er extinguished be! Myriad streams and myriad rivers Have flowed o'er them in the past; Sand has covered them and hid them, Storms have rent them—still they last. Yes, the ancient, ancient pages Still survive and perish not, Although yellowed, torn and blackened, Here a hole and there a spot. What of that? Indeed it truly Is a graveyard, old and hoar, Where within the tomb lies buried All that we shall see no more. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HEGIRA by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON LOHENGRIN; PROEM by EMMA LAZARUS SURFACES AND MASKS; 7 by CLARENCE MAJOR THE PASSIONATE SHEPHERD: PASTORAL 3. THE HAPPY COUNTRYMAN by NICHOLAS BRETON CURIOSITY by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR THE IRISH SPINNING-WHEEL by ALFRED PERCEVAL GRAVES THE SWAMP ANGEL by HERMAN MELVILLE PROMETHEUS BOUND: PROMETHEUS THE TEACHER OF MEN by AESCHYLUS |