Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, ISRAEL'S LAMENT, by MIRIAM DEL BANCO


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

ISRAEL'S LAMENT, by                    
First Line: And art thou dead? And has thy spirit gone
Last Line: Would humbly place my modest wayside flower.
Subject(s): Israel; Lament; Mourning; Bereavement


And art thou dead? And has thy spirit gone
Beyond the gleaming arch of Heaven's gate?
How can so many common lives flow on,
And thine be closed, that was so good and great?

All Israel doth mourn with loving thought,
That it has lost thee; that thy lip is mute;
And that thy loving hand—thy hand that wrought
So faithfully, lies pulseless on its lute.

Thy brilliant sun of life—it had not yet
Gleamed out the glory of the noonday bright,
When, in the glowing eastern sky, it set,
And morn was changed to sudden shades of night.

O, who can fill the void that thou hast left?
The stricken ones for whom thy pen did plead—
They know not of how much they are bereft,
Or countless cries would burst from hearts that bleed.

The soul of Hebrew melody that gleams
Like dew, o'er many a blossom of thy pen—
Who now will call it from the realm of dreams
And weave it into sunny song again?

Who will portray our ancient nation's wrongs?
Its pains, its wounds, its sufferings unjust?
Who, with a thousand wildly thrilling songs,
Will lift its trailing banner from the dust?

Thy place is vacant. None can take thy pen
Or with thy genius stand side by side!
Yea, sorrow stealeth through the hearts of men—
All Israel doth mourn that thou hast died!

And in this simple song I fain would bring
A loving tribute to thy noble power,
And, 'mid the blooms that o'er thy memory spring,
Would humbly place my modest wayside flower.





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