Classic and Contemporary Poetry
JEPHTHAH'S DAUGHTER, by JEHOASH First Line: There is a lonely mountain-top Last Line: The voice of her they rue! Alternate Author Name(s): Joash Subject(s): Jephthah (bible); Jews; Women; Judaism | ||||||||
THERE is a lonely mountain-top, A curse upon it lies; No blade of grass upon it grows, No flowers greet the eyes. But cold, bare cliffs of granite stand, Like sentinels of stone, Year after year, through wind and snow, Around a craggy throne. And on the topmost, coldest peak There is a spot of woe A little tomb, an old gray tomb, Raised centuries ago. For there within her grave she lies Plucked in an evil hour The martyred daughter of her race, Israel's fairest flower! There Jephthah's maid forever sleeps The victim that he vowed But, four days in the dreary year, The loneliness is loud. And Gilead's mourning daughters Up from the valley throng The mountain glens reverberate With sorrow and with song! Oh, loud and long and wild they wail The light untimely spent, And dance upon the mountain-top A choral of lament. And as they dance they seem to see Another dancer, too, And hear, amidst the measure rise, The voice of her they rue! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE RABBI'S SON-IN-LAW by SABINE BARING-GOULD A LITTLE HISTORY by DAVID LEHMAN FOR I WILL CONSIDER YOUR DOG MOLLY by DAVID LEHMAN JEWISH GRAVEYARDS, ITALY by PHILIP LEVINE NATIONAL THOUGHTS by YEHUDA AMICHAI SOUNDS OF THE RESURRECTED DEAD MAN'S FOOTSTEPS (#3): 2. ANGEL ... by MARVIN BELL |
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