| Joseph Friedlander, comp. The Standard Book of Jewish Verse. 1917. | | | | The Sabbath Eve | | By Samuel Augustus Willoughby Duffield |
| | | IN quaint old Talmud’s pages, | |
| Where speak the Jewish sages, | |
| I found this pearl tonight: | |
| Behold it, fair and white! | |
| |
| For, as the rabbins say, | 5 |
| Two angels guard the way | |
| Of him on Sabbath eve | |
| Who turns his homeward feet | |
| Off through the busy street, | |
| The synagogue to leave. | 10 |
| And if the lamps are lit, | |
| If there the maidens sit | |
| With the mother by their side; | |
| If there the youths abide | |
| At the quiet eventide— | 15 |
| Then speaks the spirit blest— | |
| “Here let all blessing rest! | |
| May every Sabbath be | |
| Like this one unto thee; | |
| Peace to this dwelling, peace!” | 20 |
| And he of little ease, | |
| The restless demon, then, | |
| Mutters a rough “Amen!” | |
| |
| But if the darkness there | |
| Obscures the evening prayer; | 25 |
| If matron and if maid | |
| Show worldliness displayed; | |
| And if the youths have place | |
| In regions low and base— | |
| Then sneers the evil one: | 30 |
| “Be all thy blessings gone! | |
| Make every Sabbath be | |
| Like this one unto me!” | |
| And, with his head bent low, | |
| The other in his woe, | 35 |
| Must weep and utter then | |
| His sorrowful, “Amen!” | | | | |
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