| |
| THE SHADOWS have taken the place of the sun, | |
| The Sabbath is over, the glory is gone; | |
| With the gold of the sunset the new soul has flown, | |
| And God, He has shattered his heavenly throne | |
| And closed the effulgent gold gates of the sky, | 5 |
| And the peace and the dream and the rapture all die; | |
| And childhood, the cherub, behold; it takes wing— | |
| A usurper has stolen the crown of the king! | |
| The shew-bread is eaten, no dainties are left, | |
| Of silver and china the table’s bereft; | 10 |
| The cover of damask is folded away, | |
| And the household is wrapped in dreariness gray, | |
| The poesy paused, and the weekday’s dull prose | |
| Ascended the throne—the thorn for the rose! | |
| No candles are lighted for mothers to bless, | 15 |
| The queen’s jewels are hidden and changed is her dress; | |
| The Talith is folded, the incense suppressed, | |
| The golden-clasped Bible is laid in the chest; | |
| A fire is set to the drippings of wine, | |
| The Habdalah light quenched in the smouldering shine; | 20 |
| The last of the wine cup is drained by the young, | |
| And Zemiroth, last strain of the Sabbath is sung; | |
| Unaccountable sadness, some shadowy pain | |
| On the mind and the memory lies like a stain; | |
| The heart with the tumult of being is tossed, | 25 |
| The swords they are blazing, the Paradise ’s lost! | |
| The shadow—the shadow replaces the sun, | |
| The last strain of Sabbath’s Zemiroth is sung. | |
| |
