| Joseph Friedlander, comp. The Standard Book of Jewish Verse. 1917. | | | | Sfere | | By Morris Rosenfeld |
| | | I ASKED 1 my Muse had she any objection | |
| To laughing with me,—not a word for reply! | |
| You see, it is Sfere, our time for dejection | |
| And can a Jew laugh when the rule is to cry? | |
| |
| You laughed then you say? ’tis a sound to affright one | 5 |
| In Jewish delight, what is worthy the name? | |
| The laugh of a Jew it is never a right one, | |
| For laughing and groaning with him are the same. | |
| |
| You thought there was zest in the Jewish existence? | |
| You deemed that the star of a Jew could be kind? | 10 |
| The spring calls and beckons with gracious insistence, | |
| Jew,—sit down in sackcloth and weep yourself blind! | |
| |
| The garden is green and the woodland rejoices; | |
| How cool are the breezes, with fragrance how blent; | |
| But Spring calls not you with her thousand sweet voices; | 15 |
| With you it is Sfere,—sit still and lament. | |
| |
| The beautiful summer, this life’s consolation, | |
| In moaning and sighing glides quickly away, | |
| What hope can it offer to one of my nation? | |
| What joy can he find in the splendors of May? | 20 |
| | | Note 1. Sephira, a period of mourning commemorating the disasters to Israel during the Crusades. [back] | | |
|
|
|
