Henry Schnittkind. The Cedars of Lebanon. Friedlander, Joseph, comp. 1917. The Standard Book of Jewish Verse

Joseph Friedlander, comp. The Standard Book of Jewish Verse. 1917.

The Cedars of Lebanon

By Henry Schnittkind


BUT the waves of the fury of nations
Swept down on the trees of the vale,
Like rolling and wild inundations
Lashed on by the blasts of the gale.

And the strength of the cedars was shattered,	5
Their frames into shreds were cleft,
And their limbs on the billows were scattered,—
Yet the roots in the mountain were left.

And the seeds of the trees were taken
And lodged in the land of their foes,	10
And there untended, forsaken,
New cedars arose.

And the foe his proud branches entwining
Above them, shut off from their view
The sun that upon them was shining,	15
And robbed them of rain and of dew.

And mocked were the once mighty cedars,
Their name a disgrace was become,
For they had not, they had not the leaders
To bring them home.	20