| Joseph Friedlander, comp. The Standard Book of Jewish Verse. 1917. | | | | “I saw—’twas in a dream, the other night” | | By Ambrose Bierce |
| | | I SAW—’twas in a dream, the other night— | |
| A man whose hair with age was thin and white; | |
| One hundred years had bettered by his birth, | |
| And still his step was firm, his eye was bright. | |
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| Before him and about him pressed a crowd. | 5 |
| Each head in reverence was bared and bowed, | |
| And Jews and Gentiles in a hundred tongues | |
| Extolled his deeds and spake his fame aloud. | |
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| I joined the throng, and, pushing forward, cried, | |
| “Montefiore!” with the rest, and vied | 10 |
| In efforts to caress the hand that ne’er | |
| To want and worth had charity denied. | |
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| So closely round him swarmed our shouting clan | |
| He scarce could breathe, and, taking from a pan | |
| A gleaming coin, he tossed it o’er our heads, | 15 |
| And in a moment was a lonely man! | | | | |
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