Contents -BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD

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

By Meir of Rothenberg (Trans. Nina Davis)

The Burning of the Law

ASK, is it well, O thou consumed of fire,

With those that mourn for thee,

That yearn to tread thy courts, that sore desire

Thy sanctuary;

That, panting for thy land’s sweet dust, are grieved,

And sorrow in their souls,

And by the flames of wasting fire bereaved,

Mourn for thy scrolls;

That grope in shadow of unbroken night,

Waiting the day to see

Which o’er them yet shall cast a radiance bright,

And over thee?

Ask of the welfare of the man of woe,

With breaking heart, in vain

Lamenting ever for thine overthrow,

And for thy pain;

Of him that crieth as the jackals cry,

As owls their moaning make,

Proclaiming bitter wailing far and nigh;

Yea, for Thy sake.

And thou revealed amid a heavenly fire,

By earthly fire consumed,

Say how the foe unscorched escaped the pyre

Thy flames illumed!

How long shalt thou that art at ease abide

In peace, unknown to woe,

While o’er my flowers, humbled from their pride,

Thy nettles grow?

Thou sittest high exalted, lofty foe!

To judge the sons of God;

And with thy judgments stern dost bring them low

Beneath thy rod.

Yea, more, to burn the Law thou durst decree—

God’s word to banish hence;

Then blest be he who shall award to thee

Thy recompense!

Was it for this, thou Law, my Rock of old

Gave thee with flames begirt,

That in thine after-days should fire seize hold

Upon thy skirt?

O Sinai! was it then for this God chose

Thy mount of modest height,

Rejecting statelier, while on thee arose

His glorious light?

Wast thou an omen that from noble state

The Law should lowly be?

And lo! a parable will I relate

Befitting thee.

’Tis of a king I tell, who sat before

The banquet of his son

And wept: for ’mid the mirth he death foresaw;

So thou hast done.

Cast off thy robe; in sackcloth folds of night,

O Sinai! cover thee;

Don widow’s garb, discard thy raiment bright

Of royalty.

Lo, I will weep for thee until my tears

Swell as a stream and flow

Unto the graves where Thy two princely seers

Sleep calm below:

Moses and Aaron in the Mountain Hor;

I will of them inquire:

Is there another to replace this Law

Devoured of fire?

O thou third month most sacred! woe is me

For treason of the fourth,

Which dimmed the sacred light that shone from thee

And kindled wrath;

And break the tablets, yea, and still did rage:

And lo! the Law is burnt!

Ye sinful! is not this the twofold wage

Which ye have earnt?

Dismal hath seized upon my soul; how, then,

Can food be sweet to me,

When, O thou Law, I have beheld base men

Destroying thee?

They cast thee out as one despised, and burn

The wealth of God Most High;

They whom from thine assembly thou wouldst spurn

From drawing nigh.

I cannot pass along the highway more,

Nor seek thy ways forlorn;

How do thy paths their loneliness deplore!

Lo! how they mourn!

The mingled cup shall taste as honey sweet

Where tears o’erbrim the wine;

Yea, and thy chains upon my shackled feet

Are joy divine.

Sweet would it be unto mine eyes alway

A rain of tears to pour,

To sob and drench thy sacred robes, till they

Could hold no more.

But lo! my tears are dried, when, fast outpoured,

They down my cheeks are shed;

Scorched by the fire within: because thy Lord

Hath turned and fled.

Taking His holy treasure, He hath made

His journey far away;

And with Him hath not thy protecting shade

Vanished for aye?

And I am desolate and sore bereft,

Lo! a forsaken one:

Like a sole beacon on a mountain left,

A tower alone.

I hear the voice of singers now no more,

Silence their song hath bound;

The strings are broken which on harps of yore

Breathed forth sweet sound.

In sackcloth I will clothe and sable band,

For well-beloved by me

Were they whose lives were many as the sand—

The slain of thee.

I am astonished that the day’s fair light

Yet shineth brilliantly

On all things:—it is ever dark as night

To me and thee.

Send with a bitter cry to God above

Thine anguish, nor withhold:

Ah! that He would remember yet His love,

His troth of old!

Gird on the sackcloth of thy misery

For that devouring fire,

Which burst forth ravenous on thine and thee

With wasting dire.

E’en as thy Rock hath sore afflicted thee,

He will assuage thy woe,

Will turn again the tribes’ captivity,

And raise the low.

Yet shalt thou wear thy scarlet raiment choice,

And sound the timbrels high,

And yet amid the dancers shalt rejoice

With gladdened cry.

My heart shall be uplifted on the day

The Rock shall be thy light,

When He shall make thy gloom to pass away,

Thy darkness bright.