Goblin Market and Other Poems (1862)/Christian and Jew
CHRISTIAN AND JEW.
A DIALOGUE.
"Оh happy happy land!Angels like rushes standAbout the wells of light."—"Alas, I have not eyes for this fair sight:Hold fast my hand."
"As in a soft wind, theyBend all one blessed way,Each bowed in his own glory, star with star."—"I cannot see so far,Here shadows are."—
"White-winged the cherubim,Yet whiter seraphim, Glow white with intense fire of love."—"Mine eyes are dim:I look in vain above,And miss their hymn."—
"Angels, Archangels cryOne to other ceaselessly(I hear them sing)One 'Holy, Holy, Holy' to their King."—"I do not hear them, I."—
"At one side ParadiseIs curtained from the rest!Made green for wearied eyes;Much softer than the breastOf mother-dove clad in a rainbow's dyes.
"All precious souls are thereMost safe, elect by grace, All tears are wiped for ever from their face:Untired in prayerThey wait and praiseHidden for a little space.
"Boughs of the Living VineThey spread in summer shineGreen leaf with leaf:Sap of the Royal Vine it stirs like wineIn all both less and chief.
"Sing to the Lord,All spirits of all flesh, sing;For he hath not abhorredOur low estate nor scorned our offering:Shout to our King.”—
"But Zion said:My Lord forgetteth me. Lo, she hath made her bedIn dust; forsaken weepeth sheWhere alien rivers swell the sea.
'She laid her body as the ground,Her tender body as the ground to thoseWho passed; her harpstrings cannot soundIn a strange land; discrownedShe sits, and drunk with woes."—
"O drunken not with wine,Whose sins and sorrows have fulfilled the sum,—Be not afraid, arise, be no more dumb;Arise, shine,For thy light is come."—
"Can these bones live?"—"God knows:The prophet saw such clothed with flesh and skin; A wind blew on them and life entered in;They shook and rose.Hasten the time, O Lord, blot out their sin,Let life begin."