On the Fall of Jerusalem

On the Fall of Jerusalem

Judah, awake, shake off thy mourning deep,

Forget thy tears, no longer shalt thou weep;

Thy fetters, worn with patience, fling afar,

Freedom dawns brightly with thy new-born Star.

Wandered thou hast, an exile far from home,

Since Titus bled thee white and ploughed the temple stone;

Thy sons and daughters fair have roamed the earth,

Hated and scorned — the toy of Gentile mirth.

Jerusalem, proud City of the Kings, defaced;

The sacred soil of Palestine laid waste;

At length befouled by Islam's turbaned bands,

E'en now the massive Mosque of Omar stands

Where once the Temple reared its stately walls,

Guarding thy priesthood in its holy halls.

Six centuries the Crescent floated high

Where once King David's standard brushed the sky.

But now, O Judah, sing unto the Lord,

For He at last has kept his plighted word,

Foretold by prophets in their songs sublime —

Sweet sequel to thy grief in foreign clime.

Redemption awaits; and now the trumpet shrill

Shall call thy sons to blessed Zion's hill.

Messiah has appeared, but not the conquering king

Of whom the Jewish heart has loved to sing —

Messiah, true; but in the keen, cold edge of British steel

And British brawn and British zeal

He is revealed. Behold the Union Jack unfurled,

A proclamation to a grateful world

That God has nerved the arm of Christian men,

And has reclaimed the Holv Land again.

O House of Judah — seed of royal sires —

Abraham, Jacob, David — light the ancient fires

Of national pride! Rebuild Jerusalem, Judea's acres till,

The purposes of God with zeal fulfil!

Those sterile plains and vales again shall yield

The riches of the vineyard and the field;

And over all, Jehovah's tender care shall rest —

Judah forgiven, and with Israel blest!

Frank C. Steele.

Chattanooga, Tenn,