 | Collected poems of Samuel Davies : 1723-1761 |  |
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[PSALM CXXXVII]
[_]
There is a soft pleasing melancholy that runs thro' the first part of the CXXXIX [i.e., CXXXVII] Psalm, composed by some pious patriot-captive on the banks of the Euphrates. And at the request of a friend, the following version of it, fitted to a proper tune, has been attempted: But like all other translations of sacred poetry, it falls infinitely short of the divine original.
SITTING by the streams, that glide
Down by Babel's towering wall,
With our tears we swell'd the tide,
While our mournful thoughts recall
Thee, o Zion! and thy fall.
Down by Babel's towering wall,
With our tears we swell'd the tide,
While our mournful thoughts recall
Thee, o Zion! and thy fall.
On the willows there we hung
Our neglected harps on high,
Silent, useles and unstrung,
Strangers now to harmony,
Once our business and our joy.
Our neglected harps on high,
Silent, useles and unstrung,
Strangers now to harmony,
Once our business and our joy.
There our proud triumphant foes,
Haughty, insolent and gay,
Call'd for music in our woes,
“Sing us some sweet Hebrew lay,
“Sacred to some holy day.”
Haughty, insolent and gay,
Call'd for music in our woes,
“Sing us some sweet Hebrew lay,
“Sacred to some holy day.”
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Cruel foes, t'insult us so!
Sunk so deep in helpless grief:
Sighs and groans to vent our woe,
Now our only poor relief,
To the charms of music deaf.
Sunk so deep in helpless grief:
Sighs and groans to vent our woe,
Now our only poor relief,
To the charms of music deaf.
Ah! shall Zion's sacred songs
Warble sweet in ears profane?
Shall we prostitute our tongues,
With a consecrated strain,
To delight the gay and vain?
Warble sweet in ears profane?
Shall we prostitute our tongues,
With a consecrated strain,
To delight the gay and vain?
No! Jerus'lem, no! thy fate
Wounds my bleeding heart so deep,
Let my skillful hand forget
How the tuneful strings to sweep,
When for the thee I cease to weep.
Wounds my bleeding heart so deep,
Let my skillful hand forget
How the tuneful strings to sweep,
When for the thee I cease to weep.
In that guilty moment, let
Endless silence seize my tongue,
When this heart shall once forget
They dear image (there so long,)
Or indulge a chearful song.
Endless silence seize my tongue,
When this heart shall once forget
They dear image (there so long,)
Or indulge a chearful song.
Zion! thy deliverance first
Shall awake the silent string,
When thy walls shall from the dust
In their ancient grandeur spring.
Then my harp and tongue shall sing.
Shall awake the silent string,
When thy walls shall from the dust
In their ancient grandeur spring.
Then my harp and tongue shall sing.
| Collected poems of Samuel Davies : 1723-1761 | |