The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd Centenary Edition. With a Memoir of the Author, by the Rev. Thomas Thomson ... Poems and Life. With Many Illustrative Engravings [by James Hogg] |
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The Captive's Song.
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 | The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd |  |
The Captive's Song.
Rise, rise, dawn of the morn!
In glory awake, for thy hour is nigh!
Comest thou afar, by cherubim borne,
O'er lands of the East, o'er seas and sky?
Or sleep'st thou on yon mountain gray?—
Awake, thou sun! and come away.
Yes, thou wilt wake; but, woe is me,
For the shame and guilt thine eye must see!—
The stranger's incense burning still
On the heights of Zion's holy hill;
And the rude Sabine's altar-stone
In the green groves of Lebanon!
In glory awake, for thy hour is nigh!
Comest thou afar, by cherubim borne,
O'er lands of the East, o'er seas and sky?
Or sleep'st thou on yon mountain gray?—
Awake, thou sun! and come away.
Yes, thou wilt wake; but, woe is me,
For the shame and guilt thine eye must see!—
The stranger's incense burning still
On the heights of Zion's holy hill;
And the rude Sabine's altar-stone
In the green groves of Lebanon!
Awake, O sun! that I may view
Thy splendour shed (nor grieve the less)
O'er vales of Kedar bathed in dew,
And Chebar's balmy wilderness!
Soon thou wilt smile in beauty bland
Above the Chaldean's sinful land;
But, oh! when shall dawn the day
Of retribution and of grace?
When shall the shadows pass away
That brood o'er Israel's fallen race?
Thou holy One! has Salem's day
By thee forgotten been for aye?
Thy splendour shed (nor grieve the less)
O'er vales of Kedar bathed in dew,
And Chebar's balmy wilderness!
Soon thou wilt smile in beauty bland
Above the Chaldean's sinful land;
But, oh! when shall dawn the day
Of retribution and of grace?
When shall the shadows pass away
That brood o'er Israel's fallen race?
Thou holy One! has Salem's day
By thee forgotten been for aye?
Sing! sing!—How shall I sing
A song of Zion or of thee?
Or hymn the name of Israel's King
In darkness and captivity?
My tabor has no strain nor string
The songs of Zion's land to sing.
But thee—Jerusalem! when my heart
Ceases to yearn and bleed for thee,
May skill from my right hand depart,
And my reward let bondage be!
There lies engraved thy temple fair,
And Name that once we worshipped there!
A song of Zion or of thee?
Or hymn the name of Israel's King
In darkness and captivity?
My tabor has no strain nor string
The songs of Zion's land to sing.
But thee—Jerusalem! when my heart
Ceases to yearn and bleed for thee,
May skill from my right hand depart,
And my reward let bondage be!
There lies engraved thy temple fair,
And Name that once we worshipped there!
Jehovah, in thy strength awake;
Be vengeance on the heathen driven;
Before thee let the mountains quake,
Thy chariot be the winds of heaven!
Come on the clouds, and who shall stand
Against the sway of thy right hand?
Think not of us, so far removed,
And as a garment cast away—
Think on our fathers once beloved;
Must David's house like grass decay?
Return, and set thy people free,
And captives yet shall sing to thee!
Be vengeance on the heathen driven;
Before thee let the mountains quake,
Thy chariot be the winds of heaven!
Come on the clouds, and who shall stand
Against the sway of thy right hand?
Think not of us, so far removed,
And as a garment cast away—
Think on our fathers once beloved;
Must David's house like grass decay?
Return, and set thy people free,
And captives yet shall sing to thee!
| The Works of The Ettrick Shepherd | |