 | The music-lesson of Confucius, And Other Poems |  |
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MIRIAM.
OH Miriam! Pearl of the morning, gazelle of the palm-land, soul of my spirit,Daughter of Akiba, beloved of the faithful and the Goyim!
Blue sea; sister of lilies and roses!
There came to me a dream fresh on the wings of the morning,
Soft as the light of the Silver Sabbath lamp, when it shines on the Pesach feast.
Dear as thine eye when loveliest beaming, love's sister.
I walked by thy side in a dream; we walked by a river:—
Jordan rolls not more gently: purple its waters;
Thine eyes were upon me, beloved, thy star-light eyes, blessed as the lamp of the Sanctuary,
Black eyes of infinite fire—oh soul, thou art lovely!
Beauty of the East—the golden sequins and ear-rings—the antique gold of Judea,
Which hangs upon thy forehead with the golden earrings from Damascus,
Which thou had'st from Sara thy aunt—all the gold around thy dear face
Is but the frame of a picture too fine for its setting,
My arm and thine twined like the vines in spring,
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I kissed thee, oh beloved!—on the sand by the purple waters.
Anna the gracious is fair; fair, too, is Sara the mistress;
Abigail the joy of her father, and Ruth the satisfied;
Tabitha the roe-buck, light are her footsteps and lovely;
Esther the secret and silent, and Rachel the sheep;
Eva life giving; Judith praising, confessing;
Jemima fair as the day; Hagar, the stranger;
Hannah gracious and merciful; Huldah all the world;
Yes, all the world and its loveliness hath nothing like thine, little sister!
Thy bitterness, oh Miriam, is sweeter than all their sweetness!
| The music-lesson of Confucius, And Other Poems | |