Joseph Friedlander, comp. The Standard Book of Jewish Verse. 1917.
By E. H. PlumptreDuring the Crusades (Yes, they slay us and they smite)
Y
Vex our souls with sore affright;
All the closer cleave we, Lord,
To thine everlasting word.
Not a word of all their Mass
Shall our lips in homage pass;
Though they curse, and bind, and kill,
The living God is with us still.
Yes, they fain would make us now,
Baptized, at Baal’s altar bow;
On their raiment, wrought with gold,
See the sign we hateful hold;
And, with words of foulest shame,
They outrage, Lord, the holiest name.
We still are thine, though limbs are torn;
Better death than life forsworn.
Rob their children of their breath;
Fathers, in their fiery zeal,
Slay their sons with murderous steel;
And in heat of holiest strife,
For love of Thee, spare not their life.
The fair and young lie down to die
In witness of Thy Unity;
From dying lips the accents swell,
“Thy God is One, O Israel”;
And bridegroom answers unto bride,
“The Lord is One, and none beside”;
And, knit with bonds of holiest faith,
They pass to endless life through death.