Joseph Friedlander, comp. The Standard Book of Jewish Verse. 1917.
By Joseph K. ForanRosh-Hashanah
I
Like one of the olden time;
And I dreamt a dream recalling
The scenes in an Orient clime;
And I felt, though somewhat strangely,
An influence sublime!
Of the old Mosaic law;
And the white-robed ancient Rabbis,
Again, in that dream I saw;
And the Hebrew psalms are chanted,
Those hymns of praise and awe.
Arose, as in days of old,
When each prophet after prophet
His tale of promise told;
And the shades of by-gone glories
Before my vision rolled.
That ancient sacred day,
When the memories of the ages,
Awake from time’s decay,
And the hopes of future glories
Are bright as the morning’s ray!
Of the Great Eternal God,
Still bend in mute submission
To sorrow’s painful rod;
Desirous still to follow
The road by their fathers trod.
Could be but a passing show?
And the echoes of the by-gone
Replied to my doubtings, “No.”
And I felt in their constant waiting,
Their strength must nobler grow!