No. VII
The Ninth of Ab
I.
The daughter of Zion is desolate now,
She weeps o’er the shame of defeat;
For Roma hath taken the crown from her brow,
And trampled it under her feet;
The streets of Jerusalem are silent—no sound
Of childhood’s glad voices is heard;
There is nothing to break the deep stillness around,
Save the cry of the carrion bird.
II.
Shame and sorrow have darkened the Queen of the
East,
She weeps o’er the glory that’s fled,
The vulture and wolf hold their terrible feast
O’er her noble and beautiful dead.
She has seen her proud cities enveloped in flame,
Her palaces made into graves,
And her children deprived of their home and their name,
Exposed in the market for slaves.
III.
She sitteth alone in the midst of her griefs,
And the nations around her deride,
And tauntingly ask for the glorious chiefs,
Who defended the day of her pride.
Yet arouse thee, O Zion! time yet shall have birth
That to thee shall greatness restore;
And e’en from the uttermost parts of the earth
Shall thy children return to thy shore.
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