Pearls of wisdom in our Talmud,

Gems our sages' lore affords;

Thou shalt taste of prayer's first sweetness
And the charm of God's great words.

Ne'er forget thou art a Hebrew !
Little son, remember well,
Even to the grave, the stories

That thy mother used to tell!

EZEKIEL LEAVITT

Translation from the Russian by Alice Stone Blackwell

153

A PSALM OF LIFE

WHAT THE HEART OF THE YOUNG MAN SAID
TO THE PSALMIST

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
“Life is but an empty dream!"

For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal;
"Dust thou art, to dust returnest,"
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment and not sorrow
Is our destined end or way,
But to act, that each to-morrow
Finds us further than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting;

And our hearts, though stout and brave, Still, like muffled drums, are beating Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,

Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, act in the living Present,—
Heart within, and God o'erhead.

Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time!

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

HENRY W. LONGFELLOW

154

CHARITY

O Charity-thou queen of virtues all,—
In whose blest name all men for succor call—
Fill with thy noble warmth each gentle breast,
Be thou in manly hearts an honored guest!

With thy sweet promptings teach the child in play
That gracious hearts are happy hearts alway.
For who so blessèd as the man who gives?
Who feels the world is better that he lives?

Deep misery lies broadcast through the land;
Its one salvation is a lavish hand,—
The hand of Charity, which gently dries
The widow's tears and stills the orphan's cries;

Which reaches out fraternally to those
O'er whom the Waters of Despair would close,
Were they not drawn unto a safer shore,
And given hope of fairer life once more!

Thou Child of Heaven with the love-lit eyes,
See, on all sides thy many altars rise;
Their fires gladly fed at thy soft call,
When thy blest spirit rests upon us all.

DEBORAH KLEINERT JANOWITZ

155

THE MYSTIC TIE

There is a mystic tie that binds

The children of the Hebrew race In bonds of sympathy and love,

Which time and change cannot efface.

When, 'mid the world's abuse and scorn,
The sons of Israel bravely stood,
That bond was holier, stronger still,
Cemented by their martyrs' blood.

And though to-day the Hebrews dwell
In every clime and every land,
Yet, joined by that immortal tie,
A holy brotherhood they stand.

Go to the North, where Polar stars
Look down on fields of ice and snow;

Go where, in sunny tropic climes,
The gentle breezes softly blow;

Go to the countries of the East,
Arabia and the Hindoo land;
Go where the calm Pacific sweeps
'Gainst California's golden strand;-

And there, in reverent tones, is heard
The sacred cry, always the same,

"O Israel, hear! our God is one;

Blest be for aye His holy name!"

This is the mystic tie that binds

The children of the Hebrew race;
This is the grand and holy bond

Which time and change cannot efface.

MAX MEYERHARDT

156

PRAISE YE THE LORD

Praise ye the Lord! for it is good
His mighty acts to magnify,
And make those mercies understood
His hand delights to multiply—
Praise ye the Lord!

Break forth, O Israel! into song;
Let hymns ascend to heaven's vault.
No sweeter task hath mortal tongue,
Than its Creator to exalt!

Praise ye the Lord!

157

PENINA MOÏSE

THE SOUL

There is a vital spark of heavenly flame

That fills and permeates the mortal frame,

Which He with sacred thoughts doth oft inspire, Who filled Isaiah with poetic fire.