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| CAPTIVE of sorrow on a foreign shore, | |
| A handmaid as ’neath Egypt’s slavery; | |
| Through the dark day of her bereavement sore | |
| She looketh unto Thee. | |
| Restore her sons, O Mighty One of old! | 5 |
| Her remnant tenth shall cause man’s strife to cease. | |
| O speed the message; swiftly be she told | |
| Good tidings, which Elijah shall unfold: | |
| Daughter of Zion, sing aloud! behold | |
| Thy Prince of Peace! | 10 |
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| Wherefore wilt Thou forget us, Lord, for aye? | |
| Mercy we crave! | |
| O Lord, we hope in Thee alway, | |
| Our King will save! | |
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| Surely a limit boundeth every woe, | 15 |
| But mine enduring anguish hath no end; | |
| My grievous years are spent in ceaseless flow, | |
| My wound hath no amend. | |
| O’erwhelmed, my helm doth fail, no hand is strong | |
| To steer the bark to port, her longed for aim. | 20 |
| How long, O Lord, wilt Thou my doom prolong? | |
| When shall be heard the dove’s sweet voice of song? | |
| O leave us not to perish for our wrong, | |
| Who bear Thy Name! | |
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| Wherefore wilt Thou forget us, Lord, for aye? | 25 |
| Mercy we crave! | |
| O Lord, we hope in Thee alway, | |
| Our King will save! | |
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| Wounded and crushed, beneath my load I sigh, | |
| Despised and abject, outcast, trampled low; | 30 |
| How long, O Lord, shall I of violence cry, | |
| My heart dissolve with woe? | |
| How many years, without a gleam of light, | |
| Has thraldom been our lot, our portion pain! | |
| With Ishmael as a lion in his might, | 35 |
| And Persia as an owl of darksome night, | |
| Beset on either side, behold our plight | |
| Betwixt the twain. | |
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| Wherefore wilt Thou forget us, Lord, for aye? | |
| Mercy we crave! | 40 |
| O Lord, we hope in Thee alway, | |
| Our King will save! | |
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| Is this Thy voice? | |
| The voice of captive Ariel’s woe unhealed? | |
| Virgin of Israel, arise, rejoice! | 45 |
| In Daniel’s vision, lo, the end is sealed | |
| When Michael on the height | |
| Shall stand aloft in strength, | |
| And shout aloud in might, | |
| And a Redeemer come to Zion at length. | 50 |
| Amen, amen, behold | |
| The Lord’s decree foretold. | |
| E’en as Thou hast our souls afflicted sore, | |
| So wilt Thou make us glad for evermore! | |
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| Wherefore wilt Thou forget us, Lord, for aye? | 55 |
| Mercy we crave! | |
| O Lord, we hope in Thee alway, | |
| Our King will save! | |
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