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| FROM far-off ages hath this people sprung, | |
| To Yahweh clinging still, as they have clung | |
| The centuries through. Tenacity of mind | |
| In every generation—well defined— | |
| And purposes unshaken, are the fruit | 5 |
| Of worship such as theirs. They pay no suit | |
| To king or prince for favors. Like a rock | |
| That’s beaten by the waves they stand the shock | |
| Of prejudice, that, never ceasing, rolls | |
| And rushes all around them. And their souls | 10 |
| Within their temples cluster, drawing near | |
| The altar that has ever been so dear | |
| To Israel; and Israel’s mighty God | |
| Seems here to speak the plainer. From the rod | |
| Of gentile hatred here they turn to pray, | 15 |
| For this to them seems the most righteous way. | |
| While we, whose minds in every season turn | |
| To seek or find some “New Religion,” learn | |
| To look upon the Israelitish men | |
| With reverence for their steadfast worship. When | 20 |
| The “candles” we have lighted waver so | |
| That we are lost in “ists” and “isms,” lo! | |
| We see their great lamp burning still and bright; | |
| A long white pathway shining on the night! | |
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