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Home  »  library  »  poem  »  Longing for Jerusalem

C.D. Warner, et al., comp. The Library of the World’s Best Literature.
An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.

Longing for Jerusalem

By Judah Halevi (c. 1075–1141)

Translation of Emma Lazarus

O CITY of the world, with sacred splendor blest,

My spirit yearns to thee from out the far-off West;

A stream of love wells forth when I recall thy day;

Now is thy temple waste, thy glory passed away.

Had I an eagle’s wings, straight would I fly to thee,

Moisten thy holy dust with wet cheeks streaming free.

Oh! how I long for thee! albeit thy King has gone,

Albeit where balm once flowed, the serpent dwells alone.

Could I but kiss thy dust, so would I fain expire,

As sweet as honey then, my passion, my desire!