It was cast from home and country,
Gloom and sorrow were its daily lot;
Yet the torch of faith gleamed steady,
Courage, like thy oil, forsook it not.
Mocks and jeers were all its portion,

Death assailed it in ten thousand forms—
Yet this people never faltered,

Hope, its beacon, led it through all storms.
Poorer than dumb, driven cattle,

It went forth enslaved from its estate,
All its footsore wand'rings lighted

By its consciousness of worth innate.
Luckless fortunes could not bend it;

Unjust laws increased its wondrous faith;
From its heart, exhaustless streaming,

Freedom's light shone on its thorny path.
Oil that burnt in olden Temple,

Eight days only didst thou give forth light!
Oil of faith sustained this people

Through the centuries of darkest night!

CAROLINE DEUTSCH.

The Feast of Lights

KINDLE the taper like the steadfast star

Ablaze on evening's forehead o'er the earth, And add each night a lustre till afar

An eightfold splendor shine above thy hearth. Clash, Israel, the cymbals, touch the lyre,

Blow the brass trumpet and the harsh-tongued horn;
Chant psalms of victory till the heart take fire,
The Maccabean spirit leap new-born.

Remember how from wintry dawn till night,
Such songs were sung in Zion, when again
On the high altar flamed the sacred light,
And, purified from every Syrian stain,

The foam-white walls with golden shields were hung,
With crowns and silken spoils, and at the shrine,

- Stood, midst their conqueror-tribe, five chieftains sprung

From one heroic stock, one seed divine.

Five branches grown from Mattathias' stem,
The Blessed John, the Keen-Eyed Jonathan,
Simon the fair, the Burst-of-Spring, the Gem,
Eleazar, Help of God; o'er all his clan
Judas the Lion-Prince, the Avenging Rod,
Towered in warrior-beauty, uncrowned king,
Armed with the breastplate and the sword of God,
Whose praise is: "He received the perishing."

They who had camped within the mountain-pass,
Couched on the rock, and tented 'neath the sky,
Who saw from Mizpah's height the tangled grass
Choke the wide Temple-courts, the altar lie
Disfigured and polluted-who had flung

Their faces on the stones, and mourned aloud
And rent their garments, wailing with one tongue,
Crushed as a wind-swept bed of reeds is bowed,

Even they by one voice fired, one heart of flame,
Though broken reeds, had risen, and were men,
They rushed upon the spoiler and o'ercame,

Each arm for freedom had the strength of ten.
Now is their mourning into dancing turned,
Their sackcloth doffed for garments of delight,
Week-long the festive torches shall be burned,
Music and revelry wed day with night.

Still ours the dance, the feast, the glorious Psalm,
The mystic lights of emblem and the Word.

Where is our Judas? Where are our five-branched

palm?

Where are the lion-warriors of the Lord?

Clash, Israel, the cymbals, touch the lyre,

Sound the brass trumpet and the harsh-tongued horn, Chant hymns of victory till the heart take fire,

The Maccabean spirit leap new-born!

EMMA LAZARUS.

Chanukah Hymn

LORD, the true that follow thee
Beam in vict'ry's radiant light,
Fill'd their hearts with joyous glee,
Even in the darkest night.

Roaring billows wild and fleet,
Onward pressed the enemy's band;
Israel's remnant Jacob's seat,

How wilt thou their might withstand?

Rise ye heroes, rise to fight

For your standard, truth divine,
Not by numbers nor by might,
By his spirit ye shall shine.

And inspired by such appeal

Ev'ry man to hosts increased;
And they fought with holy zeal
Till the tyrant-hold released.
Lord, thy truth, thy holy love,
Is our cherish'd banner still;
And in faith for evermore,
Thy command we follow will.

ADOLPH HUEBSCH.

Golden Lights for Chanukah

GOLDEN lights, shine out anew,

Shine out with radiance bright and true,

While gazing on your golden glow
You speak to me of long ago.
Of patriots who shed their blood
For Israel's cause, for faith, for God.
Did not they sacrifice their all

When clarion-like there came the call?
"Whose on the Lord's side, come to me,
Lord among the gods, who is like thee?"
JANIE JACOBSON.

The Eight Chanukah Lights

WITH fervor and joy we give thanks to the Lord,

And glory and praise to His name we accord, While we greet with great gladness this glorious night And piously kindle each Chanukah light.

To God who is one, and whose name is but one,
We'll ever feel grateful for what He has done;
When all our race was as dark as the night

Said the Guardian of Israel, "Let there be light!"

The Commandments God gave to our nation alone, Whose words were engraved on two tablets of stone; And our people were chosen, with zeal and with might,

To spread through the world the great heavenly light.

Our fathers most nobly have striven to be
As true to their God as the patriarchs three,
Whose faith was a star which was shining so bright
That the gloom of the world was illumed by its light.

Four parts of the world-north, south, west and

east

See the Israelites keeping the Chanukah feast,
Who, just like ourselves, are performing the rite
Of piously kindling each Chanukah light.

The five Hasmoneans whose memory dear

The sons of our people will ever revere,

With the courage of heroes did fight for the right, And God's Temple they cleansed and rekindled the light.

Six days we must labor and do all our work,
And woe unto him who his duty doth shirk!
Though the battle of life is a hard one to fight,
With heaven's assistance our task is made light,

When the seventh day comes, by God hallowed and blest,

We should joyfully welcome the day of sweet rest, For our lives are made happy and rendered more

By the joys of the Sabbath, its peace and its light.

May the eight days of Chanukah strengthen our mind
To continue to labor for God and mankind,
Till the day shall arrive when all men will unite
To serve the one God and to walk in His light.

ISIDORE MYERS.

Chanukah Lights

A SINGLE light is kindled and it glows

Upon the darkness with a golden ray

A little feeble light, but yet it shows
The night has still a fraction of the day.

The single light has grown to two;

The friend has won a friend, the light
Has warmed another heart, and through
One fervor, two now pierce the night.

The double light has grown to three,
That brilliantly illumes the eve;
Thus ever shall bright constancy
The fruits of faithfulness receive!

Three little lights have grown to four;
How softly, sweetly do they shine.
Their grace on all dark places pour
A reflex of the light divine!

Behold, the lights have grown to five!
So courage grows in hearts that trust
God's mercy, who will keep alive

His children, though they be but dust.