LITTLE cruet in the Temple That dost feed the sacrificial flame, What a true expressive symbol Art thou of my race, of Israel's fame! Thou for days the oil didst furnish To illume the Temple won from foe— So for centuries in my people Spirit of resistance ne'er burnt low. 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! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A BOOK OF AIRS: SONG 2 by THOMAS CAMPION THE COMET AT YELL'HAM by THOMAS HARDY THE FAIRIES OF THE CALDON LOW; A MIDSUMMER LEGEND by MARY HOWITT IN MEMORY OF WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR by ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE THE COMPLAINT OF FANCY by MATILDA BARBARA BETHAM-EDWARDS THE KNIGHTS by ABBIE FARWELL BROWN LINES FROM A NOTEBOOK - NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1806 by SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE |