i EQENDS THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES AND OTHER POEMS. OM MANI PADME HUM.-BUDDHA BY NEW YORK : BROWN & DERBY, PUBLISHERS. 1883. Copyright, 1883, by H. M. BIEN. El ERRATA. In consequence of the great distance from the author to the place of publication, the following errors remained uncorrected : Page 38, line 9 read: "Chasidim" instead of "the Chasi- dim." " 38, " 19 " " That parents " instead of "And par ents." " 46, 16 " " and there " instead of "and then." " 49, " 1 6 " "concocted rash" instead of "con cocted " " 57. " !2 " "concocted rash" instead of "con cocted." " 52, " 9 " " curst " instead of " cursed." " 54. " 7 " " curst " instead of " cursed." " 78, " 7 " "was bereft a mother" instead of " mourns her lost a mother." " 78 " 15 " " a yearning mother " instead of " be reft a mother." 78 '" 16 " " moans " instead of " mourns. " 79 " 7 " "Rest in peace! all" instead of " Reste in pace." dash after " Ghetto." 125 J 4 add 132 " 15 read " Till its abode, if " instead of its abode." Until p- ^_ \ v ^F4* *Ci 7S / i Jt Ml TO Oenerous Subscribers WHO HAVE SO KINDLY ENCOURAGED ME TO COLLECT ' THESE STRAY RHYMES OF MY LEISURE, AND TO THE INTELLIGENT READING PUBLIC AT LARGE, ALL OF WHOM WILL, IT IS HOPED, PATIENTLY BEAR WITH THEIR MANY DEFECTS, THIS VOLUME IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED. *e- ;^fr->* CONTENTS. PROEM, ORIENTAL LEGENDS. THE BIRTH OF THE HEART, THE CREATION OF MAN THE CREATION OF WOMAN, . . PARADISE LOST AND REGAINED, THE FIRST-BLOWN ROSE SOLOMON'S JUDGMENT KING AND PROPHET, JOCHANNAN BEN SAKKAI THE BEST AND THE WORST, DOG, HORSE, AND HOG REDEEMED, AQUA VVV/E ; Or, The First Delirium Tremens, TORTURE (monologue from Drama " Genius 1 '), THE ACCEPTED PLEDGE, . ir 15 19 22 25 28 32 36 43 46 47 49 58 59 STREET PICTURES. STREET PICTURES, 65 LYRIC TRIFLES. SONNET, 77 IN MEMORIAM Adolph Cremieux, Life-Senator of France, 78 JUDGE NOT, CONDEMN NOT, THINK OF IT IN MEMORIAM William Cullen Bryant, .... NECRODULIE Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, THE DEAD RABBI Rev. Dr. Max Lilienthal, . CONTENTS. THE SONG OF THE JEWELER, . ADIEU, ADIEU ! I GAVE THEE UP, To THE MEMORY OF A DEPARTED FRIEND, NIL DESPERANDUM, ..... I THINK OF THEE, I THINK OF THEE, To LOVE AND BE LOVED IN RETURN, To LOVE IN VAIN WHAT AGONY ! . SONG (from the Drama "Genius"), . SONG (from the Drama "Samson"), . FOURTH OF JULY, 1861, .... OTHER POEMS. go 92 93 94 95 96 97 YAH ! YAH ! 101 BANKRUPT, ... 109 SUNSET ON MOUNT DAVIDSON, ...... 112 TlCONDEROGA CENTENNIAL, 115 SERIOUS MISTAKE, "7 WASHINGTON'S JUDGMENT, 119 THE WHITEWASH-BRUSH 122 NEIR TOMID 124 FEBRILE FRENZIES 13 THE GERMAN VOLUNTEER (1862), 141 A COURT SCENE, 143 REMORSE, 147 NEVER, NEVER, NEVER ! 148 A CENTENNIAL POEM 1876 15 THE COLLECTOR'S WIFE 153 THE RUSSIAN EXILE, . 157 THE ORPHAN ASYLUM IN VIENNA, . . . ... 163 THE ORIGIN OF THE DIAMOND, 166 URIEL DA COSTA, . . . . > . . .168 A DOCTOR'S PANEGYRIC, . . . - '. . 171 AN APPEAL TO AMERICA AGAINST SECTARIAN AGITATIONS, 176 EPITOMA JUDAICA. DEDICATORY ADDRESS, . . . . 181 ^ ' ORIENTAL LEGENDS. / have read your various " Oriental Legends" with great interest and pleasure. H . W. LONGFELLOW. . pRoem. THIS blank sheet of writing-paper At which I now careless glance, Half in dream and half in trance, Serves, perhaps, as toy or taper, At the will of fate or chance. In the cause of God or devil It may wouk for good or evil- Truth proclaim or ignorance. Or may be a merchant failing, Stays his ruin yet awhile With this scrap and by his guile, Nay, some prisoner at the railing Trusting Mercy's hopeful smile, Feels his heart sink, deathly smitten, When the jury's verdict, written, By this paper, goes on file. t Or perchance some bashful lover, With a trembling or a frown, Tries to write his passion down ; Or the leaf becomes a cover IO PROEM, For some trick of rogue or clown. It has power to bind and sever, To enslave or free forever, Sink or raise a realm or crown. Who, who dare claim the decision Its true purport or its way To predict, or guess, or say? Such, ha, ha! is human vision! Speculate as e'er we may, It ends most like this in vapor ; Served already has the paper For a Minstrel's roundelay. ' THE BIRTH OF THE HEART. HAVE ever you heard the tradition of old, Amongst the Orientals often told, How that beautiful part, The human heart Heaven's own image and counterpart, Angelic essence, spirit and mould- Was wrought at the final hour of creation, Idea sublime, God's best inspiration? The story is certainly good to repeat ; And thus it doth run : All fair and complete, The universe stood, In the attitude Of youth and perfection, grand and good. The Sabbath approached. At the Maker's feet, ORIENTAL LEGENDS. In clay, stood the form of Adam created ; The breath of life he only awaited. The angels to whom had been assigned The forming of first of humankind, With pride and zest Had done their best To make him superior to all the rest Perfection, use, and beauty combined. Alas! the most vital part, they lamented, Had been forgotten ; too late they repented. The heart they omitted ! In trouble and shame Bowed down before the Almighty, they came. " How shall we atone For duty undone?" Then spake the Lord : " Peace, every one ! Go gather quick, in My holy name, What fragments are left from My six days' labor." Each joyfully hastened away with his neighbor. And presently every one returns In hope that speed forgiveness earns. And such a string Of scraps they bring, THE BIRTH OF THE HEART. \ 3 Incongruous and everything. It seems they gathered from endless concerns Abundance of stern and grotesque material, Solids and fluids, gross and aerial. One brought of lion's pomposity, Another of tiger's ferocity; With jackal's greed, And antelope's speed, Courage and pride of the wilderness' steed ; The fox's guile, the wild goat's glee, The serpent's cunning, the lamb's mild fea tures The virtue and vice of all living creatures. The song of the birds, the howl of the wolf; The ripple of fountains, the roar of the gulf; The flowers' perfume; The smell of the tomb ; The light of the sun and dark night's gloom; With acid muriatic and nitric and sulph., Heat of the flame and glaciers frozen Of life and death some each had chosen. The Lord in mercy and kindness smiled When He saw what was brought to His hu man child ; 14 ORIENTAL LEGENDS. And He added Love Bright, shining dove ! Strengthened by Hope for here and Above,. And covered the whole with Charity mild ; Then breathed in man's nostrils the life he awaited. And Sabbath had come ! The World was created ! Thus runs in tradition the legend of old, Amongst the Orientals often told: How that beautiful part, The human heart Heaven's own image and counterpart ; Its angel essence and spirit and mould, Idea sublime, God's best inspiration Was wrought at the final hour of creation. CREATION OF MAN. THE CREATION OF MAN. " And Elohim said, Let us make man in our own image and likeness." GENESIS i. 26. ' FROiM out the quaint Agadah * of old Talmudic fame This mystical tradition of man's creation came : In six days were completely the earth and heaven made, With all their hosts "And very good they are ! " the Lord hath said. Entire the work is done, Except the final one That one in whom without a doubt it shall be demonstrated : He is the crown and masterpiece of every thing created. Then each celestial legion, the angels far and near, Immediately were summoned for council to appear. * The legendary part of the Talmud. 16 ORIENTAL LEGENDS. Harmonious ring hosannas in welling, swell ing tone, Till music fills the endless sphere, when God spake from His throne : " My will, My scope and plan, It fits: let Us make man! To rule the world and all thereof 'tis My ma ture reflection ; But whosoever choose may urge now any fair objection.". Forthwith entreated Justice, whose words like prayer seem : " Thy wisdom, Heavenly Father, in all things is supreme ! But man called to existence will right defy, and oh ! With cruelty, wrong, and lawlessness, with anguish, tears, and woe, The guiltless earth he'll fill ; Therefore abide Thy will ! Ah ! keep unstained this perfect world, whose beauties are unnumbered ; Create him not, nor mar nor spoil this globe by man encumbered." THE CREA TION OF MAN. \ 7 The angel Truth next uttered this earnest, fervent plea : " We all submit devoutly to Thy divine decree. O Father! wherefore wilt Thou not from this work abstain ? For man, when once created, will never more refrain, With calumny and lie, Thy kingdom to defy ; Veracity from earth will part, and happiness will vanish. Create him not! Thus falsehood Thou wilt from creation banish ! " Now Freedom quick stepped forward and pleaded piteously : " If Thou, O God ! must fashion this man, let me first die ; For in his wake are coming destructive, crush ing trains- Oppression, tyranny, and slaves with shackles, bonds, and chains. His advent sure will stay On earth Thy glorious sway." fe^^fs 18 ORIENTAL LEGENDS. All Heaven seemed moved at these sad words, tearful exclaimed and kneeling : "Create him not! leave man undone!'' thus Liberty's appealing. There was a hush of silence, as from the fore most band A trio of seraphim came forward, hand in hand ; Like symphonies resounded sweet their united prayer : "Create, O Lord! create Thou man; entrust him to our care. Untired and firm, though mild, We'll ever lead Thy child From sin and error of the earth, high to sal vation's region. Create him, Lord ! " thus loud implore Love, Faith, and Hope Religion. From dust of earth Elohim formed man, to end this strife. And then into his nostrils God breathed the breath of life. 7YCW WOMAN. In his own image and likeness created Adam He: And blessed him with dominion o'er the land and o'er the sea ; Endowed him most sublime, To reach his goal betime, Ordaining that humanity in holy troth be plighted To Justice, Truth, to Freedom, Love, to Faith and Hope united. THE CREATION OF WOMAN. THUS runs the parable the rabbins have related How in the world's beginning woman was created : " It is not good that man should be alone," The Lord said, as He summoned to His thrpne The hosts of Heaven. "Adam must be mated ! God and two loving hearts alone shall be but One." * 20 ORIENTAL LEGENDS. And then was brought before the angels with out number Adam, the first of man, in deep and death like slumber. To every human part was speech supplied, For each to state which one should make the bride. They must, however, not God's plan encumber, Her truly to become his helpmate, friend, and guide. Now Heaven was filled with loud and eloquent recitals Of heart and brains, of trunk and all the limbs and vitals. Each one most fervent urged his special cause, As litigants obscure or unmade laws. Such stretched importance, claims, unheard-of titles ! One would have thought the world with out them came to pause. At last, when vanity and self-praise* long had spoken, A rib stood bashful forth and plead : " I'm but a token , THE CREA TION OF WOMAN. Of modest merit, trying by the grace Of Thee, my Maker, to fill out my place ; I know that I must bend, or will be broken ; Submission is my claim, unselfishness my case." " Thou art the chosen ! " spake the Lord, " and here I shower Upon thee all man's highest concentrated power." One touch of His creative hand did weave Such beauty, grace, such love, strength to believe,. Such amiability, a woman's dower, That all celestials sang hosanna born was Eve. Then Adam woke, and there beheld with dazed sensation, His loving, longing, fervent, erst imagina tion ; The being comely, modest, pure, and fresh, Into his arms entwines as in a mesh. " Thou mother of all future generations, Bone art thou of my bone," he cries, " flesh of my flesh ! " 22 ORIENTAL LEGENDS. Thus runs the parable the rabbins have re lated,. How in the world's beginning woman was created. And God blessed marriage, and this law He gives : That man his father and his mother leaves; And when two hearts in love are truly mated, They One become, as each unto the other cleaves. PARADISE LOST AND REGAINED. MOST tender of stories the East has re tained, How Eden was lost once and fully regained. Inscribed in their lore-books, they always in dite it The song of " Sweet Home ! " and they often recite it. For primal transgression were banished precise, The first of our parents from out paradise. An angel came quickly, expelling the mortals, His sword, with its flaming sweeps, guarding the portals. ^"^ PARADISE LOST AND REGAINED. 2$ Forlorn and bewildered, and all in despair, Stood, weeping and moaning, the desolate pair. Now Adam exclaimed loud : " From Eden drove hither, Where shall we find comfort? go whither oh! whither?" And Eve on his bosom did pitiful cry : " Alas ! disobedient and sinful was I." As thus they lamented, the angel felt sorry To see them thus troubled, to hear them thus worry ; And slowing the swing of his glittering blade, In mildest of accents he unto them said : "Bewail your apparent misfortune no longer; Submission and patience make all of us stronger. " Resign ye the loss by God it was planned. Now make you an Eden yourself! Understand, No matter how poor and no matter how wealthy ; No matter how suffering, ill, or how healthy ; " No matter the distance, condition, or time, And spite of all hardships of seasons or clime ; 24 ORIENTAL LEGENDS. No matter what Providence fates for to-mor row, Come tears or come smiles, come joy or come sorrow ; " Wherever you wander and whither you roam, Your Eden you'll find where you build up your home A home filled with quiet, with peace, and con tentment, Without the arch-tempter, the serpent Resent ment ; " A home which is filled with the purest of love, With best gift of Eden the trust in Above." So spoke the kind cherub ! They listened as tonished ; In heart and in soul they felt strong, thus ad monished. Thus regained for man is, by angel's advice, The Home ! May God bless it the lost Para dise ! From th' East to the West, by all nations des canted, The song of " Sweet Home " will forever be chanted. FIRST-BLOWN ROSE. 25 ** THE FIRST-BLOWN ROSE. I. IT is not every one who knows How erst bloomed forth the first blown Rose, As sung in grove and told in tent, A legend of the Orient ; Still cherished as in by-gone times. Thus run the rhythm and the rhymes : Where the desert meets the mountain rising from the burning sands, Far away from palm and lotus, crippled, dwarfed, a thorn-bush stands. Never had a flower opened from beneath its twigs or leaves ; Covered with the dust of ages, droopingly it sways and grieves. From afar and from anear It must, humbled, mutely hear Taunt and spife, and sore reproaches of luxu riant oasis ; From the haughty Leb'non cedars to the tini est valley daisies. ty* L r^is^r- ** ^ ^ M ORIENTAL LEGENDS. n. 'Tis even-tide. The Occident glows. Now big dew -tears the foliage throws On parched roots which claw the rocks, When far away the bleat of flocks Wakes faint the echoes from the height, From whence a man appears in sight. Tenderly the shepherd carries on his breast a little lamb Which had strayed and would have perished, separated from its dam, Had not lovingly its guardian, Moses, safely borne it hence. Then it was resolved in Heaven, by decree of Providence : Who such tender mercy shows To dumb creatures' need and woes, Sure is fit for greater labor; his shall be the high commission, That he lead, from Egypt's bondage, Isr'el free to noblest mission. in. As down the steep declivity The Hebrew prophet comes, lo ! see, FIRST-BLO WN ROSE. At Horeb's base, the strangest fire ! It burns and burns, nor does expire ; Nor does consume a single rush ; Nor smoke exhales the flaming brush ! Exodus, the whole third chapter, this event in Holy Writ, Full of highest inspiration, hath recorded, grandly fit : Miracles wrought here at nightfall, stay of some of Nature's laws, These sublime events foreshadowed Free dom's origin and cause. First-blown Rose, traditions say, Graced the bush at dawn of day ; And its glorious seed grew ever, envy of all vegetation. Desert-born, it blooms, an emblem : Heaven's true love for God's own nation. 28 ORIENTAL LEGENDS. T SOLOMON'S JUDGMENT. 'HE holy tabernacle, the people's outer court, Is thronged, for all Jerus'lem is wild with strange report. Yet soon the stirred commotion subsides and all bend low King Solomon is coming in royal pomp and show. The silver horns' alarum proclaim in clarion tone: His majesty for judgment ascends his father's throne. No precedent had ever the case he is to hear ; Before the high tribunal two women do ap pear. One brings in court an infant a lovely, living child, Sublimely personating all that is pure and mild. * SOLOMON'S JUDGMENT. 29 The other, too, she carries a boy, but he is dead Like envy and disappointment is drooping- low her head. " My Lord, oh ! give me judgment," she with the corpse exclaims ; " This wicked woman weeping, her sex and nation shames. One dwelling since Passover we occupied alone, And both became there mothers ere yet a month was gone. " Imagine, then, my terror, at break of day this morn, Awaking from my slumbers I'd nurse the newly-born ; I find this choked, dead bastard right lying on my arm Exchanged she had the infants : her own did meet with harm ! " Thus hoarse, yet loud, she clamors, in attitude to wrest The suckling who is closely hugged to the other's breast. ( O ORIENTAL LEGENDS. But the accused sobs broken : " O king ! do hear me plead ! This is my own, believe me my flesh and blood indeed." " The little one behold him ! How sweetly see, he smiled ! Oh ! surely thou wilt never bereave me of my child?" " Thy child ! No, mine ! " alternate vociferous they repeat. But now the king bids, " Silence ! " while ris ing from his seat., A bodyguard he summons: "Both children take, and hew Them firmly with thy broadsword, for Justice sake, in two ; And give to each her portion the living one slay first." " So mote it be ! " cries boldly the one who spoke out erst. V According to the mandate, the soldier, though he shakes, His weapon raised already, the weeping infant takes. SOLOMON'S JUDGMENT. 3 I " Have mercy ! " cries the other ; " give her the live child stay ! " " No," quoth the first, " divide them ; let Jus tice have her sway." " Hold, hold ! " commands the sovereign. He gladly was obeyed ; And from the throne descending, to her who kneels he said, While in his arms, moved deeply, the babe to her he bore : " Thou truly art his mother ! I doubt thy claim no more. " Here, take thy son ! " The people shout till the air did ring : " Hail ! God hath given wisdom to Solomon, our king ! Thrice hail ! He hath established the law di vine Above : It shall be known fdr ever a mother's heart and love ! " 3 2 ORIENTAL LEGENDS. KING AND PROPHET. " Come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord : Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall become as white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." ISAIAH i. 18. I. YON in his blood lies welt'ring a noble warrior slain, Betrayed by royal sycophants, a hero in their craven train ; Unto his wife the sovereign adulterous love has nursed, Therefore Uriah needs must die, but David lives disgraced and cursed. II. The misled woman sobs, all fears, Uncomforted, in floods of tears : " I loved him, heart and soul, alone ; My grief will not my guilt atone." Since David in her arms reposed Sleep never has his eyelids closed ; A bloody shadow of affright, A spectre haunts him day and night. *E PROPHET, III. Crowned and sceptred sate In the temple's gate David as judge in Hebrew, " Shofet." He and the people behold, In dignity of old, Nathan, the aged seer and prophet. Cries : " Whom wrongs aggrieve Justice must receive, King! for this are kings appointed. List, then, to my case, Heartless, vile, and base, And redress it, Lord's anointed ! IV. " Sire, there lives within thy realms One whom fortune ever favored, But, though wealth him overwhelms, Greedy, he has never wavered To envy his poor neighbor's share An only lamb, his love and care. 4 ^^ 34 ORIENTAL LEGENDS. " Guests came to the miser ; hence, Spite remonstrance, spite of tear, He forthwith, on some pretence, All that to the poor is dear Kills ; the cherished pet it died. Sire, thy judgment I abide." Wild with indignation cries David, rising : " Here I swear The villain who hath done this dies ; Let his goods the pauper share ! " " King ! thou art that man ! " the seer Answers. "Be accursed for e'er!" V. Ah ! Death spares not youth and never minds age; A beggar he smote on the street, and since He gathered a fool and garnered a sage, And from David's palace he snatched him a prince. The stricken parents stand by the corse, Lamenting and weeping in anguish and fear; Royalty harrowed with deepest remorse, His eyes overflowing with tear upon tear. e. KING AND PROPHET. 35 But all at once a sudden impulse Comes o'er the father ; he kneels by his dead. The heart which revolted, his feverish pulse, Grow quiet, and upward his gaze is led. Resigned, he folds his hands and prays : " Heavenly Father, deign list to my word : Sinner I am, and just are Thy ways, Yet deal with me merciful, Lord, O my Lord ! " The prophet, behold ! he stands by his side And bids him arise, for God commands. Curses are powerless when we confide In Providence ; trustful raise hearts and hands. Exalted the king and consoled he became, Exclaiming these words immortally graced ; "The Lord hath given and taken; the name Of the Lord forever and ever be praised ! " ORIENTAL LEGENDS. JOCHANNAN BEN SAKKAI. A HISTORICAL SKETCH. I. THAT was the strangest fun'ral which ever was beholden Among the Hebrew people of modern times or olden. No crowd of mourners follow, nor music's muffled strain. Two students lift the coffin, one Rabbi heads the train. From the city of disaster They'll carry out the master. Ben Sakkai woe! the priest is dead! The sad report goes quickly out, 'Midst siege beyond, turmoil within, and gen'ral broil and crazy bout. Young Joshua and El'asar bear the pall with all that's mortal ; Batiach old, the comrade true, leads to the for tress portal. JOCHANNAN BEN SAKKAI. 37 II. Up to the gate portcullised the burden slow is carried ; But there the sent'nel halts them, who rather not had tarried. " My orders are that nothing must pass be yond the wall, Except I be permitted to first inspect it all." The leader, disappointed, Exclaims : " The Lord's anointed, When dead, who dares defile by touch, he is accursed! Come, let us go." " Move on ! move quick ! " rejoins the guard ; " my nose tells all I need to know." Slow they proceed till soon is reached the gate ; then, like forsaken, They hurry to the Roman camp, where they are captives taken. III. Vespasian here, the gen'ral, for months has grimly striven To crush the hated Hebrews, to fierce sedi tion given, ORIENTAL LEGENDS. With battering-rams and siege-trains bombard ing day and night Strong-fortified Jerus'lem, who resolute makes fight. But inside, mad contention, Fanatical dissension ; The sects and clans rage blind and tear the suffering people all apiece. The Chasidim * and the Sadducee, the Naza- rene and Pharisee Each one strives for the mastery, to bring the others under; While outside steadily the foes against the city thunder. IV. In vain appeal the starving for bread or for surrender ; Despair and hunger vainly implore in tones most tender; And parents their own children in frenzy slay and eat, And babes suck on dead ^mothers, their nour ishment to meet. * Hebrew name of the Essenes ; literally the Pious. JOCHANNAN BEN SAKKAI. Forsooth! as in all ages, Prophetical the sages Proclaim such folly's certain end, and cry aloud : " For God's sake stay This fratricidal, murd'rous feud, nor let your passions reign or sway ; Appease at once the conqueror, outside, while yet in season." But who has ever known wild mobs like these to value reason? v. When baffled in all efforts to have his warning heeded, To squelch rebellion and restore the union sadly needed ; When foiled in every measure to stay the wrath to come By flattering the enemy, their mighty foe of Rome, At last the high-priest wily A way devises slyly By which he'll save himself arid people, al though he sees the horror all, Sees Isr'el's nationality, her glory, and her Temple fall. 40 ORIENTAL LEGENDS. Tis patent in her hare-brained strifes, 'tis by her seers written : " So shall their mission be fulfilled \ so be her folly smitten \ " VI. Approved in sacred council, his death is soon reported ; He's laid into a coffin and out of town es corted. And so that the deception in detail be com plete, He suffers that beside him is placed some putrid meat. Most killed by suffocation, Yet soon his restoration In their besieger's camp is slow but fully by kind hands attained, While officers and soldiers laugh, nor silent would be or restrained. Forthwith the resurrected corpse into the gen'ral's presence Is led to make his errand known, its meaning and its essence. JOCHANNAN BEN SAKKAI. VII. 4 I " Know, chieftain ! paper arrows were shot thee from our city My prophecy conveying remember it, I prithee ! Our God hath pleased to forestall through me that thou shalt reign The world as Latin emperor ; now let me not in vain Beseech thee for this favor." Thus plead, all in a quaver, The tottering, white-haired, aged priest: " Give us permission now to go Unto the town of Jabne, where we'll hide away from shame and woe Thou bringest on our people sure. Have mercy, Caesar oral Let me establish there a school to teach our holy Torah." VIII. The Roman mused a minute ere, deeply moved. addressing The captives ; he salutes them : " Give, Rabbins, me your blessing ; 5 42 ORIENTAL LEGENDS. Your modest wish is granted; now go ye hence in peace, And that your work may prosper, my prayer shall never cease." Soon after they departed : The Talmud-school was started, It rose and flourished grandly, too, as hist'ry does explicit tell, A bulwark to their people, who had seen how shrine arid city fell. The first of the " Ta-na-im " * here have taught what was most needed, A codex for all Isr'el, which has never been exceeded. IX. Empires have risen and fallen ; cities were built and destroyed ; Nations have flourished and withered ; war and peace were employed, Generation after generation, to shape and form incessant The status of society, the future, past, and present. * The experts and transmitters of the oral law at the time of the second destruction of the Temple are called the " Tanaim." THE BES7^ AND THE WORST. 43 But nothing more conclusive In all proved so conducive For e'er to lead the human race unto its final, noble goal, To prop up tolerance and truth and elevate the human soul, Than law, philosophy, and rules, as taught here and expounded, The heirlooms from the "Jabne" school by this Ben Sakkai founded. THE BEST AND THE WORST. s the bazaar," said the sheik to \^_j the slave, " And get me the Best which the markets provide." The slave salamed lowly, the slave answered grave : " Thy will shall be done ; in my judgment abide," And soon, on returning, said : " Rightly or wrong, I bring here the Best of the market a tongue." ORIENTAL LEGENDS. "Search the bazaar," said the sheik to the slave, " And get me the Worst which the markets provide." The slave salamed lowly, the slave answered grave : " Thy will shall be done ; in my judgment abide," And soon, on returning, said : " Rightly or wrong, I bring here the Worst of the market a tongue ! " " Explain what thou meanest!" cried the sheik to the slave. " I'll give thee thy freedom if well thou decide." The slave salamed lowly, the slave answered grave : " Thy will must be done ; my judgment abide. Now listen and say if I'm right or if wrong : The Best and the Worst in the world is the tongue. t.C..r^ 7Y/.E BEST AND THE WORST. 45 " The tongue to a freedman quick changes a slave ; The tongue enslaves quickly the free, though he died ; The tongue rules the world, from cradle to grave ; The tongue sways the khedive and beg gar beside." "Thy tongue made thee free! Thou argued it strong," Laughed the sheik. " The Best and the Worst is the tongue ! " 4 6 ORIENTAL LEGENDS. DOG, HORSE, AND HOG. EASTERN FABLE. GOOD neighbors and friends were a horse and a dog. Not far from .them wallowed a fattening hog. The first two were regularly fed thrice a day, While the sow is allowed to munch all that 'she may. Said the cur to the horse : " It seems not to me fair That the swine should eat more than belongs to its share." The stallion replied : " Wait a little, my friend ; Thou'lt see we fare best by our stint in the end." The piggy, well fattened, soon proved this no lie, Was brought to the shambles, and then had to die. When, seeing the carcass hung up, then the dog Did never more envy the luck of a hog. 4=3 REDEEMED. REDEEMED. ARABIAN TALE. A YOUTH there lived whom Fortune, oft called blind, Gave all her precious gifts of form and mind, With such a noble heart as only can Make Heaven's fair image of a mortal man. And everybody eagerly pretends To love him all profess to be his friends. Alas ! this changed. Into temptation's power He fell, and sinned in an unguarded hour. If keenest agony atones, then sure Heaven hath received his contrite heart as pure. But then our hypocritic, callous world Its verdict, " Guilty," quick upon him hurled. Each finger points at the condemned ; all eyes Frown on him, humiliating, worldly wise. For consolation to his mates he flees ; They knew him only in his luck and glees. One recognized him ah ! with such a face As showed the great and condescending grace; 48 ORIENTAL LEGENDS. O'erwhelms him fie upon it! with the price Of shamming friendship, so-called good advice. Next his affianced love bade him to go, Inflicting on his heart most crushing blow. Faint, writhing and convulsed, damned and decried, To his parental roof he homeward hied. Report, the ever-busy, meddling dame, Who circulates and magnifies our shame She went before him. On the threshold stands His aged father, stern, with trembling hands; He bids him, " Hence ! I've lost my son," be told: " As his did mourn the Patriarch of old, As Jacob wailed his loved Joseph's doom, Uncomforted I'll go into my tomb." The youth drops staggering ; but in fond embrace Is caught, and kisses deck his death -pale face. With tears they're mingled, and the cry sobbed wild : " Oh ! can a mother e'er forsake her child ? " Both kneel. The father, too, no longer stands Unmoved ; he lifts and wide extends his hands, AQUA VITJE. And blesses them in pious, good old ways. " My lost is found again ! " he mildly says. Thus was one, else from sin to crime depraved A suicide, or worse, redeemed and saved By that great power, equalled but Above A mother's tender and undying love. AQUA OR, THE FIRST DELIRIUM TREMENS. KNOW ye the antique record how erst into this world The direst of all curses, King Alcohol, was hurled ? And how the Fates avenged it in body, heart, and soul On him who first concocted th' intoxicating bowl ? The night was dark and chilly, the storm made heaven weep, While all but crime and suffering were wrapt in dreamful sleep ; 5O ORIENTAL LEGENDS. Then in his laboratory yon subterranean space An Alchemist wrought misery e'er since upon our race. Around, rich candelabra pale rays, blue tinted, shed ; The hoary, pensive student has leaned his withered head Against a solid column of cross-bones, skulls, and books, While on a burnished hour-glass he has bent his anxious looks. All treasures life doth offer he sacrificed as naught ; His golden locks untimely are bleached by ceaseless thought. For day and night he's prying into forbidden lore ; He fain would solve the mystery, that death should be no more. And hark ! the dome serenely aloud proclaims the time. Twelve peals the echo vibrates like some weird, ghostly chime ; AQUA \J With its last sound the student is hastening to and fro, A beverage to distil and boil above the em bers' glow. Tis the decisive moment the midnight hour. On high He lifts a brimful goblet, and spills some drops thereby ; The flames are whirling, whizzing, while caba listic words He mutters, and strange signs describes, and hell and heaven girds. The fire transforms its colors, a halo of sweet light In which are bands of angels enveloped fair and bright ; And strains of solemn music, breathed like ^Eolian strings. A monitor of good, these words the choir sublimely sings : " Touch not, lift not the poisonous cup ! Taste not, drink not a single drop ! Man's life is dark, Yet breaks a spark *- ORIENTAL LEGENDS. Into his future, decked by night; Faith with strong wing, And Hope the eternal beacon-light, From death its sting, from death its sting Long since did sever ! This is true blessing ; oh, beware ! Whoever durst Attempt to 'scape his mortal share, He shall be cursed ! forever cursed ! " Then dies away the music and pales again the fire, But in his breast burns fiercer the student's wild desire : He fills anew the goblet with bold, defying mien, The flames stirred up take human form, dark as the night has been. Satire and wile and cunning are twinkling in his eyes ; Thus must have looked the tempter when in the snake's disguise. The student even trembles and utters loud a shriek, But " Silence ! " bids the spirit ; he thus is heard to speak : AQUA VI TM. 53 " Man ! know thy father's name is lust, Thy mother's baptized weakness ; They glare to Heaven, but the dust They'll share in perfect meekness ; And their begotten offspring's fear, On Hope's sweet bosom nourished, Led to Religion's taming bier, A germ dead ere it flourished. 'Tis thee ! 'tis thee ! like them thou diest, If thou not, brave and bold, defiest Those hands which chain thee to death's brink, Then drink! drink deep ! drink ever! drink!" And with satanic laughter the phantom dis appears. The Alchemist is startled ; his blood and brains and tears Seem melted as by fire ; he loud and wildly laughed, The goblet then defiantly he emptied in one draught. Without, the storm is raging ; each angry thunderbolt Hurls flash on flash of lightning a nocturnal black revolt ; V ORIENTAL LEGENDS. Then sad through night and weather sound like a dying moan These words into the student's ear again, in plaintive tone: " Whoever durst Attempt to 'scape his mortal share, He shall be cursed ! forever cursed ! " The draught thus won at midnight, consumed, its power reveals, And, like a newly-born one, revived the old man feels ; At last, then, his ambition, the ideal of his strife, He gloriously now has attained th' Elixir of human life ! Thenceforth he has continued to mix, boil, and produce The Alcohol ; to his pupils he taught its make and use ; And with the new discovery all o'er our globe they went To castles, churches, down into the hungrv beggar's tent. VITsE. 55 So time passed on. Yet never from the de cree of fate Can one escape ; for certain it cometh soon or late ; And thus, too, found the student his final, dreadful goal. 'Tis midnight. Hark ! what screams and yells through storm and thunder roll ! It wakes from sleep the people, it rouses old and young ; Unto the laboratory bewildered masses throng. And they behold with terror what man ne'er saw before The first "Delirium Tremens " there, on its most hideous score. The ground, a raging maniac, his limbs in terror smite : Lo ! from his lips and nostrils break flames of purple light : He 'gainst the block of granite his skull con vulsive throws, Until his blood, from gashing wounds, with brains mixed, fatal flows. 56 ORIENTAL LEGENDS. Thus died he, and was buried none knows his grave or name, But still the curse eternal has been his awful fame. Where'er his poisonous beverage, the Alco hol, was sent, It sounds, from church and castle down to the hungry beggar's tent. Widows, orphans, nations all curse the hid eous deed, As mothers do and fathers whose hearts were made to bleed ; And children will, while hungry, and crying loud for bread ; The noble, good, and pure all curse the memory of the dead. Well known is yet, however, the laboratory, where The dram was first discovered ; 'tis still sold freely there. The subterranean workshop has now been modernized Yon bar-room 'tis, across the street, so much by drunkards prized. 57 They are the student's pupils, who nightly congregate, That they in drunken revels his doom per petuate : For when they stagger homeward, sans sense, and none be near, Then it is said the maniac's ghost doth nightly there appear. Through all the evolutions of the delirium he Must pass, a horrid spectre, till daylight sets him free; And God in Heaven only will pardon his offence When the last inebriate takes the vow of to tal abstinence. This is the antique record, how first into the world The direst of all curses, King Alcohol, was hurled : And thus the Fates avenged it in body, heart, and soul On him who first concocted th' intoxicating bowl. 7 ORIENTAL LEGENDS. TORTURE. MONOLOGUE FROM DRAMA " GENIUS." THE Buddha tells a tale which runs this wise : Cruel demons will mischievously at times Select a human being for their pranks. They grant him all the gifts of which are woven The precious jewel, mortal happiness : They grant him cruelly all but one ; that one Which forms the culmination-point and centre Of every other the power to secure. His prize flits by him, never near enough, In spite of all his efforts, to be grasped. They starve the hungry victim 'midst of plenty ; They parch the thirsty lips in sight of foun tains ; They freeze the heart in midst of vernal sun shine ; They scorch the fevered brains in iciest winter, Until the gods in mercy interpose *r*- ACCEPTED PLEDGE. And grant him the possession of the price Of all his direful, undeserved sufF'ring, Or move him from such power to higher spheres. \ \ THE ACCEPTED PLEDGE. T 'HE B'douin's keen-edged cimeter is As cruel as lion and tiger are. He'll slay the men, enslave the women,* But never has in peace or war His blade defiled By blood of child, For surely cursed were he and his, Dared he to brave the mythic lore Which every Arab knows and fears When Allah he heeds and dreads no more. Thus runs pathetical the story : When his ancestral kindred saw Themselves released from Egypt's bondage, Came unto Sinai for the law ; Heard was a cry Of voice on High : ^ 60 ORIENTAL LEGENDS. " What hostage will these people give My revelation and commands That they will cherish and obey, If I shall place them in their hands?" Then in the council of the nation, The prophet great, the elders wise, They offered memories hallowed, Progenitors in Paradise. Historic claims, The sainted names Of Abram, Isaac, Israel ; But not sufficient were these deemed. Birthright does not avail in Heaven : Each one must be himself redeemed. In second council of the people They all unanimous agree To turn bond one unto another, Themselves be their own guarantee. This sacrifice Would not suffice. For they were told in language plain, " You are unworthy and untried Men who proved stiff-necked and uncouth, Already have the laws defied." . -x - THE ACCEPTED PLEDGE. 6l A third time then they met together, " What can we offer loved and dear Which unreserved will be accepted Without a doubt, without a fear? What is the best, All pure and blest, Such as we cherish more than life, By which our hearts and souls are swept? Our children let us offer ; sure These Justice certain will accept." And so it proved ! The bond thus given Abundant .was, as well it might. The young and future generations, On Sinai pledged for law and right, In every clime, Unchanged by time, Were sacred held by friend and foe. None with impunity may wrong The children ; by this solemn act, Unto High Heaven they all belong. ORIENTAL LEGENDS. WINE. A TALMUDICAL PARABLE. HEN God the grape created, every vine He with a triple tincture fructified With blood of lion, ape, and that of swine, Which in the ripened juice three proper ties supplied : Drink once of wine, and you'll feel strong and bold, Combative, brave, without discrimination ; You fancy strength increased a thousand-fold, A sovereign king of all the animal creation. Now drink again, and you are jolly, glad; You sing it sounds like braying of a donkey. You jump and laugh and caper ; maudlin gad, Behaving like unto a veritable monkey. Now drink once more you'll lose all self- control. You can no longer rant, but mumble, mutter. Unable on your feet to keep, you roll And wallow like a hog, low grunting in the gutter. STREET PICTURES. -S" I. EHOLD ! there staggers through the busy streets A drunken, low, degraded one, And every truant urchin whom he meets, In childish sport to be molested by, Seems sent to cry : Accursed of God, reel on! This wretch who now is trundling to his home, Alas ! has lovely wife and child. The woman, anxious, waits for him to come. Though he maltreats, disgraces her, she yet, With face still wet, Waits for this man defiled ! 66 STREET PICTURES. Who is this drunkard ? Of the many, one, With choicest gift upon his brow Youth, health, and mind; and these by drink undone. A stain and shame to high respected -ties, The sot thus lies Low in the gutter now. There, look at him ! If struck by foul disease, Ay, even the dread pestilence, It could not have destroyed him with more ease Than does the damned poison in his veins, Which steals his brains The dram's dire consequence. He loved her once the woman now his wife. Had any other man dared make A ruffling shadow pass upon her life, How he would wild with indignation start! And now her heart Too true, himself does break. He loved that babe ! When born to him, at first With pleasure wild he wept and smiled ; Then took the boy into his arms and burst f=i STREET PICTURES. 67 Into a passionate, heaven-invoking- prayer ; And now his heir He brands " the drunkard's child ! " Once his ambition soared for highest fame, The pride of all his friends awhile ; He long ago in rum drowned hope and name. Delirious most, of reason near bereft, All for him left Is but a lunatic's exile. How came this doom to pass? take heed; come, come, Young friends, be warned, imbibing host! In an unguarded moment he met some Hilarious company drank once he fell And, clutched by hell, Forever he was lost. Hence, hence! I'll lead him home! Our pic ture will O'er all the world encountered be ; Till church and school unite 'gainst bar and still. True civilization trembles all afear, And drops a tear On man's depravity ! v :" :T 68 STREET PICTURES. II. Right through the middle of the street, In rain or sunshine, storm or sleet Most with bundles, with coffers some That's the way our "greenhorns" come. The women are buxom, and strong the men German or Irish, no matter; when They touch the ground of this free land, Re-born are all in heart and hand. Settling soon 'midst friends near and dear There are no strangers among us here. tj o Though some become servants and ; ' help " for a time, None are made slaves but committers of crime. Open to all is the area of wealth- Open to all the sources of health. Thus many ? poor one few years ago came, Who now has attained high position and fame. 'Tis so with the emigrant women of now ; " Lis'le " becomes a fat Dutchman's frau ; Biddy is married unto her old beau And that is the way our " greenhorns " go ! STREET PICTURES. III. Please give me a penny ! I'.m hungry and cold! My mother at home is sick and old. Please give me a penny! My father has Been in prison for weeks, alas ! He had no work, and we had no bread ; And he wished himself and all of us dead. And then he drank liquor it set him wild ; And he struck poor mother and me, his child. When first I visited him in the cell He hugged me so close and with such a yell! And he cried and sobbed, and sobbed and cried, 'Midst kiss and caresses I had to chide. So give me a penny, if you think meet, Wherewith to buy bread for mother to eat. Say you, sir, all this money is mine? Thank God and bless you ! it pays father's fine. STREET PICTURES. I need not beg to-night any more ! We shall be happy as we were before. And all in return I can offer to give, You I'll remember as long as I live. IV. Through all the town, 'midst clatter and din, Cries loud a voice : "Ho! who will buy sin?" Buy sin in most hideous, repulsive guile- Woman abandoned, degraded, and vile ; And, as she wanders to and fro, Proclaiming: "Society made me so!" Society, boasting of virtue sublime, Yet pressing us creatures into crime ; Building churches, all velvet-pewed, Yet making her daughters debased and lewd; .P/C TURES. 7 I Sending the children to Sunday-school, Then throws them into a fiery pool ; Society- dancing for charity's sake, While lives are perishing, souls are at stake ; Robbing the masses wholesale, and then Gives them a penny to starve in a den ; Boasting enlightenment, science, and art, While hunger and ignorance never depart; I With all the progress but for the rich ; For the rest aye misery, prison, and ditch ; i Society, meaning the moneyed folks, While secret she fun at poverty pokes ; Marshaling 'gainst virtue the glitter of wealth ; Cursing the wanton she maketh by stealth. \ Will ye who are guiltless now cast the first stone On outcasts, who, Heaven grant, may yet atone ? 72 STREET PICTURES. While all through the town, 'midst clatter and din, Cries loud a voice : " Ho ! who will buy sin? " Buy sin in most hideous, repulsive guile Woman abandoned, degraded, and vile ; And, as she wanders to and fro, Proclaiming: "Society made me so!" V. On the first floor in the parlor A lass, all youth and glee, Sits, by her beaux surrounded Young Southern chivalry. Under her window the organ A one-armed soldier grinds ; The scar across his forehead Of battle hot, reminds. STREET PICTURES. 73 Those up in the parlor are laughing; They bask in comfort and ease, While, shivering, the invalid freezes A Union-defender in peace. The girl leans out of the window And throws him a coin from her hand " Take this ; and now, old beggar, Come play us ' Dixie Land ! ' ' But through the open window He hurls the money back; Then tighter the crank he clutches, While slowly making track. And fast and fierce he's grinding The tunes of the boys in blue All-conquering " Yankee Doodle," And "Hail Columbia" too! A man across the corner Has watched the curious scene ; He knew the maimed, brave fellow Had his commander been. 9 =>._ S TREE T PICTURES. "Well done, my noble comrade!" And brightly shone his eyes ; "Thou shalt find home and comfort!" He with emotion cries. " Here, take my hand as token : Long may the Union wave ! " His word has broken never His general true and brave ! LYRIC TRIFLES. D SONNET. ISSONANCE and Harmony combined Form that sweet music which unlocks our soul And makes the ear feast under its control. Thus is the heart, too, touched, if we can find The poet's song, conveying to our mind Word music. Alternately should roll The tears of woe and anguish copious flow ing. Dissolved by sparkling wit and joy all glow ing. My songs were culled in such varieties Of wine and love, intrigue and merrv glees. Alas! I hear the living and the dying Cry loud for help and see all the degrees Of misery in all its stages. Denying Me all but dissonance and grating melodies. ' 7o LYRIC TRIFLES. IN MEMORIAM. ADOLPH CRMIEUX, LIFE SENATOR OF FRANCE. YISGADAL w'yiskadash!* The Hebrew's mourning prayer Resounds in temple and synagogue ; For Time, the cruel slayer, Laid fatal hand upon a chief. All Isr'el is in tears and grief. As Rachel mourns her lost a mother We Cremieux mourn our brother. Yisgadal w'yiskadash ! Religion feels extending, Wherever people worship God, The woful loss, heartrending. Alike for Gentile and for Jew A great man left us good and true. Religion, like bereft a mother, She Cremieux mourns our brother. Yisgadal w'yiskadash ! Law, Justice loud are wailing. Oppressed of every land and clime May well feel faint and failing. * " Be exalted and sanctified." The beginning words of the Hebrew prayer for the dead, called " Kadish." JUDGE NOT, CONDEMN NOT. 79 For Freedom lost one of her stays When death cut short his mortal days. Truth sorrows like a stricken mother Cremieux is dead our brother. Yisgadal w'yiskadash ! Humanity in anguish " Reste in pace ! " trembling weeps, Nor soon her woe will languish. For God hath stilled a human heart In which the whole world had a part. Humanity, our common mother, Weeps Cremieux ! weeps our brother! J JUDGE NOT, CONDEMN NOT. 1 1 UDGE not, condemn not ! Men who are accused Often are guiltless and cruelly abused. Error is quick, restitution comes slow ; Be not foremost the first stone to throw. Time enough, time enough guilt to de plore ! Judge not wait till the trial is o'er!