Judah Halevi Poems

Back, my soul, into thy nest;
Earth is not for thee;
Still in heaven find thy nest;
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The sun and moon unchanging do obey
The laws that never cease or night or day.
Appointed signs are they to Jacob's seed
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My heart is in the East, tho' in the West I live,
The sweet of human life no happiness can give,
Religion's duties fail to lift my soul on high;
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Oh! city of world, most chastely fair;
In the far west, behold I sigh for thee.
And in my yearning love I do bethink me
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With all my heart, in truth, and passion strong,
I love Thee; both in solitude and throng
Thy name's with me, alone I shall not bide:
My friend art Thou, though others from me glide,
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And so we twain must part! Oh linger yet,
And let me still feed my glance upon thine eyes.
Forget not, love, the days of our delight,
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Art thou not hungry for thy children, Zion,-
Thy sons far-scattered through an alien world?
From earth's four corners, over land and sea,
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My sweetheart's dainty lips are red,
With ruby's crimson overspread;
Her teeth are like a string of pearls;
...