Oh! be Thy mercy in the balance laid,

To hold Thy servant's sins more lightly weighed, When, my confession penitently made,

I answer for my guilt before the King.

Thine is the love, O God, and Thine the grace,
That folds the sinner in its mild embrace;
Thine the forgiveness bridging o'er the space
'Twixt man's works and the task set by the King.

Unheeding all my sins, I cling to Thee!
I know that mercy will Thy footstool be;
Before I call, oh! do Thou answer me,
For nothing dare I claim of Thee, my King!

O Thou who makest guilt to disappear,
My help, my hope, my rock, I will not fear;
Though Thou the body hold in dungeon drear,
The soul has found the palace of the King.

MOSES BEN NACHMAN
Translation from the Hebrew by Mrs. Henry Lucas

125

SANCTIFICATION

The sixfold wingèd angels cry

To Him, who hates iniquity:

Holy art Thou, O Lord!

Holy art Thou!

The mighty ones of earth do call
To Him, who hath created all:
Blessed art Thou, O Lord!

Blessed art Thou!

They who in radiance shine, proclaim
Of Him who wrought them out of flame:
Holy art Thou, O Lord!
Holy art Thou!

Those doubly tried by blood and fire

United chant in frequent choir:

Blessed art Thou, O Lord!
Holy and blest!

Pure spheres celestial echoing round,
With voice of sweetest song resound:
Holy art Thou, O Lord!
Holy art Thou!

All those redeemèd not by gold,
Repeat in faith and joy untold:
Blessed art Thou, O Lord!
Blessed art Thou!

They who pass swiftly to and fro
Make answer, as they come and go:
Holy art Thou, O Lord!
Holy art Thou!

Who seek His law, and testify

That there is none beside Him, cry:

Blessed art Thou, O Lord!

Holy and blest!

The hosts of radiant seraphs call

To Him, most glorious of them all:
Holy art Thou, O Lord!
Holy art Thou!

The sons of mighty men declare
His majesty beyond compare:
Blessed art Thou, O Lord!
Blessed art Thou!

All they who glorify His name,
With every morn anew proclaim:
Holy art Thou, O Lord!
Holy art Thou!

Israel, His people, ceaselessly

Cry as they bend and bow the knee:
Blessed art Thou, O Lord!
Holy and blest!

Those shining as a crystal spring
Chant in the presence of their King:
Holy art Thou, O Lord!
Holy art Thou!

The stranger's children evermore
The mighty Lord of lords adore.

Blessed art Thou, O Lord!

Blessed art Thou!

JOSEPH IBN ABITUR

Translation from the Hebrew by Mrs. Henry Lucas

126

WHERE IS GOD?

Where is He? Ask His emblem,

The glorious, glorious sun,

Who glads the round earth with his beams
Ere his day's course is run.

Where is He? Ask the stars that keep
Their nightly watch on high.
Where is He? Ask the pearly dew,
The tear-drops of the sky.

Where is He? Ask the secret founts
That feed the boundless deep;
The dire simoon, or soft night-breeze
That lulls the world to sleep.

Where is He? Ask the storm of fire

That bursts from Etna's womb,

And ask the glowing lava-flood

That makes the land a tomb.

Where is He? Ask the maelstrom's whirl,
Shivering tall pines like glass;
Ask the great oak, the graceful flower,
Or simplest blade of grass.

Where is He? Ask the behemoth,

Who drinketh rivers dry;

The ocean-king leviathan,

Or scarce-seen atom fly.

Where is He? Ask the awful calm
On mountain tops that rests;
And bounding, thundering avalanche
Rent from their rugged crests.

Ask the wide-wasting hurricane,
Careening in its might;

The thunder crash, the lightning blaze,
Earth all convulsed with fright.

Where is He? Ask the crystal isles
On Arctic sea that sail;

Or ask from lands of balm and spice,
The perfume-breathing gale.

Where on the universe is found
That Presence-favored spot?—
All, all proclaim His dwelling-place!
But say, where is He not?

ANONYMOUS

127

GOD, WHOM SHALL I COMPARE TO THEE?

God! whom shall I compare to Thee,
When Thou to none canst likened be?
Under what image shall I dare
To picture Thee, when everywhere
All Nature's forms Thy impress bear?