George Gordon Byron

Hebrew Melodies 4. The Wild Gazelle

I.

The wild gazelle on Judah's hills
⁠     Exulting yet may bound,
And drink from all the living rills
⁠⁠     That gush on holy ground;
Its airy step and glorious eye[1]
⁠     May glance in tameless transport by:—

II.

A step as fleet, an eye more bright,
⁠     ⁠Hath Judah witnessed there;
And o'er her scenes of lost delight
⁠⁠     Inhabitants more fair.
The cedars wave on Lebanon,
⁠     But Judah's statelier maids are gone!

III.

More blest each palm that shades those plains
⁠⁠     Than Israel's scattered race;
For, taking root, it there remains
⁠⁠     In solitary grace:
It cannot quit its place of birth,
⁠     It will not live in other earth.

IV.

But we must wander witheringly,
⁠     ⁠In other lands to die;
And where our fathers' ashes be,
⁠     ⁠Our own may never lie:
Our temple hath not left a stone,
⁠     And Mockery sits on Salem's throne.