Classic Poem

Farewell, Jerusalem! — thy sun bends row,
And warns me with his parting beams to go;
One more fond look; — never again to me
On Moab's summit shall his rising be;
Never on flowery Sharon's westward plain
His sunset visage greet my eyes again;
Though other suns may lighten up my shore,
Sion, thy sun shall gladden me no more!

Farewell, blest city; — all thy sacred hills,
Thy winding valleys, thy historic rills,
Thy sepulchers that pierce the mountain's side,
Thy fragrant gardens 'neath Siloam's side,
With me I bear, by loving fancy's aid,
Inscribed in images that cannot fade;
Memory may forfeit many a precious gem,
But never thee , thou best Jerusalem.

Farewell, thou Mount beloved! can it be
The gracious King in wrath abandoned thee?
There was no remedy; such clouds of sin
Polluted all thy courts, without, within,
That the fierce fire of vengeance, long withheld,
Kindled at last; His loving heart was steeled;
Then up those hills there surged such floods of flame,
They left thee but " a by word and a name. "

Farewell! above the skies eternal wait
Glories transcending far thy best estate;
There gates and walls with precious jewels dressed,
And streets of gold allure the happy guest;
There flows the river and there grows the tree —
Water of life and endless fruits for me;
And God hath given to the place thy name ,
The Holy City, — N EW J ERUSALEM !