dots-menu
×

Home  »  The Standard Book of Jewish Verse  »  Ee-Chovoud

Joseph Friedlander, comp. The Standard Book of Jewish Verse. 1917.

By S. R. Hirsch

Ee-Chovoud

HOW long, O Lord! how long,

Lonely and sad ’mid the world’s great throng,

Shall we of the waters of bitterness drink?

Our cup is filled with gall to the brink;

Our shoulders are bent and our foreheads bowed,

Ine covoud lonoo, ee-chovoud.

Ee-chovoud, Lord, ee-chovoud!

Thy beautiful world is to us as a shroud;

For our feet no earth, for our breath no air,

Wrong and contumely our daily fare,

Thou Raiser of lowly, Righter of wrong,

How long, O Lord, oh! how long?

How long? Lord, how long

Shall the weak lie under the wheel of the strong?

God of justice, and love and grace

Find for Thy homeless a resting-place.

Black waters surround us, our sky is in cloud,

Ine covoud lonoo, ee-chovoud.

Ee-chovoud, Father, ee-chovoud!

In that word all our wrongs and our sufferings crowd,

Thou hast promised the clouds shall rend and lift,

Make, God of the mighty and helpless, a rift!

Keep our souls from fainting, our faith hold strong,

For ’tis long, O Father; oh, how long!