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Home  »  The Standard Book of Jewish Verse  »  Wandering

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

By Samuel Roth

Wandering

LITTLE man of sorrows, whither would you wander?

Whither from this sunny isle with step so firm and bold?

“I am going to the City to hear the Word of God,

My glory is to tread the soil on which my Fathers trod;

I am going to the City to hear the Word of God.”

Little man of sorrows, whither would you wander?

Is thy quest a fairer heaven or a flower of brighter hue?

“I am going to the City wherein my people strive,

To share their wounds and slay their foes, encourage and revive;

I am going to the City wherein my people strive.”

Little man of sorrows, whither would you wander,

When the Sun is in thy zenith here, and Hope so golden too?

“I am going to the City to share my People’s pain,

To prove with deeds of daring that their struggle is not vain;

I am going to the City to share my People’s pain.”

Little man of sorrows, whither would you wander?

Whither from this sunny isle with step so firm and bold?

“I am going to the country where my Fathers ruled of old,

My quest is not a fairer sky, nor a sun of white and gold;

I am going to the country where my Fathers ruled of old.”