I S A I A H
STRONG SON OF MAN, who through the yearsOf dark dispersion and distressHast kept supreme our hopefulnessAbove the swollen tide of tears:
Whose fiery, fearless, flashing eyes,Disdaining lust and gain and greed,Have shone above our darkest needLike gleaming stars in scowling skies:
Whose visions rare illumined haveThe paths we wandered o'er distraught,So that the hope in us has foughtWith things which, else, it dare not brave:
Whose words of might have pierced the dinOf petty strife and drowned our shame,So now, emboldened by His name,We rise to fight His wars and win:
Again within the Dawn we stand;Forgotten is our dire distress,Around us paths in summer dressLead on through light unto our Land:
Behold, within our arms, beloved, The Law you taught for our delight, Which we through darknesses of Night Have held aloft where'er we roved.
Soon, soon again by us unfurledOn Zion's Height the law will leapThrough tongues of flame and o'er the DeepOf this confused and shackled World.
The chains of slaves shall melt away, The thrones of tyrants totter, fall, And, soaring brightly over all, The Spirit we shall all obey.
From out the mire of petty strife, The Nations shall arise and turn From ways of war, for they shall learn From us the nobler ways of Life.
And from the hosts of men, the Man,Exalted too, shall then ariseTo bold and lofty destiniesBeyond the bounds of tribe and clan.