English Poetry. Emma Lazarus. The New Ezekiel. Эмма Лазарус.

Emma Lazarus (Эмма Лазарус)

The New Ezekiel

What, can these dead bones live, whose sap is dried 
By twenty scorching centuries of wrong? 
Is this the House of Israel, whose pride 
Is as a tale that’s told, an ancient song? 
Are these ignoble relics all that live 
Of psalmist, priest, and prophet? Can the breath 
Of very heaven bid these bones revive, 
Open the graves and clothe the ribs of death? 

Yea, Prophesy, the Lord hath said. Again 
Say to the wind, Come forth and breathe afresh, 
Even that they may live upon these slain, 
And bone to bone shall leap, and flesh to flesh. 
The Spirit is not dead, proclaim the word, 
Where lay dead bones, a host of armed men stand! 
I ope your graves, my people, saith the Lord, 
And I shall place you living in your land.

Emma Lazarus’s other poems:

1. Arabesque
2. Matins
3. Saint Romualdo
4. Autumn Sadness
5. The Taming of the Falcon

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