Jerusalem of Gold, Naomi Shemer
Jerusalem, Port City, Yehuda Amichai
The Holy City, by Frederick Weatherly, music by Michael Maybrick
Psalm 137, Jeremiah (for King David) (excerpts)
My Heart is in the East, Yehuda Halevi
The Far Mosque, Rumi
Jerusalem, William Blake
Jerusalem is a Spinning Carousel, Yehuda Amichai
The Burden of Jerusalem, Rudyard Kipling (excerpts)
In Jerusalem, Mahmoud Darwish
Jerusalem, 1967, Yehuda Amichai
Blood, Naomi Shihab Nye
The Place Where We are Right, Yehuda Amichai
Tourists, Yehuda Amichai
Jerusalem, Steve Earle

* * *

Jerusalem, Yehuda Amichai
Jerusalem, Naomi Shihab Nye
Kindness, Naomi Shihab Nye
The Destruction of Sennacherib, Lord Byron
Love of Jerusalem, Yehuda Amichai


Jerusalem of Gold
by Naomi Shemer

You should get the text from another source.

 
 
 

Jerusalem, Port City
Yehuda Amichai

You should get the text from another source.

 
 
 

The Holy City
by Frederick Weatherly, music by Michael Maybrick

Last night I lay a-sleeping
There came a dream so fair
I stood in old Jerusalem
Beside the temple there
I heard the children singing
And ever as they sang
Methought the voice of angels
From heav’n in answer ring
Methought the voice of angels
From heav’n in answer ring

Jerusalem, Jerusalem
Lift up your gates and sing
Hossanah in the highest
Hossanah to your King

And then methought my dream was changed
The streets no longer rang
Hushed were the glad hossanahs
The little children sang
The sun grew dark with mystery
The morn was cold and chill
As the shadow of the cross arose
Upon a lonely hill
As the shadow of the cross arose
Upon a lonely hill

Jerusalem, Jerusalem
Hark how the angels sing
Hossanah in highest
Hossanah to your King

And once again the scene was changed
New earth there seemed to be
I saw the holy city beside the tideless sea
The light of God was on the streets
The gates are opened wide
And all who would might enter
And no one was denied
No need of moon or stars by night
Or sun to shine by day
It was the new Jerusalem
That would not pass away
It was the new Jerusalem
That would not pass away

Jerusalem, Jerusalem
Sing for the night is o’er
Hossanah in the highest
Hossanah evermore
Hossanah in the highest
Hossanah evermore

 
 
 

Psalm 137 (excerpts)
by Jeremiah, for King David

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
There on the poplars
we hung our harps,
for there our captors asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
How can we sing the songs of the Lord
while in a foreign land?
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget its skill.
May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem
my highest joy . . . .

 
 
 

My Heart is in the East
Yehuda Halevi

My heart is in the East, and I am at the end
of the West.
How can I taste what I eat, and how can it be sweet?
How will I fulfill my vows and my pledges while still
Zion is within the border
of Edom and I in the bonds of Arabia?
So easily would I leave Spain’s goodly things
so dear would it be to see the
desolate Temple’s dust.

 
 
 

The Far Mosque
Rumi

The place that Solomon made to worship in,
called the Far Mosque, is not built of earth
and water and stone, but of intention and wisdom
and mystical conversation and compassionate action.

Every part of it is intelligent and responsive
to every other. The carpet bows to the broom.
The door knocker and the door swing together
like musicians. This heart sanctuary
does exist, though it cannot be described.

Solomon goes there every morning
and gives guidance with words,
with musical harmonies, and in actions,
which are the deepest teaching.
A prince is just a conceit,
until he does something with his generosity.

 
 
 

Jerusalem
William Blake

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon Englands mountains green:
And was the holy Lamb of God,
On Englands pleasant pastures seen!

And did the Countenance Divine,
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here,
Among these dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my Bow of burning gold:
Bring me my arrows of desire:
Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold!
Bring me my Chariot of fire!

I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand:
Till we have built Jerusalem,
In Englands green & pleasant Land.

 
 
 

Jerusalem Is a Spinning Carousel
by Yehuda Amichai

You should get the text from another source.

 
 
 

The Burden Of Jerusalem (excerpts)
Rudyard Kipling

In ancient days
and deserts wild
There rose a feud –
still unsubdued –
‘Twixt Sarah’s son
and Hagar’s child
That centred round Jerusalem . . . .

For Ashmael lived
where he was born,
And pastured there
in tents of hair
Among the Camel
and the Thorn –
Beersheba, south Jerusalem.

But Israel sought
employ and food
At Pharoah’s knees,
till Rameses
Dismissed his plaguey multitude,
with curses,
Toward Jerusalem.

Across the wilderness
they came,
And launched their horde
o’er Jordan’s ford,
And blazed the road
by sack and flame
To Jebusite Jerusalem.

Then Kings and Judges
ruled the land,
And did not well by Israel,
Till Babylonia took a hand,
And drove them from Jerusalem.

And Cyrus sent them back anew,
To carry on as they had done,
Till angry Titus overthrew
The fabric of Jerusalem.

Then they were scattered
north and west,
While each Crusade
more certain made
That Hagar’s vengeful
son possessed
Mohamedan Jerusalem . . . .

And every realm
they wandered through
Rose, far or near,
in hate or fear,
And robbed and tortured,
chased and slew,
The outcasts of Jerusalem.

So ran their doom –
half seer, half slave –
And ages passed,
and at the last
They stood beside
each tyrant’s grave,
And whispered of Jerusalem . . . .

Where Ishmael bides
in his own place –
A robber bold,
as was foretold,
To stand before
his brother’s face –
The wolf without Jerusalem:

And burthened Gentiles
o’er the main
Must bear the weight
of Israel’s hate
Because he is not
brought again
In triumph to Jerusalem.

Yet he who bred the
unending strife
And was not brave
enough to save
The Bondsmaid from
the furious wife,
He wrought thy woe, Jerusalem!

 
 
 

In Jerusalem
by Mahmoud Darwish

You should get the text from another source.

 
 
 

Jerusalem, 1967
Yehuda Amichai

You should get the text from another source.

 
 
 

Blood
Naomi Shihab Nye

You should get the text from another source.

 
 
 

The Place Where We Are Right
Yehuda Amichai

You should get the text from another source.

 
 
 

Tourists
Yehuda Amichai

You should get the text from another source.

 
 
 

Jerusalem
by Steve Earle

You should get the text from another source.