"Like the crash of the thunder Which splitteth asunder The flame of the cloud, On our ears ever falling, A voice is heard calling From Zion aloud: 'Let your spirits' desires For the land of your sires Eternally burn. From the foe to deliver Our own holy river, To Jordan return.' Where the soft flowing stream Murmurs low as in dream, There set we our watch. Our watchword, 'The sword Of our land and our Lord'-- By the Jordan then set we our watch.
"Rest in peace, lovèd land, For we rest not, but stand, Off shaken our sloth. When the boils of war rattle To shirk not the battle, We make thee our oath. As we hope for a Heaven, Thy chains shall be riven, Thine ensign unfurled. And in pride of our race We will fearlessly face The might of the world. When our trumpet is blown, And our standard is flown, Then set we our watch. Our watchword, 'The sword Of our land and our Lord'-- By Jordan then set we our watch.
"Yea, as long as there he Birds in air, fish in sea, And blood in our veins; And the lions in might. Leaping down from the height, Shake, roaring, their manes; And the dew nightly laves The forgotten old graves Where Judah's sires sleep,-- We swear, who are living, To rest not in striving, To pause not to weep. Let the trumpet be blown, Let the standard be flown, Now set we our watch. Our watchword, 'The sword Of our land and our Lord'-- In Jordan NOW set we our watch."
He sank upon the rude, wooden bench, exhausted, his eyes glittering, his raven hair dishevelled by the wildness of his gestures. He had said. For the rest of the evening he neither moved nor spake. The calm, good-humored tones of Simon Gradkoski followed like a cold shower.
"We must be sensible," he said, for he enjoyed the reputation of a shrewd conciliatory man of the world as well as of a pillar of orthodoxy. "The great people will come to us, but not if we abuse them. We must flatter them up and tell them they are the descendants of the Maccabees. There is much political kudos to be got out of leading such a movement--this, too, they will see. Rome was not built in a day, and the Temple will not be rebuilt in a year. Besides, we are not soldiers now. We must recapture our land by brain, not sword. Slow and sure and the blessing of God over all."