Page:Poems of Emma Lazarus vol 2.djvu/89

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72
THE DANCE TO DEATH.


And scrape, to merely fill the household larder.
What said 70a of this pilgrim, Naphtali ?
These inequalities of fortune rub
My sense of justice so against the grain,
I lose my very name. Whence does he come ?
Is he alone ?

KAPHTAU.

He comes from Chinon, France.
Rabbi Cresselin he calls himself — alone
Save for his daughter who has led him hither.
A beautiful, pale girl with round black eyes.

BABUCH.

Bring they fresh tidings of the pestilence ?

NAPHTALI.

I know not— but I learn from other source
It has burst forth at Erfurt.

BABUCH.

God have mercy !
Have many of our tribe been stricken ?

NAPHTAU.

No.
They cleanse their homes and keep their bodies sweet.
Nor cease from prayer — and so does Jacob's God