Psalm CXXXVII

To Babylon's proud waters brought,
In bondage where we lay,
With tears on Sion's Hill we thought,
And sigh'd our hours away;
Neglected on the willows hung
Our useless harps, while ev'ry tongue
Bewail'd the fatal day.

Then did the base insulting foe
Some joyous notes demand,
Such as in Sion used to flow
From Judah's happy band--
Alas! what joyous notes have we,
Our country spoil'd, no longer free,
And in a foreign land?

Oh Solyma! if e'er thy praise
Be silent in my song,
Rude and unpleasing be the lays,
And artless be my tongue!
Thy name my fancy still employs;
To thee, great fountain of my joys,
My sweetest airs belong.

Remember, Lord! that hostile sound,
When Edom's children cried,
Raz'd be her turrets to the ground,
And humbled be her pride!
Remember, Lord! and let the foe
The terrors of thy vengeance know--
The vengeance they defied.

Thou too, great Babylon, shalt fall
A victim to our God;
Thy monstrous crimes already call
For Heav'n's chastising rod.
Happy who shall thy little ones
Relentless dash against the stones,
And spread their limbs abroad.