History & Politics
The Destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian Hordes
From Poems (1922)
They left their Babylon bare
Of all its tall men,
Of all its proud horses;
They made for Lebanon.
And shadowy sowers went
Before their spears to sow
The fruit whose taste is ash,
For Judah’s soul to know.
They who bowed to the Bull god,
Whose wings roofed Babylon,
In endless hosts darkened
The bright-heavened Lebanon.
They washed their grime in pools
Where laughing girls forgot
The wiles they used for Solomon.
Sweet laughter, remembered not!
Sweet laughter charred in the flame
That clutched the cloud and earth,
While Solomon’s towers crashed between
To a gird of Babylon’s mirth.
Codex Note
Babylon empties itself of its tall men and proud horses to make for Lebanon, and Solomon's towers crash 'to a gird of Babylon's mirth'. One of Rosenberg's two Biblical pieces on the destruction of the Temple.
Cite this poem
MLA
Rosenberg, Isaac. “The Destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian Hordes.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/rosenberg/8/.
Chicago
Rosenberg, Isaac. “The Destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian Hordes.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/rosenberg/8/.
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