Chanukah Lights

YOU see these slender tapers standing there

Like Lilliputians wrestling with the air,

In yellow garb, that strange suggestive hue

Of tragic reminiscence to the Jew?

These tiny lights have struggled thus for years;

Though often bathed in blood and drenched in tears,

They flicker still—It seems no mortal might

Can crush God’s great miracle of light.

This little group of torches came to show

The hiding place of Heaven here below;

By lighting every corner of the earth,

They see and preach life’s meaning and its worth.

Though weak and few they caused the very heart

Of all humanity to stir, and gave the start

To God’s most sacred truths; Indeed proclaim

His Fatherhood, His purpose and His name.

Yea, Israel, it is Thy fate to fight

In darkened corners and to shed the light

Till all the world at last has learned to see

Its way to God and immortality.