Ruth and Naomi

A RABBI’S child and Puritan’s once met;

And, like those fabled mates, with each a wing,

That only soar when they together cling,

These comrades happy joined in mutual debt

For rich ancestral stores most alien. Yet

As greatest pleasures know no lasting spring—

Death came; but sunny Mem’ry comforting,

In tears with brightest rays her rainbow set.

Might Naomi not often glean with Ruth,

And thus give time a double joy and worth?

It takes the each and all from every clime

To cull auspiciously the seeds of truth;

To win anew a Paradise for earth

And reap in joy the harvest—truth sublime.