<h3 id="Out_of_Babylon">Out of Babylon</h3>
<p>THEIR looks for me are bitter,<br/>
And bitter is their word—<br/>
I may not glance behind unseen,<br/>
I may not sigh unheard.</p>
<p>So fare we forth from Babylon,<br/>
Along the road of stone;<br/>
And no one looks to Babylon<br/>
Save I—save I alone!</p>
<p>My mother’s eyes are glory-filled<br/>
(Save when they fall on me)<br/>
The shining of my father’s face<br/>
I tremble when I see,</p>
<p>For they were slaves in Babylon,<br/>
And now they’re walking free—<br/>
They leave their chains in Babylon,<br/>
I bear my chains with me!</p>
<p>At night a sound of singing<br/>
The vast encampment fills;<br/>
<i>“Jerusalem! Jerusalem!”</i><br/>
It sweeps the nearing hills—</p>
<p>But no one sings of Babylon<br/>
(Their home of yesterday)<br/>
And no one prays for Babylon,<br/>
And I—I dare not pray!</p>
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<p>Last night the Prophet saw me;<br/>
And, while he held me there,<br/>
The holy fire within his eyes<br/>
Burned all my secret bare.</p>
<p>“What! Sigh you so for Babylon?”<br/>
(I turned away my face)<br/>
“Here’s one who turns to Babylon,<br/>
Heart traitor to her race!”</p>
<p>I follow and I follow!<br/>
My heart upon the rack;<br/>
I follow to Jerusalem—<br/>
The long road stretches back</p>
<p>To Babylon, to Babylon!<br/>
And every step I take<br/>
Bears farther off from Babylon<br/>
A heart that cannot break.</p>
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