A Tree in the Ghetto
Morris Rosenfeld 1862 (Russian Empire) – 1923 (New York City)
There stands in th' leafless Ghetto
One spare-leaved, ancient tree;
Above the Ghetto noises
It moans eternally.
In wonderment it muses,
And murmurs with a sigh:
"Alas! how God-forsaken
And desolate am I!
"Alas, the stony alleys,
And noises loud and bold!
Where are ye, birds of summer?
Where are ye, woods of old?
"And where, ye breezes balmy
That wandered vagrant here?
And where, oh sweep of heavens
So deep and blue and clear?
"Where are ye, mighty giants?
Ye come not riding by
Upon your fiery horses,
A-whistling merrily.
"Of other days my dreaming,
Of other days, ah me!
When sturdy hero-races
Lived wild and glad and free!
"The old sun shone, how brightly!
The old lark sang, what song!
O'er earth Desire and Gladness
Reigned happily and long
"But see! what are these ant-hills?--
These ants that creep and crawl?...
Bereft of man and nature,
My life is stripped of all!
"And I, an ancient orphan,
What do I here alone?
My friends have all departed,
My youth and glory gone.
"Oh, tear me, root and branches!
No longer let me be
A living head-stone, brooding
O'er the grave of liberty."
Font size:
Submitted on August 03, 2020
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 1:01 min read
- 10 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XABA CDED XFGF AXXX XDCA HACA AIBI XJGJ EXXX CAHA |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic trimeter |
Characters | 1,080 |
Words | 205 |
Stanzas | 10 |
Stanza Lengths | 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 |
Translation
Find a translation for this poem in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Citation
Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"A Tree in the Ghetto" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 27 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/56226/a-tree-in-the-ghetto>.
Discuss the poem A Tree in the Ghetto with the community...
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In