"Theme in Yellow" by Carl Sandburg

THEME IN YELLOW
by Carl Sandburg (1878-1967)

I spot the hills
With yellow balls in autumn.
I light the prairie cornfields
Orange and tawny gold clusters
And I am called pumpkins.
On the last of October
When dusk is fallen
Children join hands
And circle round me
Singing ghost songs
And love to the harvest moon;
I am a jack-o'-lantern
With terrible teeth
And the children know
I am fooling.

(This poem, which is good for children, is in the public domain. It was first published in 1916.)

From "The Lord Delivers from Trouble" (Psalm 107:23-32)

"As a child I used to play at Halloween as if I were a sailor and go trick or treating down to the sea in ships." So begins Richard Brautigan's story "Trick or Treating Down to the Sea in Ships," one of the stories in his book Revenge of the Lawn: Stories 1962-1970 (1971). Brautigan borrowed the phrase "down to the sea in ships" from Psalm 107:23 in the King James Version of the Bible.


FROM "THE LORD DELIVERS FROM TROUBLE"
from the Bible: Psalm 107:23-32 (King James Version)

They that go down to the sea in ships,
That do business in great waters;
These see the works of the Lord,
And his wonders in the deep.
For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind,
Which lifteth up the waves thereof.
They mount up to the heaven,
They go down again to the depths:
Their soul is melted because of trouble.
They reel to and fro,
And stagger like a drunken man,
And are at their wit's end.
Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble,
And he bringeth them out of their distresses.
He maketh the storm a calm,
So that the waves thereof are still.
Then are they glad because they be quiet;
So he bringeth them unto their desired haven.
Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness,
And for his wonderful works to the children of men!
Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people,
And praise him in the assembly of the elders.

From "The Excellencies of God's Law" (Psalm 119:153-160)

FROM "THE EXCELLENCIES OF GOD'S LAW"
from the Bible: Psalm 119:153-160 (King James Version)

Consider mine affliction, and deliver me:
For I do not forget thy law.
Plead my cause, and deliver me:
Quicken me according to thy word.
Salvation is far from the wicked:
For they seek not thy statutes.
Great are thy tender mercies, O Lord:
Quicken me according to thy judgments.
Many are my persecutors and mine enemies;
Yet do I not decline from thy testimonies.
I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved;
Because they kept not thy word.
Consider how I love thy precepts:
Quicken me, O Lord, according to thy loving-kindness.
Thy word is true from the beginning:
And every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.

From "The Excellencies of God's Law" (Psalm 119:145-152)

FROM "THE EXCELLENCIES OF GOD'S LAW"
from the Bible: Psalm 119:145-152 (King James Version
and New King James Version)

I cried with my whole heart;
Hear me, O Lord:
I will keep thy statutes.
I cried unto thee;
Save me, and I shall keep thy testimonies.
I [rose before] the dawning of the morning, and cried:
I hoped in thy word.
Mine eyes [are awake through] the night watches,
That I might meditate in thy word.
Hear my voice according unto thy loving-kindness:
O Lord, quicken me according to thy judgment.
They draw nigh that follow after mischief:
They are far from thy law.
Thou art near, O Lord;
And all thy commandments are truth.
Concerning thy testimonies, I have known of old
That thou hast founded them for ever.

"The New Colossus" by Emma Lazarus

On this day in 1886, as the Associated Press says, "the Statue of Liberty, a gift from the people of France, was dedicated in New York Harbor by President Grover Cleveland."

American poet, essayist and philanthropist Emma Lazarus (1849-1887) was an avid advocate of Jewish causes. Her famous sonnet "The New Colossus" is inscribed on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.


THE NEW COLOSSUS
by Emma Lazarus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

Statue of Liberty

Liberty Enlightening the World

"Jeremiah Denounces His Persecutors" (Jeremiah 20:7-13) : The Bible

Read the poem that is the prophet Jeremiah's fifth personal lament, "Jeremiah Denounces His Persecutors" (Jeremiah 20:7-13), a poem from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible.