there we sat and wept,
when we remembered Zion.
On the willows,
there in its midst,
we hung our harps.
For there, those who
had taken us captive
requested words of song from us,
those who were afflicting us
demanded joy.
"Sing us some songs
of Zion."
How shall we sing
the Lord's song
on foreign soil?
If I should forget you,
O Jerusalem,
may my right hand
go also to oblivion,
may my tongue
stick to my palate
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
at the head of all my joy.
Remember,O Lord,
the sons of Edom,
on the day
of Jerusalem,
saying "destroy it,
destroy it,
down to its
foundations."
O daughter of Babylon,
you despoiler,
blessed is the one
who will repay you
for what you have done to us.
Beatus qui tenebit et adlidet
parvulos tuos ad petram.
Copyright © 2018 by Donald Traxler
1 comment:
This Psalm is a relic of a very brutal time, one that we would not wish to imitate. I could not relate to the last verse, which suggests violence against innocent children. Instead of translating the last verse, which I find cruel and offensive, into English, I chose to do as the Victorians did when a passage was too strong or too obscene: I let it stand, but in Latin.
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