In the Valley of the Waters
In the Valley of the Waters - meaning Summary
Exile Mourning and Defiance
This short lyric recounts a community mourning the conquest of Salem and the loss of their homeland. The speaker describes suppressed songs and silent harps as signs of grief and resistance. Though captors demand music, the people refuse to perform for their conquerors; their hands may be bound but their tears and loyalty remain free. The poem ends with an invocation of God and Zion, emphasizing faith and national devotion amid exile.
Read Complete AnalysesIn the valley of the waters we wept o’er the day When the host of the stranger made Salem his prey, And our heads on our bosoms all droopingly lay, And our hearts were so full of the land far away. The song they demanded in vain–it lay still In our souls as the wind that died on the hill; They called for the harp–but our blood they shall spill Ere our right hand shall teach them one tone of our skill. All stringlessly hung on the willow’s sad tree, As dead as her dead leaf those mute harps must be; Our hands may be fetter’d–our tears still are free, For our God and our glory–and, Sion!–Oh, thee.
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