The Voice of the Lord, a poem by Rosa Emma Salaman (before 1883)
Source Link: https://opensiddur.org/?p=41267
open_content_license: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) 4.0 International copyleft license Date: 2021-12-05
Last Updated: 2022-02-26
Categories: Dangerous Storms & Floods, Travel
Tags: 19th century C.E., 57th century A.M., English Romanticism, English vernacular prayer, ocean, Prayers as poems, travel by water
Excerpt: A poem, inspired by psalms, about a dangerous ocean storm or else the violent nature calmed during one of the nights and days of creation. . . .
Content:
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The Voice of the Lord
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The mighty voice of the Lord
Was upon the waters that day;
Like thunder it scattered abroad
The works that before it lay!
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The voice of the Lord was heard
On the powerful ocean that night;
The billows arose, and the depths were stirred
In their glorious power and might.
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The voice of the Lord is grand!
It lifts up the waves on high;
They proudly sweep o’er the land,
And the works of man defy!
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The voice of the Lord awoke
The slumbering ocean’s tide;
That voice, “full of majesty,” spoke,
And the sea in its roar replied!
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The white cliffs trembled and shook;
They broke at its angry blast,
They shivered in pieces before His look.
And into the foam were cast!
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The voice of the Lord flashed fire,
And bars of iron gave way;
They bent—they fell as the waves rose higher,
And tossed them about in their spray!
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Then the mighty sea had rest,
In its beauty, its clearness, its calm;
The voice of the Lord was hush’d on its breast.
Which heaved ‘neath His heavenly arm!
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Titled “The Voice of the Lord” in Henry Abarbanel’s English School and Family Reader (1883), this poem was written by Rosa Emma Collins née Salaman (1815-1898). Whether “that day” or “that night” refers to a primordial day of creation or a specific and dangerous storm is unclear, but the language of her poem feels inspired by Psalms (93, 29, and others). The poem was likely published before 1883 elsewhere previously although we haven’t been able to locate where. If you know, please leave a comment or contact us.
Source(s)
Contributor: Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)
Co-authors:
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Name: Aharon N. Varady (editing/transcription)
Bio: Aharon Varady (M.A.J.Ed./JTSA Davidson) is a volunteer transcriber for the Open Siddur Project. If you find any mistakes in his transcriptions, please let him know. Shgiyot mi yavin; Ministarot naqeni שְׁגִיאוֹת מִי־יָבִין; מִנִּסְתָּרוֹת נַקֵּנִי "Who can know all one's flaws? From hidden errors, correct me" (Psalms 19:13). If you'd like to directly support his work, please consider donating via his Patreon account. (Varady also translates prayers and contributes his own original work besides serving as the primary shammes of the Open Siddur Project and its website, opensiddur.org.)
Website: https://aharon.varady.net
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/aharon-varady
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Name: Rosa Emma Salaman
Bio: Rosa Emma Collins née Salaman (1815-1898), was a poet and translator of Hebrew and German. Poems, published in 1853, was reportedly the only book accepted by Queen Victoria in the year of mourning following Prince Albert's death in 1861. In the United States, her poetry appeared in Isaac Leeser's Occident and American Jewish Advocate. The daughter of Simeon Kensington Salaman (b.1789) and Alice Cowan, Rosa Emma was one of fourteen siblings in a large and literary Jewish family in London, part of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish community. Two sisters, Kate Salaman and Julia Goodman, were painters -- the former of miniatures and the latter, a prolific portraitist. Her brother, Charles Kensington Salaman, was a British composer and pianist. Her husband, Judah Julius Collins, was a warden of the Western Marble Arch Synagogue in London's West End, and purported to be a descendant of the Baal Shem of London. Their son, Edwin Collins, was a Jewish educator.
Website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Emma_Salaman
Profile Link: https://opensiddur.org/profile/rosa-emma-salaman
Featured Image:
Title: 836px-Een_schip_in_volle_zee_bij_vliegende_storm,_bekend_als_‘De_windstoot’_Rijksmuseum_SK-A-1848
Caption: "The Rafale", painting by Willem Van de Velde (the Younger), circa 1680. A ship on the high seas during a flying storm, known as 'The wind gust' Rijksmuseum SK-A-1848
