…the unleavened bread shall certainly accompany me in my pilgrimage; and with full reliance on their efficacy, the motsas shall be to me a charm against the destroying Angel wherever I may sojourn; his serene highness [i.e., the king] will, I hope, be polite enough to keep at a desirable distance from my person, without the necessity of my smearing my door post or upper lintels with the blood of any animal.
While Byron’s poems remained famous, Nathan’s music virtually disappeared and his music has gone out of print. However, UCLA Professor Fred Burwick published a new edition of the original poems and music (1988) and persuaded professional musicians to record performances of 13 of the original 29 poems. Interested Jewish Press readers can hear the lyrics and music together at http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/douglass/music/album-hebrew.html.
As displayed above, Isaac Nathan signed Lord Byron’s “On Parting” (1811), which is more famously known by its first line: “The kiss, dear maid! thy lip has left , Shall never part from mine…”
