The poem, a cautionary elegy in structured verse, argues that antisemitism is not merely a prejudice against Jews but a lethal toxin that inevitably corrodes and destroys the society that tolerates it.
It begins by depicting hatred as a subtle venom that spreads quietly through a civilization. Historical examples—Spain’s expulsion of Jews ending its Golden Age, and Nazi Germany’s descent into madness and ruin—illustrate how nations that indulge this hatred pay a catastrophic price.
The poem frames antisemitism as an early and reliable indicator of deeper moral decay: when a society scapegoats and dehumanizes Jews, it has already begun to unravel its own ethical foundations. Unchecked prejudice metastasizes, eroding civic bonds, fostering division, and ultimately turning inward to consume the host nation itself.
The closing stanzas deliver an uncompromising warning: every society that permits antisemitism to flourish sows the seeds of its own collapse—through internal strife, loss of humanity, and self-inflicted downfall. Only vigilant rejection of this hatred, the poem concludes, allows a civilization to endure and thrive.
In essence, the work presents antisemitism as a historical law of societal suicide: tolerate it, and you sign your own death warrant.
In realms where shadows whisper lies,
And venom spreads through crowded halls,
A society that lets it rise—
The ancient hate that curses, mauls—
Will find its foundations start to fall.
From Spain’s expulsion, golden age lost,
To Germany’s descent into night,
Where madness reigned at dreadful cost,
And empires crumbled in the fight
Against the light they chose to blight.
The canary in the coal mine deep,
The Jew bears scars of history’s blade;
When hatred wakes from shallow sleep,
The bonds of civility degrade,
And freedom’s flame begins to fade.
For prejudice, unchecked, devours
The heart that harbors its dark seed;
It turns the strong to craven powers,
And sows the storm that all must heed—
A nation’s soul begins to bleed.
Every society that lets it grow,
This festering wound, this moral rot,
Will reap the whirlwind it did sow:
Division, ruin, blood and shot—
Self-destruction its final lot.
Beware the poison in the vein,
The whispered slur, the scapegoat’s cry;
Reject it, or invite the pain
That brings the mighty low to die.
In Jesus Christ alone we thrive.
Passionately Pursuing Christ 