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Poems of James Clarence Mangan

(Many hitherto uncollected): Centenary edition: Edited, with preface and notes by D. J. O'Donoghue: Introduction by John Mitchel

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VI.

Bismillah! It is good for thee to be much afflicted. As Suleymán-Ben-Daood hath said: The heart is made better by the sadness of the countenance.

Like the lone lamp that illumines a Sheikh's mausoleum,
Like a rich calcedon shrined in some gloomy museum,
Like the bright moon before Midnight is blended with Morrow,
Shines the pure pearl of the soul in the Chalice of Sorrow!
Mourners on earth shall be solaced with pleasures unceasing—
Such are the tone and the tune of the ditty that we sing.