The poetical works of John Godfrey Saxe Household Edition : with illustrations |
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HASSAN AND THE ANGEL. |
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 | The poetical works of John Godfrey Saxe |  |
HASSAN AND THE ANGEL.
The Calif, Hassan,—so the tale is told,—
In honors opulent and rich in gold,
One New Year's Day sat in a palm-tree's shade,
And, on a stone that lay beside him, made
An inventory,—naming one by one
His benefactions; all that he had done
Throughout the year; and thus the items ran:
“Five bags of gold for mosques in Ispahan;
For caravans to Mecca, seven more;
For amulets to pious people, four;
Three for the Ramazan; and two to pay
The holy dervishes, who thrice a day
In prayer besought the safety of my soul;
Item, one loaf of bread, a weekly dole
To a poor widow with a sickly child.”
The Calif read the reckoning o'er, and smiled
With conscious pleasure at the vast amount,
When, lo! a hand sweeps over the account.
In honors opulent and rich in gold,
One New Year's Day sat in a palm-tree's shade,
And, on a stone that lay beside him, made
An inventory,—naming one by one
His benefactions; all that he had done
Throughout the year; and thus the items ran:
“Five bags of gold for mosques in Ispahan;
For caravans to Mecca, seven more;
For amulets to pious people, four;
Three for the Ramazan; and two to pay
The holy dervishes, who thrice a day
In prayer besought the safety of my soul;
Item, one loaf of bread, a weekly dole
To a poor widow with a sickly child.”
The Calif read the reckoning o'er, and smiled
With conscious pleasure at the vast amount,
When, lo! a hand sweeps over the account.
With sudden anger, Hassan looked around,
And saw an angel standing on the ground,
With wings of gold, and robe of purest white.
“I am God's messenger, employed to write
Within this book the pious deeds of men;
I have revised thy reckoning; look again.”
So to the man the angel spake aloud,
Then slowly vanished in a rosy cloud.
The Calif, looking, saw upon the stone
The final item standing there alone.
And saw an angel standing on the ground,
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“I am God's messenger, employed to write
Within this book the pious deeds of men;
I have revised thy reckoning; look again.”
So to the man the angel spake aloud,
Then slowly vanished in a rosy cloud.
The Calif, looking, saw upon the stone
The final item standing there alone.
| The poetical works of John Godfrey Saxe | |