AT Haroun's court it chanced, upon a time, An Arab poet made this pleasant rhyme: "The new moon is a horseshoe, wrought of God, Wherewith the Sultan's stallion shall be shod." On hearing this, his highness smiled, and gave The man a gold-piece. Sing again, O slave! Above his lute the happy singer bent, And turned another gracious compliment. And, as before, the smiling Sultan gave The man a sekkah. Sing again, O slave! Again the verse came, fluent as a rill That wanders, silver-footed, down a hill. The Sultan, listening, nodded as before, Still gave the gold, and still demanded more. The nimble fancy that had climbed so high Grew weary with its climbing by and by: Strange discords rose; the sense went quite amiss; The singer's rhymes refused to meet and kiss: Invention flagged, the lute had got unstrung, And twice he sang the song already sung. The Sultan, furious, called a mute, and said, O Musta, straightway whip me off his head! Poets! not in Arabia alone You get beheaded when your skill is gone. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...CAVALIER TUNES: BOOT AND SADDLE by ROBERT BROWNING THE TESTAMENT OF CRESSEID by ROBERT HENRYSON THE MAN IN THE MOON by JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY EXPLANATION by VIRGINIA A. ALLIN THE CLINGING VINE by ANTIPATER OF SIDON PEARLS OF THE FAITH: 45. ALLAH-AL-MUJIB by EDWIN ARNOLD THE FIRST SNOW by J. B. BENTON |