So went he forth; but in God's time he came And, dying, gave The land a saint that lost him as a slave. WHITTIER (The Proclamation) 16 BOU BEN ADHEM (may his tribe increase!) Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace, And saw, within the moonlight in his room, Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom, An angel writing in a book of gold. Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold, And to the presence in the room he said, "What writest thou?"—The vision raised its head, And, with a look made all of sweet accord, Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord." "And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so," Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low, But cheerly still; and said, "I pray thee, then, Write me as one that loves his fellow-men." The angel wrote and vanished. The next night It came again, with a great wakening light, And showed the names whom love of God had blessed, And lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest. LEIGH HUNT (Abou ben Adhem). I 17 MET a traveller from an antique land Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive (stamped on these lifeless things) The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed; And on the pedestal these words appear: 18 T was a summer evening; IT Old Kaspar's work was done, And by him sported on the green She saw her brother Peterkin Roll something large and round, Which he beside the rivulet In playing there had found; He came to ask what he had found That was so large and smooth and round Old Kaspar took it from the boy, Who stood expectant by; And then the old man shook his head, And, with a natural sigh, ""Tis some poor fellow's skull," said he, แ "Who fell in the great victory. "I find them in the garden, For there's many here about; And often, when I go to plough, The ploughshare turns them out. For many thousand men," said he, "Were slain in that great victory." "Now tell us what 'twas all about," Young Peterkin he cries; And little Wilhelmine looks up With wonder-waiting eyes; "Now tell us all about the war, And what they fought each other for." "It was the English," Kaspar cried, "Who put the French to rout; But what they fought each other for, I could not well make out. But everybody said," quoth he, "That 'twas a famous victory. "My father lived at Blenheim then, Yon little stream hard by; They burnt his dwelling to the ground, And he was forced to fly: |