Abou 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 of all 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!
My father made me learn this poem at a very young age. Even today, I can recite this poem word for word.
6 comments:
these "old" worn pages add so much meaning to beautiful poetry such as this one.
So you still able to recite it now?
~Silver
I agree it does look nice with the poem.
And yes, I can recite it word for word. Strange how some things stay with us for all time.
You are a night owl like me, or, you are on the west coast?
Wow...beautiful!
You have great memory...I don't even remember my social security no. sometimes... ~Lovely day to you dear!
(lol) my memory is nothing exceptional, but...I do have a way with remembering the strangest things. For instance, I can tell you the exchange rate for every country I ever visited. But other things, that I should remember, I do not. :( Thank you for the visit. Have a wonderful day yourself!
What beautifully poetic prose for you to have nesting all of your life... I've fallen instantly for it.
David
Hi David... if only it were the good things that found a permanent home in our minds. Thanks for the visit.
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