On Giving and Taking
Once there lived a man who had a valley-full of needles. And oneday the mother of Jesus came to him and said: "Friend, my son'sgarment is torn and I must needs mend it before he goeth to thetemple. Wouldst thou not give me a needle?"
And he gave her not a needle, but he gave her a learned discourseon Giving and Taking to carry to her son before he should go tothe temple.
Words in this poem
- needs adv.
- Of necessity; necessarily; indispensably; -- often with must, and equivalent to of need. [Orig. gen. of need, used as an adverb. Cf. - wards.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
On Giving and Taking is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Madman: His Parables and Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #5616; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Kahlil Gibran, On Giving and Taking, in The Madman: His Parables and Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5616, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gibran-madman/on-giving-and-taking.html, id L27289.
About this section
On Giving and Taking is prose, printed in 2 paragraphs. It is part of the edition and is kept for reading, but nothing here is measured: the line breaks are the printer's, so no metre, rhyme scheme or scansion is stated.
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