War
One night a feast was held in the palace, and there came a man andprostrated himself before the prince, and all the feasters lookedupon him; and they saw that one of his eyes was out and thatthe empty socket bled. And the prince inquired of him, "What hasbefallen you?" And the man replied, "O prince, I am by professiona thief, and this night, because there was no moon, I went to robthe money-changer's shop, and as I climbed in through the windowI made a mistake and entered the weaver's shop, and in the dark Iran into the weaver's loom and my eye was plucked out. And now,O prince, I ask for justice upon the weaver."
Then the prince sent for the weaver and he came, and it was decreedthat one of his eyes should be plucked out.
"O prince," said the weaver, "the decree is just. It is right thatone of my eyes be taken. And yet, alas! both are necessary to mein order that I may see the two sides of the cloth that I weave.But I have a neighbour, a cobbler, who has also two eyes, and inhis trade both eyes are not necessary."
Then the prince sent for the cobbler. And he came. And they tookout one of the cobbler's two eyes.
And justice was satisfied.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- neighbour v. i.
- To dwell in the vicinity; to be a neighbor, or in the neighborhood; to be near.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
War 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, War, in The Madman: His Parables and Poems (1918), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #5616, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/gibran-madman/war.html, id L27291.
About this section
War is prose, printed in 5 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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