From the German
One day the Sultan, grand and grim,Ordered the Mufti brought to him."Now let thy wisdom solve for meThe question I shall put to thee.
"The different tribes beneath my swayFour several sects of priests obey;Now tell me which of all the fourIs on the path to Heaven's door."
The Sultan spake, and then was dumb.The Mufti looked about the room,And straight made answer to his lord,Fearing the bowstring at each word:
"Thou, godlike in thy lofty birth,Who art our Allah upon earth,Illume me with thy favouring ray,And I will answer as I may.
"Here, where thou thronest in thy hall,I see there are four doors in all;And through all four thy slaves may gazeUpon the brightness of thy face.
"That I came hither safely throughWas to thy gracious message due,And, blinded by thy splendour's flame,I cannot tell the way I came."
Words in this poem
- mufti n.
- An official expounder of Mohammedan law. [Ar. mufti.]
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- bowstring n.
- The string of a bow.
- allah n.
- The name of the Supreme Being, in use among the Arabs and the Mohammedans generally. [contr. fr. the article al the + ilah God.]
- illume v. t.
- To throw or spread light upon; to make light or bright; to illuminate; to illumine. [Cf. F. illuminer. See Illuminate.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
From the German is in the public domain. This text is taken from Pike County Ballads and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #6062; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Hay, From the German, in Pike County Ballads and Other Poems (1871), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6062, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hay-pike-county/from-the-german.html, id L21639.
Form and metre
From the German is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 4 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%).
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABB grimA · himA · meB · theeB
- 2 AABB swayA · obeyA · fourB · doorB
- 4 AABB birthA · earthA · rayB · mayB
- 5 AA-- hallA · allA · gaze · face
- 6 AABB throughA · dueA · flameB · cameB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| One day the Sultan, grand and grim, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Ordered the Mufti brought to him. | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| "Now let thy wisdom solve for me | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| The question I shall put to thee. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| "The different tribes beneath my sway | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Four several sects of priests obey; | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Now tell me which of all the four | 8 | ········ |
| Is on the path to Heaven's door." | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| The Sultan spake, and then was dumb. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| The Mufti looked about the room, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And straight made answer to his lord, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Fearing the bowstring at each word: | 8 | /˘·/˘··· |
| "Thou, godlike in thy lofty birth, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| Who art our Allah upon earth, | 8 | ··//˘··· |
| Illume me with thy favouring ray, | 8 | ˘/···/˘· |
| And I will answer as I may. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "Here, where thou thronest in thy hall, | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| I see there are four doors in all; | 8 | ········ |
| And through all four thy slaves may gaze | 8 | ········ |
| Upon the brightness of thy face. | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| "That I came hither safely through | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| Was to thy gracious message due, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| And, blinded by thy splendour's flame, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| I cannot tell the way I came." | 8 | ·/˘····· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.