Song of the Devoted Slave
There is one God: Mahomed his Prophet. Had I his powerI would take the topmost peaks of the snow-clad Himalayas,And would range them around your dwelling, during the heats of summer,To cool the airs that fan your serene and delicate presence,Had I the power.
Your courtyard should ever be filled with the fleetest of camelsLaden with inlaid armour, jewels and trappings for horses,Ripe dates from Egypt, and spices and musk from Arabia.And the sacred waters of Zem-Zem well, transported thither,Should bubble and flow in your chamber, to bathe the delicateSlender and wayworn feet of my Lord, returning from travel,Had I the power.
Fine woven silk, from the further East, should conceal your beauty,Clinging around you in amorous folds; caressive, silken,Beautiful long-lashed, sweet-voiced Persian boys should, kneeling, serve you,And the floor beneath your sandalled feet should be smooth and golden,Had I the power.
And if ever your clear and stately thoughts should turn to women,Kings' daughters, maidens, should be appointed to your caresses,That the youth and the strength of my Lord might never be wastedIn light or sterile love; but enrich the world with his children.Had I the power.
Whilst I should sit in the outer court of the Water PalaceTo await the time when you went forth, for Pleasure or Warfare,Descending the stairs rose crowned, or armed and arrayed in purple,--To mark the place where your steps have fallen, and kiss the footprints,Had I the power.
Words in this poem
- armour n.
- Defensive arms for the body; any clothing or covering worn to protect one's person in battle. [OE. armure, fr. F. armure, OF. armeure, fr. L. armatura. See Armature.]
- wayworn a.
- Wearied by traveling.
- await v. t.
- To watch for; to look out for. [OF. awaitier, agaitier; (L. ad) + waitier, gaitier to watch, F. guetter. See Wait.]
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Song of the Devoted Slave is in the public domain. This text is taken from India's Love Lyrics, Project Gutenberg ebook #8197; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Laurence Hope, Song of the Devoted Slave, in India's Love Lyrics (1901), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #8197, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/hope-india/song-of-the-devoted-slave.html, id L22639.
Form and metre
Song of the Devoted Slave is 27 lines in 5 stanzas. This poem did not settle on a metre of its own; the book it comes from is in iambic pentameter.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
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 A---A powerA · himalayas · summer · presence · powerA
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 pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| There is one God: Mahomed his Prophet. Had I his power | 15 | ······˘·/˘···/˘ |
| I would take the topmost peaks of the snow-clad Himalayas, | 15 | ····/˘······˘/˘ |
| And would range them around your dwelling, during the heats of summer, | 16 | ·······/˘/˘···/˘ |
| To cool the airs that fan your serene and delicate presence, | 15 | ·······˘/·/˘˘/˘ |
| Had I the power. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Your courtyard should ever be filled with the fleetest of camels | 15 | ·/··/˘····/˘·/˘ |
| Laden with inlaid armour, jewels and trappings for horses, | 15 | /˘·/·/˘/˘·/˘·/˘ |
| Ripe dates from Egypt, and spices and musk from Arabia. | 15 | ···/˘·/˘···˘/˘˘ |
| And the sacred waters of Zem-Zem well, transported thither, | 15 | ··/˘/˘····˘/˘/˘ |
| Should bubble and flow in your chamber, to bathe the delicate | 15 | ·/˘····/˘···/˘˘ |
| Slender and wayworn feet of my Lord, returning from travel, | 15 | /˘·/˘····˘/˘·/˘ |
| Had I the power. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Fine woven silk, from the further East, should conceal your beauty, | 15 | ·/˘···/˘··˘/·/˘ |
| Clinging around you in amorous folds; caressive, silken, | 15 | /˘····/˘˘····/˘ |
| Beautiful long-lashed, sweet-voiced Persian boys should, kneeling, serve you, | 15 | /˘˘····/˘··/˘·· |
| And the floor beneath your sandalled feet should be smooth and golden, | 15 | ······/˘·····/˘ |
| Had I the power. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| And if ever your clear and stately thoughts should turn to women, | 15 | ··/˘···/˘····/˘ |
| Kings' daughters, maidens, should be appointed to your caresses, | 15 | ·/˘/˘··˘/˘··˘/˘ |
| That the youth and the strength of my Lord might never be wasted | 15 | ··········/˘·/˘ |
| In light or sterile love; but enrich the world with his children. | 15 | ···/˘··˘/····/˘ |
| Had I the power. | 5 | ···/˘ |
| Whilst I should sit in the outer court of the Water Palace | 15 | ······/˘···/˘/˘ |
| To await the time when you went forth, for Pleasure or Warfare, | 15 | ·˘/·······/˘·/· |
| Descending the stairs rose crowned, or armed and arrayed in purple,-- | 15 | ˘/˘·······˘/·/˘ |
| To mark the place where your steps have fallen, and kiss the footprints, | 15 | ········/˘···/· |
| Had I the power. | 5 | ···/˘ |
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.