Aladdin and the Jinn
"Bring me soft song," said Aladdin."This tailor-shop sings not at all.Chant me a word of the twilight,Of roses that mourn in the fall.Bring me a song like hashishThat will comfort the stale and the sad,For I would be mending my spirit,Forgetting these days that are bad,Forgetting companions too shallow,Their quarrels and arguments thin,Forgetting the shouting Muezzin:"--"I AM YOUR SLAVE," said the Jinn.
"Bring me old wines," said Aladdin."I have been a starved pauper too long.Serve them in vessels of jade and of shell,Serve them with fruit and with song:--Wines of pre-Adamite SultansDigged from beneath the black seas:--New-gathered dew from the heavensDripped down from Heaven's sweet trees,Cups from the angels' pale tablesThat will make me both handsome and wise,For I have beheld her, the princess,Firelight and starlight her eyes.Pauper I am, I would woo her.And--let me drink wine, to begin,Though the Koran expressly forbids it.""I AM YOUR SLAVE," said the Jinn.
"Plan me a dome," said Aladdin,"That is drawn like the dawn of the MOON,When the sphere seems to rest on the mountains,Half-hidden, yet full-risen soon.""Build me a dome," said Aladdin,"That shall cause all young lovers to sigh,The fullness of life and of beauty,Peace beyond peace to the eye--A palace of foam and of opal,Pure moonlight without and within,Where I may enthrone my sweet lady.""I AM YOUR SLAVE," said the Jinn.
Words in this poem
- muezzin n.
- A Mohammedan crier of the hour of prayer. [Written also mouezzin, mueddin, and muwazzin.] [Ar.]
- pauper n.
- A poor person; especially, one development on private or public charity. Also used adjectively; as, pouper immigrants, pouper labor. [L. See Poor.]
- princess n.
- A female prince; a woman having sovereign power, or the rank of a prince. [F. princesse. See Prince, and cf. Princesse.]
- starlight n.
- The light given by the stars.
- 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,]
- enthrone v. t.
- To seat on a throne; to exalt to the seat of royalty or of high authority; hence, to invest with sovereign authority or dignity. [Pref. en- + throne: cf. OF. enthroner. Cf. Inthronize.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Aladdin and the Jinn is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Congo, and Other Poems, Project Gutenberg ebook #1021; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Vachel Lindsay, Aladdin and the Jinn, in The Congo and Other Poems (1914), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1021, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/lindsay-congo/aladdin-and-the-jinn.html, id L00995.
Form and metre
Aladdin and the Jinn is 40 lines in 3 stanzas. The metre is dactylic trimeter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 71%). 90% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.2 syllables. 15 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 10% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in dactylic trimeter.
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 -ABA-CBC-D-D aladdin · allA · twilightB · fallA · hashish · sadC · spiritB · badC · shallow · thinD · muezzin · jinnD
- 2 -A-A-B-B-C-C-D-D aladdin · longA · shell · songA · sultans · seasB · heavens · treesB · tables · wiseC · princess · eyesC · her · beginD · it · jinnD
- 3 AB-BAC-C-D-D aladdinA · moonB · mountains · soonB · aladdinA · sighC · beauty · eyeC · opal · withinD · lady · jinnD
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 dactylic trimeter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| "Bring me soft song," said Aladdin. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| "This tailor-shop sings not at all. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Chant me a word of the twilight, | 8 | ······/· |
| Of roses that mourn in the fall. | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Bring me a song like hashish | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| That will comfort the stale and the sad, | 9 | ··/˘····· |
| For I would be mending my spirit, | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| Forgetting these days that are bad, | 8 | ˘/˘····· |
| Forgetting companions too shallow, | 9 | ˘/˘˘/˘·/˘ |
| Their quarrels and arguments thin, | 8 | ·/˘·/˘˘· |
| Forgetting the shouting Muezzin:"-- | 9 | ˘/˘·/˘˘/˘ |
| "I AM YOUR SLAVE," said the Jinn. | 7 | ······· |
| "Bring me old wines," said Aladdin. | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| "I have been a starved pauper too long. | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| Serve them in vessels of jade and of shell, | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Serve them with fruit and with song:-- | 7 | ······· |
| Wines of pre-Adamite Sultans | 8 | ···/˘˘/˘ |
| Digged from beneath the black seas:-- | 8 | ·˘······ |
| New-gathered dew from the heavens | 8 | ·/˘···/˘ |
| Dripped down from Heaven's sweet trees, | 8 | ·˘··/˘·· |
| Cups from the angels' pale tables | 8 | ···/˘·/˘ |
| That will make me both handsome and wise, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| For I have beheld her, the princess, | 9 | ···˘/··/˘ |
| Firelight and starlight her eyes. | 8 | ····/··· |
| Pauper I am, I would woo her. | 8 | /˘······ |
| And--let me drink wine, to begin, | 8 | ······˘/ |
| Though the Koran expressly forbids it." | 10 | ··˘/˘/˘˘/· |
| "I AM YOUR SLAVE," said the Jinn. | 7 | ······· |
| "Plan me a dome," said Aladdin, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| "That is drawn like the dawn of the MOON, | 9 | ········· |
| When the sphere seems to rest on the mountains, | 10 | ········/˘ |
| Half-hidden, yet full-risen soon." | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| "Build me a dome," said Aladdin, | 8 | ·····˘/˘ |
| "That shall cause all young lovers to sigh, | 9 | ·····/˘·· |
| The fullness of life and of beauty, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Peace beyond peace to the eye-- | 7 | ······· |
| A palace of foam and of opal, | 9 | ·/˘····/˘ |
| Pure moonlight without and within, | 8 | ·/······ |
| Where I may enthrone my sweet lady." | 9 | ···˘/··/˘ |
| "I AM YOUR SLAVE," said the Jinn. | 7 | ······· |
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.