Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich and like a lily in bloom,
An angel writing in a book of gold.
Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the presence in the room he said,
"What writest thou?" The vision raised its head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord,
Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord."
"And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so,"
Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerly still, and said, "I pray thee, then,
Write me as one that loves his fellow-men."
The angel wrote and vanished. The next night
It came again, with a great wakening light,
And showed the names whom love of God had blessed--
And lo, Ben Adhem's name led all the rest!
* * * * *
Leigh Hunt was born at Southgate, Middlesex, England,
October 19, 1784; and died at Putney, near London, August
28, 1859. The son of a clergyman, he was educated at
Christ's Hospital, under the same master as Coleridge and
Lamb.
He was an ardent political reformer, and it was while in
prison for libel against the Prince Regent that he first met
Lord Byron, whose biography he afterward wrote.
Besides this, a long poem, "Rimini," and an "Autobiography,"
his works are principally essays and shorter poems, of which
"Abou Ben Adhem" is perhaps the most famous.
There are few school children who have not recited "Abou Ben
Adhem," and in the more serious business of life it has
served to point a moral, under most varied circumstances; in
the marts of trade and the senate chamber it is equally
familiar, for, short though it be, it is an epitome of true
Christianity.