Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Asia: Vols. XXI–XXIII. 1876–79.
Jaffàr
By Leigh Hunt (1784–1859)J
The poor man’s hope, the friend without a peer,
Jaffàr was dead, slain by a doom unjust;
And guilty Hàroun, sullen with mistrust
Of what the good and e’en the bad might say,
Ordained that no man living from that day
Should dare to speak his name on pain of death.
All Araby and Persia held their breath.
How far for love a grateful soul could go,
And facing death for very scorn and grief
(For his great heart wanted a great relief),
Stood forth in Bagdad, daily, in the square
Where once had stood a happy house; and there
Harangued the tremblers at the scymitar
On all they owed to the divine Jaffàr.
Was brought,—was gazed upon. The mutes began
To bind his arms. “Welcome, brave cords!” cried he;
“From bonds far worse Jaffàr delivered me;
From wants, from shames, from loveless household fears;
Made a man’s eyes friends with delicious tears;
Restored me,—loved me,—put me on a par
With his great self. How can I pay Jaffàr?”
The mightiest vengeance could but fall amiss,
Now deigned to smile, as one great lord of fate
Might smile upon another half as great.
He said, “Let worth grow frenzied, if it will;
The caliph’s judgment shall be master still.
Go; and since gifts thus move thee, take this gem,
The richest in the Tartar’s diadem,
And hold the giver as thou deemest fit.”
High towards the heavens, as though to meet his star,
Exclaimed, “This, too, I owe to thee, Jaffàr!”