King Solomon And The Bees Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A BCBCDD EFEFGG HIHIJJ KLKLMM NONOPQ RDRDPP STSTNN UKUKVV WXWXSS| A Tale of the Talmud | A |
| - | |
| - | |
| When Solomon was reigning in his glory | B |
| Unto his throne the Queen of Sheba came | C |
| So in the Talmud you may read the story | B |
| Drawn by the magic of the monarch's fame | C |
| To see the splendors of his court and bring | D |
| Some fitting tribute to the mighty king | D |
| - | |
| Nor this alone much had her Highness heard | E |
| What flowers of learning graced the royal speech | F |
| What gems of wisdom dropped with every word | E |
| What wholesome lessons he was wont to teach | F |
| In pleasing proverbs and she wished in sooth | G |
| To know if Rumor spoke the simple truth | G |
| - | |
| Besides the queen had heard which piqued her most | H |
| How through the deepest riddles he could spy | I |
| How all the curious arts that women boast | H |
| Were quite transparent to his piercing eye | I |
| And so the queen had come a royal guest | J |
| To put the sage's cunning to the test | J |
| - | |
| And straight she held before the monarch's view | K |
| In either hand a radiant wreath of flowers | L |
| The one bedecked with every charming hue | K |
| Was newly culled from Nature's choicest bowers | L |
| The other no less fair in every part | M |
| Was the rare product of divinest Art | M |
| - | |
| Which is the true and which the false she said | N |
| Great Solomon was silent All amazed | O |
| Each wondering courtier shook his puzzled head | N |
| While at the garlands long the monarch gazed | O |
| As one who sees a miracle and fain | P |
| For very rapture ne'er would speak again | Q |
| - | |
| Which is the true once more the woman asked | R |
| Pleased at the fond amazement of the king | D |
| So wise a head should not be hardly tasked | R |
| Most learned liege with such a trivial thing | D |
| But still the sage was silent it was plain | P |
| A deepening doubt perplexed the royal brain | P |
| - | |
| While thus he pondered presently he sees | S |
| Hard by the casement so the story goes | T |
| A little band of busy bustling bees | S |
| Hunting for honey in a withered rose | T |
| The monarch smiled and raised his royal head | N |
| Open the window that was all he said | N |
| - | |
| The window opened at the king's command | U |
| Within the room the eager insects flew | K |
| And sought the flowers in Sheba's dexter hand | U |
| And so the king and all the courtiers knew | K |
| That wreath was Nature's and the baffled queen | V |
| Returned to tell the wonders she had seen | V |
| - | |
| My story teaches every tale should bear | W |
| A fitting moral that the wise may find | X |
| In trifles light as atoms in the air | W |
| Some useful lesson to enrich the mind | X |
| Some truth designed to profit or to please | S |
| As Israel's king learned wisdom from the bees | S |
John G. Saxe
(1)
Poem topics: , Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
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