The Khan's Devil Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: AA B CC DD E FF GG HH I EJ KL MM MM N OO HH PP NN N QQ HH RR RR OO SS NN OO TT R| The Khan came from Bokhara town | A |
| To Hamza santon of renown | A |
| - | |
| 'My head is sick my hands are weak | B |
| Thy help O holy man I seek ' | - |
| - | |
| In silence marking for a space | C |
| The Khan's red eyes and purple face | C |
| - | |
| Thick voice and loose uncertain tread | D |
| 'Thou hast a devil ' Hamza said | D |
| - | |
| 'Allah forbid ' exclaimed the Khan | E |
| Rid me of him at once O man ' | - |
| - | |
| 'Nay ' Hamza said 'no spell of mine | F |
| Can slay that cursed thing of thine | F |
| - | |
| 'Leave feast and wine go forth and drink | G |
| Water of healing on the brink | G |
| - | |
| 'Where clear and cold from mountain snows | H |
| The Nahr el Zeben downward flows | H |
| - | |
| 'Six moons remain then come to me | I |
| May Allah's pity go with thee ' | - |
| - | |
| Awestruck from feast and wine the Khan | E |
| Went forth where Nahr el Zeben ran | J |
| - | |
| Roots were his food the desert dust | K |
| His bed the water quenched his thirst | L |
| - | |
| And when the sixth moon's scimetar | M |
| Curved sharp above the evening star | M |
| - | |
| He sought again the santon's door | M |
| Not weak and trembling as before | M |
| - | |
| But strong of limb and clear of brain | N |
| 'Behold ' he said 'the fiend is slain ' | - |
| - | |
| 'Nay ' Hamza answered 'starved and drowned | O |
| The curst one lies in death like swound | O |
| - | |
| 'But evil breaks the strongest gyves | H |
| And jins like him have charmed lives | H |
| - | |
| 'One beaker of the juice of grape | P |
| May call him up in living shape | P |
| - | |
| 'When the red wine of Badakshan | N |
| Sparkles for thee beware O Khan | N |
| - | |
| 'With water quench the fire within | N |
| And drown each day thy devilkin ' | - |
| - | |
| Thenceforth the great Khan shunned the cup | Q |
| As Shitan's own though offered up | Q |
| - | |
| With laughing eyes and jewelled hands | H |
| By Yarkand's maids and Samarcand's | H |
| - | |
| And in the lofty vestibule | R |
| Of the medress of Kaush Kodul | R |
| - | |
| The students of the holy law | R |
| A golden lettered tablet saw | R |
| - | |
| With these words by a cunning hand | O |
| Graved on it at the Khan's command | O |
| - | |
| 'In Allah's name to him who hath | S |
| A devil Khan el Hamed saith | S |
| - | |
| 'Wisely our Prophet cursed the vine | N |
| The fiend that loves the breath of wine | N |
| - | |
| 'No prayer can slay no marabout | O |
| Nor Meccan dervis can drive out | O |
| - | |
| 'I Khan el Hamed know the charm | T |
| That robs him of his power to harm | T |
| - | |
| 'Drown him O Islam's child the spell | R |
| To save thee lies in tank and well ' | - |
John Greenleaf Whittier
(1)
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