XXVI. ABOU BEN ADHEM. James Henry Leigh Hunt (b. 1784, d. 1859) was the son of a West Indian, who married an American lady, and practiced law in Philadelphia until the Revolution; being a Tory, he then returned to England, where Leigh Hunt was born. The latter wrote many verses while yet a boy, and in 1801 his father published a collection of them, entitled "Juvenilia." For many years he was connected with various newspapers, and, while editor of the “Examiner," was imprisoned for two years for writing disrespectfully of the prince regent. While in prison he was visited frequently by the poets Byron, Moore, Lamb, Shelley, and Keats; and there wrote " The Feast of the Poets," "The Descent of Liberty, a Mask," and "The Story of Rimini," which immediately gave him a reputation as a poet. His writings include various translations, dramas, novels, collections of essays, and poems. 1. ABOU BEN ADHEM (may his tribe increase!)
96 ECLECTIC SERIES. 2. Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold;
3. “And is mine one?" said Abou. “Nay, not so,"
4. The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night
NOTE:. The above selection is written in imitation of an oriental fable. The text and graphics of this reader were scanned for this site by John Bradshaw in Sydney, Australia. |