Abou Ben Adhem

Abou Ben Adhem      by Leigh Hunt

 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 blest,

And lo! Ben Adhem’s name led all the rest.

  

James Leigh Hunt

 James Leigh Hunt was born on October 19^th 1784 in England.  When Hunt was a small child, his mother was very sad over her husband’s imprisonment.  Hunt too had a depressing childhood which led him with the problem of stammering.  He entered into Christ’s hospital through charity and learned classic literature.  He was admired as he was so kind to others. 

 Hunt is a Romantic poet, but his works are less popular than the famous counter parts, like Coleridge and Shelly.  In 1801 he published his “Juvenilia.”  He married Marianne Kent in 1809 and had ten children.  Hunt became a successful journalist.  He supported his brother with his articles.  The brothers worked together. They spoke against various political leaders when England did not give freedom for speech at that time, so they both convicted and sent to prison for a few years.  He was depressed as it was one of his health issues.  So many friends visited him in prison to make him comfortable.  He had time to read and write, he published Classic Tales: Serious and lively, a literary anthology.

 Hunt became more attracted to nature and enjoyed life with positive attitude and wanted to spread this vibrations with others.  The Story of Rimini was published after his release from prison in 1815.  In 1819 Hero and Leander, and Bacchus and Ariadne were published.  Some of his famous poems are “Jenny kiss’d me, “Abou Ben Adhem” and A Night Rain in Summer.”   Hunt suffered with poverty and sickness.  His failures were the main reason for his poverty.  After he managed to come out of his financial crisis he published companion books Imagination and Fancy (1844) and Wit and Humour (1846).  On August 1859 he died in Putney in London.  Christ’s hospital was named one of its houses in the memory of Hunt.

Summary of the Poem

 Abou Ben Adhem woken up from his peaceful sleep.  He looks around his bedroom which is full of moon light.  He notices that he could feel the pure loveliness like a pure lily by the arrival of an angel who is writing a golden book.  Abou Ben Adhem who is fearless due to his pure innocence asks the angel what it is doing with the golden book.  Then with compassion says that it is making a list of good people who love God.  Out of curiosity Abou Ben Adhem asks the angel whether his name is there.  The angel says no.  Without any hesitation with his innocence Abou Ben Adhem requests the angel to record his name as the one who love other people instead of loving God.  The angel disappears and the next night the angel comes back with a light holding the new list of people blessed by God.  Abou Ben Adhem name is at the top.

 

Detail Analysis of the Poem

Stanza one

Lines 1 - 5

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:-

 In this stanza the speaker blesses the Sufi saint, and requests his tribe to increase and his family to flourish with goodness.  The narrator hopes to have a happy and peaceful life.  Then he moves into the man’s life to and make it memorable.  Adhem during his peaceful sleep wakes up one night from a dream and notices his room is filled with moonlit and pure loveliness like a lily bloom.  It is beautiful atmosphere which is created by the speaker. Soon he realizes that an angel’s presence.  The angel is writing in a book of gold.

 

Lines 6 – 10

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.”

 

In this stanza the speaker says that Adhem is such a peace loving person, he is so anxious and had the courage to ask the angel about the contents of the book.   For he wants to know what does the angel write in the book of gold.  Now the angel answers very politely that it is writing the name of those who love God.  The statement from the angel captures the attention of Adhem and now he is overwhelming with curiosity asks about himself.

Lines 11 – 14

“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 tells Abou Ben Adhem that his name is not in the book of gold.  But Adhem is not sad and low as another.  He remains peaceful and calm and request the angel to writes his name as the last name in that list as who “loves his fellow men”.  This a great turning point in the poem.  The readers would have expected that Adhem would have pleaded the angel to write his name too.  But Adhem proves himself that he is a good person who loves his fellow men.

 Stanza two

 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 blest,

And lo! Ben Adhem’s name led all the rest".

 This four lines explains the point which is the greatest message to the world.  Angel wrote

Adhem’s name last in the list as per his wish.  Again the next night the angel visits Adhem.  Once again Adhem sees the angel with the list.  Now Adhem could see his name in the first place in the list for God bless those who love his fellow men.  This truth is revealed in this four lines. It is such a great powerful message to all.

 Literary Devices in Abou Ben Adhem

 Literary devices are very important for the understanding of the poem.  They bring out the real meaning for the readers to enjoy and to understand.

Assonance

 Repetition of vowel sounds in the same line.

/i/ sound in “making it rich,

Like a lily in bloom

Sound of /o/ in Abou spoke more low.

 Alliteration

Repetition of consonant sounds I the same line.

/d/ in deep dream of peace

/n/ the angel wrote, and vanished. The next night.

 Enjambment

A line of verse that flows on into the next line without a pause.  For example

“Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)

Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace.”

 Imagery

The use of words to create a picture to the senses

Example: an angel writing in a book of gold.

 Simile

It is a figure of speech used to compare a thing to another to make the description more vivid.

Ex: The moonlight is compared to lily in ”making it rich like a lily in bloom.

 Symbolism

To present things which represent something else.  It gives different meanings.

Here, “angel” and “light” symbolize spirituality

 Alliteration

 Repetition of similar constant sounds together to emphasis the words

Ex “Awoke ne night from a deep dream of peace”

“Answered, “The names of those who love the lord

“Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom”

  Poetic devices in the poem

 End Rhyme

They are used to make the stanza musica.

Ex “rest, blest” and “night, light” and “room, bloom”

 Rhyme scheme

The poem follows ABAB rhyme scheme and continues till the end to give a good effect.

 Structure of About Ben Adhem

 It is a two stanza narrative poem with fourteen lines for the first stanza and four lines for the second. 

It is composed with simple rhyme scheme of aabbccdd.  It gives a perfect story with such a simple rhyme pattern.

 Themes in the poem

 Themes of love, religion and morality are well brought in this poem.  Adhem has faced a challenging situation that his name is not in the book of gold.  But he is firm in his faith and belief that he is truly kind and merciful man who loves his neighbors without any condition.  Since the poem is composed in narrative style, it gives a beautiful moral story.  The message is for the world to love each other as one love thyself.  The central idea of the poem looks like a parable which teaches the love and compassion for one another.  The poet would like to say that loving one another is loving god.  Unconditional love for our fellowmen is the true religion.

 The tone of the poem is very spiritual.  It says the value of life and the real happiness depends on the love for our neighbors.  Spreading joy and love to one another and feeling of unity
brotherhood is the foundation of a peaceful life.  Nothing could bring happiness in life expect the mercy and love we show to others.  God loves those who love and show mercy to HIS creations.

 

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