Aladdin And The Jinn

"Bring me soft song," said Aladdin.

"This tailor-shop sings not at all.

Chant me a word of the twilight,

Of roses that mourn in the fall.

Bring me a song like hashish

That will comfort the stale and the sad,

For I would be mending my spirit,

Forgetting these days that are bad,

Forgetting companions too shallow,

Their quarrels and arguments thin,

Forgetting the shouting Muezzin:"—

"I AM YOUR SLAVE," said the Jinn.

"Bring me old wines," said Aladdin.

"I have been a starved pauper too long.

Serve them in vessels of jade and of shell,

Serve them with fruit and with song:—

Wines of pre-Adamite Sultans

Digged from beneath the black seas:—

New-gathered dew from the heavens

Dripped down from Heaven's sweet trees,

Cups from the angels' pale tables

That will make me both handsome and wise,

For I have beheld her, the princess,

Firelight and starlight her eyes.

Pauper I am, I would woo her.

And—let me drink wine, to begin,

Though the Koran expressly forbids it."

"I AM YOUR SLAVE," said the Jinn.

"Plan me a dome," said Aladdin,

"That is drawn like the dawn of the MOON,

When the sphere seems to rest on the mountains,

Half-hidden, yet full-risen soon."

Build me a dome," said Aladdin,"

That shall cause all young lovers to sigh,

The fullness of life and of beauty,

Peace beyond peace to the eye—

A palace of foam and of opal,

Pure moonlight without and within,

Where I may enthrone my sweet lady."

"I AM YOUR SLAVE," said the Jinn.