Analysis of Tales Of A Wayside Inn : Part 1. The Spanish Jew's Tale; The Legend of Rabbi Ben Levi
Rabbi Ben Levi, on the Sabbath, read
A volume of the Law, in which it said,
'No man shall look upon my face and live.'
And as he read, he prayed that God would give
His faithful servant grace with mortal eye
To look upon His face and yet not die.
Then fell a sudden shadow on the page,
And, lifting up his eyes, grown dim with age,
He saw the Angel of Death before him stand,
Holding a naked sword in his right hand.
Rabbi Ben Levi was a righteous man,
Yet through his veins a chill of terror ran.
With trembling voice he said, 'What wilt thou here?'
The angel answered, 'Lo! the time draws near
When thou must die; yet first, by God's decree,
Whate'er thou askest shall be granted thee.'
Replied the Rabbi, 'Let these living eyes
First look upon my place in Paradise.'
Then said the Angel, 'Come with me and look.'
Rabbi Ben Levi closed the sacred book,
And rising, and uplifting his gray head,
'Give me thy sword,' he to the Angel said,
'Lest thou shouldst fall upon me by the way.'
The angel smiled and hastened to obey,
Then led him forth to the Celestial Town,
And set him on the wall, whence, gazing down,
Rabbi Ben Levi, with his living eyes,
Might look upon his place in Paradise.
Then straight into the city of the Lord
The Rabbi leaped with the Death-Angel's sword,
And through the streets there swept a sudden breath
Of something there unknown, which men call death.
Meanwhile the Angel stayed without and cried,
'Come back!' To which the Rabbi's voice replied,
'No! in the name of God, whom I adore,
I swear that hence I will depart no more!'
Then all the Angels cried, 'O Holy One,
See what the son of Levi here hath done!
The kingdom of Heaven he takes by violence,
And in Thy name refuses to go hence!'
The Lord replied, 'My Angels, be not wroth;
Did e'er the son of Levi break his oath?
Let him remain; for he with mortal eye
Shall look upon my face and yet not die.'
Beyond the outer wall the Angel of Death
Heard the great voice, and said, with panting breath,
'Give back the sword, and let me go my way.'
Whereat the Rabbi paused, and answered, 'Nay!
Anguish enough already hath it caused
Among the sons of men.' And while he paused
He heard the awful mandate of the Lord
Resounding through the air, 'Give back the sword!'
The Rabbi bowed his head in silent prayer;
Then said he to the dreadful Angel, 'Swear,
No human eye shall look on it again;
But when thou takest away the souls of men,
Thyself unseen, and with an unseen sword,
Thou wilt perform the bidding of the Lord.'
The Angel took the sword again, and swore,
And walks on earth unseen forevermore.
Scheme | AAXXBB CCDDEEFXGGHI JJAAKKLLHI MMNNOOPP QQXXNXBB NNKKXXMM RRSSMMPF |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 111010101 0101010111 1111011101 0111111111 1101011101 1101110111 110101101 0101111111 11010110111 1001010111 111010101 1111011101 11001111111 0101010111 1111111101 101111101 010111101 110111010 1101011101 111010101 010010111 1111110101 1111011101 0101010101 1111100101 0111011101 111011101 110111010 1101010101 01110111 0101110101 1101011111 101010101 111101101 1001111101 1111110111 1101011101 1101110111 010110111100 0011010111 0101110111 11001110111 1101111101 1101110111 01010101011 1011011101 1101011111 10110101 1001010111 0101110111 110101101 0101011101 011110101 1111010101 1101111101 1111010111 101011011 1101010101 0101010101 0111011 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,533 |
Words | 503 |
Sentences | 26 |
Stanzas | 7 |
Stanza Lengths | 6, 12, 10, 8, 8, 8, 8 |
Lines Amount | 60 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 282 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 69 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 2:28 min read
- 108 Views
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"Tales Of A Wayside Inn : Part 1. The Spanish Jew's Tale; The Legend of Rabbi Ben Levi" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/18770/tales-of-a-wayside-inn-%3A-part-1.-the-spanish-jew%27s-tale%3B-the-legend-of-rabbi-ben-levi>.
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