Poems from Eastern Sources: The Steadfast Prince; and Other Poems

Chapter 25: THE CONVERSION OF ABRAHAM.

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About This Book

A varied poetic collection draws on Eastern legends, scriptural and European sources to present translations, adaptations, and original pieces that retell myths, parables, and ballads. Narrative poems render tales such as Alexander's quest and other legendary or folkloric episodes; lyric sequences explore seasons, love, faith, mortality, and moral aphorisms; additional pieces adapt German and Latin sources and include sonnets, ballads, and short fragments. The tone alternates between descriptive narrative, reflective meditation, and moral reflection, often framing Eastern imagery—gardens, fountains, courts, and deserts—to examine desire, righteousness, steadfastness, and the relationship between life and death. Notes clarify sources and degrees of translation.

THE CONVERSION OF ABRAHAM.

Fond heart, when learnest thou to say,

I love not pomps that fade away,

Nor glories that decay and wane,

Nor lights that rise to set again?

When wilt thou turn where Abraham turned,

And learn the lesson Abraham learned?

Beyond the river while he dwelt,

He with his kin to idols knelt,

And nightly gazing on the sky,

Worshipped the starry host on high.

But when he saw their splendours fail,

And that bright multitude grow pale,

He left them, and adored the moon;

But she too wanly wanèd soon.

Baffled, he knelt unto the sun;

But when his race of light was done,

He cried, “To such no vows I bring—

I worship not the perishing!”

And turned him to the God, whose hand

Made sun, and moon, and starry band—

An everlasting Light, in whom

Decrease and shadow find no room.