"Would a man 'scape the rod?"
Rabbi Ben Karshook saith,
"See that he turn to God
The day before his death."
"Ay could a man enquire
When it shall come!" I say,
The Rabbi's eye shoots fire
"Then let him turn to-day! "
Quoth a young Sadducee:
"Reader of many rolls,
Is it so certain we
Have, as they tell us, souls?"
"Son, there is no reply!"
The Rabbi bit his beard:
"Certain, a soul have I
We may have none," he sneer'd.
Thus Karshook, the Hiram's-Hammer,
The Right-hand Temple-column,
Taught babes in grace their grammar,
And struck the simple, solemn.
Rome, April 27, 1854
Ben Karshook's Wisdom
Robert Browning
(1)
Poem topics: death, fire, god, son, soul, young, simple, beard, april, april fools, Valentine's Day, Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
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