BANQUET NIGHT
by
Rudyard Kipling
"Once in so often," King Salomon
said,
Watching his quarrymen drill the stone,
"We will club our garlic and
wine and bread,
And banquet together beneath my Throne.
And all the
Brethren shall come to that mess
As Fellow-Craftsmen-no more and no
less.
"Send a swift shallop to Hiram of Tyre,
Felling and floating our
beautifull trees,
Say that the Brethren and I desire
Talk with our
Brethren who use the seas.
And we shall be happy to meet them at mess
As
Fellow-Craftsmen- no more and no less.
"Carry this massage to Hiram
Abif-
Excellent Master of forge and mine:-
I and the Brethren would like
it if
He and the Brethren will come to dine
(Garments from Bozrah or
morning-dress)
As Fellow-Craftsmen- no more and no less.
"God gave the
Hyssop and Cedar their place-
Also the Bramble, the Fig and the Thorn-
But
that is no reason to black a man's face
Because he is not what he hasn't been
born.
And, as touching the Temple, I hold and profess
We are
Fellow-Craftsmen-no more and no less".
So it was ordered and so it was
done,
And the hewers of wood and the Masons of Mark,
With foc'sle hands of
the Sidon run
And Navy Lords from the Royal Ark,
Came and sat down and
were merry at mess
As Fellow-Craftsmen- no more and no less.
The
Quarries are hotter than Hiram's forge,
No one is safe from the dog-whip's
reach,
It's mostly snowing up Lebanon's gorge,
And it's always blowing off
Joppa beach;
But once in so often, the messanger brings
Solomon's
mandate:"Forget these things!
Brother to Beggars and Fellow to
Kings,
Companion of Princes-forget these things!
Fellow-Craftman, forget
these things!" back to top |
