“Abou Ben Adhem” Introduction

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“Abou Ben Adhem” Summary

“Abou Ben Adhem” Themes

• 

  Faith, Love, and Humanity

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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Abou Ben Adhem”

• Lines 1-5

  Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!) 
  Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace, 
  And saw, within the moonlight in his room, 
  Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom, 
  An angel writing in a book of gold:— 

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 6-10

  Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold, 
  And to the presence in the room he said, 
  "What writest thou?"—The vision raised its head, 
  And with a look made of all sweet accord, 
  Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord."

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 11-14

  "And is mine one?" said Abou. "Nay, not so," 
  Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low, 
  But cheerly still; and said, "I pray thee, then, 
  Write me as one that loves his fellow men." 

  

  

  

  

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• Lines 15-18

  The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night 
  It came again with a great wakening light, 
  And showed the names whom love of God had blest, 
  And lo! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest. 

  

  

  

  

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“Abou Ben Adhem” Symbols

• 

  The Book of Gold

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“Abou Ben Adhem” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Apostrophe

  

  

  

  

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• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

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• Simile

  

  

  

  

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• Caesura

  

  

  

  

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• Assonance

  

  

  

  

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• Consonance

  

  

  

  

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• Polysyndeton

  

  

  

  

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• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

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• End-Stopped Line

  

  

  

  

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• Parallelism

  

  

  

  

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“Abou Ben Adhem” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Abou Ben Adhem
• Tribe
• Exceeding
• Writest
• Thou
• Accord
• Cheerly
• Blest
• Lo!

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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Abou Ben Adhem”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“Abou Ben Adhem” Speaker

“Abou Ben Adhem” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “Abou Ben Adhem”

More “Abou Ben Adhem” Resources

• External Resources

  • Read Other Poems and a Biography of Hunt — Further resources provided by the Poetry Foundation.

  • The Funeral of Shelley Painting — A painting by Louis Fournier that depicts Leigh Hunt at his friend and fellow Romantic poet Percy Shelley's funeral. Hunt is the second from the left of the main figures by the body. 

  • Hunt's Essays — A collection of essays published by Leigh Hunt.

  • The Manuscript of "Abou Ben Adhem" — An image of the poem as written by Hunt. 

  • A Reading of "Abou Ben Adhem" — A good reading of the poem (accompanied by an unsettling animation).