‘Tis but a Tent where takes his one day’s rest
A Sultan to the Realm of Death addrest;
The Sultan rises, and the dark Ferrash
Strikes, and prepares it for another Guest.
In the presence of all that the world had to offer,—while honors and glories fell fast upon his head, he still could not close his eyes to the facts of existence, and the mortality of human things. It may be that he mused too much upon the great fact that ever sternly faces life,—the great being before whom all monarchs bow, and in whose presence all crowns are shattered. To the boasting and forgetful, these words may not be pleasant, but they still are true:
Why, all the Saints and Sages who discuss’d
Of the Two worlds so learnedly are thrust
Like foolish Prophets forth; their words to Scorn
Are scatter’d and their Mouths are stopt with Dust.
Neither the great nor the good could avoid the common fate; the unyielding messenger came alike to call the proud Sultan and the good and kindly friend.