Explore "Tales of a Wayside Inn" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
King Solomon, before his palace gate / At evening, on the pavement tessellate / Was walking with a stranger from the East, / Arrayed in rich attire as for a feast, / The mighty Runjeet-Sing, a learned man, / And Rajah of the realms of Hindostan. / And as they walked the guest became aware / Of a white figure in the twilight air, / Gazing intent, as one who with surprise / His form and features seemed to recognize; / And in a whisper to the king he said: / "What is yon shape, that, pallid as the dead, / Is watching me, as if he sought to trace / In the dim light the features of my face?"
The king looked, and replied: "I know him well; / It is the Angel men call Azrael, / 'T is the Death Angel; what hast thou to fear? " / And the guest answered: "Lest he should come near, / And speak to me, and take away my breath! / Save me from Azrael, save me from death! / O king, that hast dominion o'er the wind, / Bid it arise and bear me hence to Ind."