Soon as the story reached its end, <br />One, over eager to commend, <br />Crowned it with injudicious praise; <br />And then the voice of blame found vent, <br />And fanned the embers of dissent <br />Into a somewhat lively blaze. <br /> <br />The Theologian shook his head; <br />'These old Italian tales,' he said, <br />'From the much-praised Decameron down <br />Through all the rabble of the rest, <br />Are either trifling, dull, or lewd; <br />The gossip of a neighborhood <br />In some remote provincial town, <br />A scandalous chronicle at best! <br />They seem to me a stagnant fen, <br />Grown rank with rushes and with reeds, <br />Where a white lily, now and then, <br />Blooms in the midst of noxious weeds <br />And deadly nightshade on its banks.' <br /> <br />To this the Student straight replied, <br />'For the white lily, many thanks! <br />One should not say, with too much pride, <br />Fountain, I will not drink of thee! <br />Nor were it grateful to forget, <br />That from these reservoirs and tanks <br />Even imperial Shakespeare drew <br />His Moor of Venice, and the Jew, <br />And Romeo and Juliet, <br />And many a famous comedy.' <br /> <br />Then a long pause; till some one said, <br />'An Angel is flying overhead!' <br />At these words spake the Spanish Jew, <br />And murmured with an inward breath: <br />'God grant, if what you say be true, <br />It may not be the Angel of Death!' <br />And then another pause; and then, <br />Stroking his beard, he said again: <br />'This brings back to my memory <br />A story in the Talmud told, <br />That book of gems, that book of gold, <br />Of wonders many and manifold, <br />A tale that often comes to me, <br />And fills my heart, and haunts my brain, <br />And never wearies nor grows old.'<br /><br />Henry Wadsworth Longfellow<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/tales-of-a-wayside-inn-part-1-interlude-ii/
