Note 446 — Chapter XVI · BAGDAD
Reading edition
Longfellow has chosen the grim episode said to have been connected with the tragic death of Al-Mostassem at the hands of Hulagu Khan for one of his well-known poems in which he makes his victor and executioner address the avaricious Caliph in the following words:
I said to the Caliph, “Thou art old, Thou hast no need of so much gold; Thou shouldst not have heaped and hidden it here, Till the breath of battle was hot and near, But have sown through the land these useless hoards, To spring into shining blades and swords, And keep thine honor sweet and clear.” ***** Then into his dungeon I locked the drone, And left him there to feed all alone, In the honey cells of his golden hive; Never a prayer, nor a cry, nor a groan, Was heard from those massive walls of stone, Nor again was the Caliph seen alive.