Noureddin, The Son Of The Shah

There once was a Shah had a second son     Who was very unlike his elder one,     For he went about on his own affairs,     And scorned the mosque and the daily prayers;     When his sire frowned fierce, then he cried, "Ha, ha!"             Noureddin, the son of the Shah.     But worst of all of the pranks he played     Was to fall in love with a Christian maid,     An Armenian maid who wore no veil,     Nor behind a lattice grew thin and pale;     At his sire's dark threats laughed the youth, "Ha, ha!"             Noureddin, the son of the Shah.     "I will shut him close in an iron cage,"     The monarch said, in a fuming rage;     But the prince slipped out by a postern door,     And away to the mountains his loved one bore;     Loud his glee rang back on the winds, "Ha, ha!"             Noureddin, the son of the Shah.     And still in the town of Teheran,     When a youth and a maid adopt this plan,     All frowns and threats with a laugh defy,     And away from the mosques to the mountains fly,     Folk meet and greet with a gay "Ha, ha!"             Noureddin, the son of the Shah.