Explore the poem

Don’t be put off by the title – this is a joyful poem that makes a lovely sound when spoken out loud.

Maimonides was a famous Jewish thinker, astronomer, rabbi and doctor who lived in Medieval times. You say his name like this: my-mon-uh-deez.

In the poem Maimonides is ‘discoursing’ – talking with authority – about ‘the one’ who makes things happen in the world. You might believe in a god or you might not, like the ‘atheist’ in the final line. Maimonides does and he is praising his god, starting with the enthusiastic words of praise, ‘glory be’.

Maimonides then lists all the ‘marvellous and mundane’ acts of his god, each time beginning ‘The one who’. This repetition is like the set forms of speech commonly used in religious rituals. Try really emphasising these three words when you speak the poem. Do you like this effect?

There are other sound-patterns to experiment with in the poem too. Try saying the last words of each line, one after each other. Can you see and hear the rhyme pattern? Think about the connection between the single rhyme and ‘the one’ in the title of the poem.

Now you know the first and last words of each line, you’re well on the way to knowing this poem by heart!

About John Agard

Born in Guyana, John Agard emigrated to England in 1977. A poet, playwright and short‑story writer who has written many books for both adults and children, he is an exuberant, flamboyant performer of his poetry, known for his interest in social justice and his humorous, compassionate poems.

Agard writes about issues of identity, language, colonialism and history, often employing a language that fuses English with Caribbean Creole; in tjis way he makes himself a champion of multiculturalism.

In 2012 he was awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for poetry.