The Last Arabian Knight is an action/adventure narrative poem. It is a story about a boy and his golden amulet, who is raised by thieves when his father is killed by the palace soldiers. As the boy becomes a man, he finds adventure, love and the secret of the amulet. It is based on the swashbuckling action/adventure films of the 1930s as well as Scheherzadeʼs Thousand and One Arabian Nights tales. It is designed to be a quick, fun read and could be used as an introduction to poetry for grades 6-9.
Steven James Ponzo wrote this in the Fall of 1972 during his last semester at Northern Illinois University. He graduated in June, 1973, with a B.A. in Russian Language and Literature and an Illinois Teaching Certificate grades 6-12. In 1998, he also received a State of Arizona Teaching certificate at the Secondary level. He earned a Master of Arts degree in History in 2000 and received a State of Arizona Community College Teaching Certificate and taught history at Pima Community College. Steven retired in 2018 and had published two books. The first book was Citizen Soldier: A Warrior's Path Through the Second World War that recounted his father's experiences as an infantryman in North Africa and Italy. The second book was The Last Arabian Knight, originally written in 1972, but updated in 2022.