[Shakeepuddn]

Near a bench or a chair I am wont to be found,

I shake hands with statesmen and kings.

I open and close with a singular sound,

But silent when my noble voice rings.

A present was I from an Indian beast

To serve in the highest of halls,

In other homes I reside with a book by my side,

Many pounds can be lost when I fall.

Hard-headed, two-faced, and with criminals known,

And for their fate I am ever at hand.

Oft on my block I do dance up and down,

But only as one will command.

[Guest]

Its tough!!!

Is it a gold coin or a diamond?

But that has nothing to do with sound on open and close or by the books....

still thinking..........

[Shakeepuddn]

Correction:

Line four in first stanza should read:

But "silence" when my noble voice rings.

[Guest]

no-Belle voice

[Guest]

It's not

a Gavel

by any chance is it?

[Guest]

ME-RYN+L

[Guest]

Near a bench or a chair I am wont to be found,

I shake hands with statesmen and kings.

I open and close with a singular sound,

But silent when my noble voice rings.

A present was I from an Indian beast

To serve in the highest of halls,

In other homes I reside with a book by my side,

Many pounds can be lost when I fall.

Hard-headed, two-faced, and with criminals known,

And for their fate I am ever at hand.

Oft on my block I do dance up and down,

But only as one will command.

I'm not sure but I get the feeling it is one of these two :

A sword, or an axe

Near a bench or a chair I am wont to be found --> No idea

I shake hands with statesmen and kings --> Kings and statesmen use swords as weapons

I open and close with a singular sound --> drawing the sword from the scabbard, and putting it back in

But "silence" when my noble voice rings --> swords are "noble" weapons, and when a sword is swinging, it tends to silence people.

A present was I from an Indian beast --> ?

To serve in the highest of halls --> ?

In other homes I reside with a book by my side --> ?

Many pounds can be lost when I fall --> swords are heavy.

Hard-headed, two-faced, and with criminals known --> Swords are hard, and the blade is usually double edged. Guards use swords, but this line made me think it was an axe

And for their fate I am ever at hand --> Fits the axe more than the sword

Oft on my block I do dance up and down --> The block and the executioners axe

But only as one will command --> The executioner

<_< thats all i could think of...

Edited January 15, 2009 by Raoul

[Shakeepuddn]

It's not

a Gavel

by any chance is it?

Bam! That was fast.

Gavel

Benches (judge)

Chairs (Chairmen)

Open and close court sessions and meetings.

Silence demanded when used during court.

The U.S. Senate uses an ivory gavel (tusk from a "beast") presented from Inida as a gift a few decades back.

In other places near a bible for oaths,

and many pounds ($) are spent at auctions, where it is also used to close bidding (also a double entendre with the "pound")

Always used with a "sounding block."

Darn . . . I thought that one would last a bit longer. Good job Stugi.

[Guest]

but i was wrong

a safe (that was actually pretty easy)

Near a bench or a chair I am wont to be found,

I shake hands with statesmen and kings.

I open and close with a singular sound,

But silent when my noble voice rings.

A present was I from an Indian beast

To serve in the highest of halls,

In other homes I reside with a book by my side,

Many pounds can be lost when I fall.

Hard-headed, two-faced, and with criminals known,

And for their fate I am ever at hand.

Oft on my block I do dance up and down,

But only as one will command.

Edited January 15, 2009 by Mentalsylum

[Guest]

"A present was I from an Indian beast"

The idea of a blade came from an animals claws. Could that be what that line means?

Edited January 16, 2009 by Rewq455

[Guest]

a gavel??

Near a bench or a chair I am wont to be found, <~ like, the bench where the judge sits..

I shake hands with statesmen and kings. <~ i guess they use it too for their trials..

I open and close with a singular sound, <~ no explanation needed..

But silent when my noble voice rings. <~ everyone is silent as they wait for the verdict..

A present was I from an Indian beast <~ i have no idea..

To serve in the highest of halls, <~courts

In other homes I reside with a book by my side, <~ i guess..

Many pounds can be lost when I fall. <~umm..

Hard-headed, two-faced, and with criminals known, <~ yes..

And for their fate I am ever at hand. <~ self explanatory..

Oft on my block I do dance up and down, <~ again.. s.e.

But only as one will command. <~ a gavel can't do anything without someone holding it..

[Shakeepuddn]

a gavel??

Well done. See my spoiler for "answer and explication" to get the full meaning.

Thanks.