It might be only that the night His robe of pride was thrown aside, His brow no high-crown'd turban bore, But in its stead a shawl of red, Wreathed lightly round, his temples wore : That dagger, on whose hilt the gem Were worthy of a diadem, No longer glitter'd at his waist, Where pistols unadorn'd were braced; And from his belt a sabre swung, And from his shoulder loosely hung The cloak of white, the thin capote That decks the wandering Candiote: Beneath his golden plated vest Clung like a cuirass to his breast; The greaves below his knee that wound With silvery scales were sheathed and bound. But were it not that high command Spake in his eye, and tone, and hand, All that a careless eye could see In him was some young Galiongée. "I said I was not what I seem'd; And now thou seest my words were true: I have a tale thou hast not dream'd, If sooth-its truth must others rue. My story now 'twere vain to hide, I must not see thee Osman's bride : But had not thine own lips declared How much of that young heart I shared, I could not, must not, yet have shown The darker secret of my own. In this I speak not now of love; That, let time, truth, and peril prove: But first-Oh! never wed anotherZuleika! I am not thy brother!" "Oh! not my brother!-yet unsayGod! am I left alone on earth To mourn-I dare not curse-the day That saw my solitary birth? Oh! thou wilt love me now no more! My sinking heart foreboded ill; But know me all I was before, Thy sister-friend-Zuleika still. Thou ledst me here perchance to kill; If thou hast cause for vengeance, see! My breast is offer'd-take thy fill! Far better with the dead to be Than live thus nothing now to thee; "My slave Zuleika!-nay, I'm thine: But, gentle love, this transport calm, Thy lot shall yet be link'd with mine; I swear it by our Prophet's shrine, And be that thought thy sorrow's balm. So may the Koran-verse display'd Upon its steel direct my blade, In danger's hour to guard us both, As I preserve that awful oath! The name in which thy heart hath pride Must change; but, my Zuleika, know, That tie is widen'd, not divided, Although thy Sire's my deadliest for. My Father was to Giaffir all That Selim late was deem'd to thee; That brother wrought a brother's fall, But spared, at least, my infancy; And full'd me with a vain deceit That yet a like return may meet. He rear'd me, not with tender help, But like the nephew of a Cain; He watch'd me like a lion's whelp, That gnaws and yet may break his chain My father's blood in every vein Is boiling; but for thy dear sake No present vengeance will I take; Though here I must no more remain. But first, beloved Zuleika! hear How Giaffir wrought this deed of fear. "When Paswan, after years of strife, Dismiss'd Abdallah's hence to heaven. He. when the hunter's sport was up, He drank one draught, nor needed more! The deed once done, and Paswan's feud him whom Heaven accorded none, Within thy father's house are foes; ave his son from such a fate? chose the last, and when elate save the life for which he pray'd. The knowledge of my birth secured From all and each, but most from me; Ta Giaffir's safety was ensured. moved he too from Roumelie 1 this our Asiatic side, Fu from our seats by Danube's tide, none but Haroun, who retains h knowledge--and that Nubian feels Ayrant's secrets are but chains From which the captive gladly steals, ad this and more to me reveals: Sh still to guilt just Alla sends Naves, tools, accomplices-no friends! "All this, Zuleika, harshly sounds; The hands that wield are not remote; "What could I be? Proscribed at home, And taunted to a wish to roam; And listless left-for Giaffir's fear Denied the courser and the spearThough oft-Oh, Mahomet! how oft! In full Divan the despot scoff'd, As if my weak unwilling hand Refused the bridle or the brand: He ever went to war alone, And pent me here untried, unknown; To Haroun's care with women left, By hope unblest, of fame bereft. While thou-whose softness long endear'd, Though it unmann'd me, still had cheer'd-To Brusa's walls for safety sent, Awaitedst there the field's event. Haroun, who saw my spirit pining Beneath inaction's sluggish yoke, His captive, though with dread, resigning, My thraldom for a season broke, On promise to return before The day when Giaffir's charge was o'er. Tis vain-my tongue can not impart My almost drunkenness of heart, When first this liberated eye Survey'd Earth, Ocean, Sun and Sky, As if my spirit pierced them through, And all their inmost wonders knew! One word alone can paint to thee That more than feeling-I was Free! E'en for thy presence ceased to pine; The World nay Heaven itself was mine! "Tis true, they are a lawless brood, The wisdom of the cautious Frank- And oft around the cavern-fire To snatch the Rayahs from their fate. But be the star that guides the wanderer, Thou my Zuleika, share and bless my bark; The Dove of peace and promise to mine ark! Or, since that hope denied in worlds of strife, Be thou the rainbow to the storms of life! The evening-beam that smiles the clouds away, And tints to-morrow with prophetic ray! Blest—as the Muezzin's strain from Mecca's wall To pilgrims pure and prostrate at his call: Soft-as the melody of youthful days, That steals the trembling tear of speechless praise; Dear as his native song to Exile's ears, Shall sound each tone thy long-loved voice endears, For thee in those bright isles is built a bower Wait - wave - defend - destroy at thy command! Girt by my band, Zuleika at my side, The spoil of nations shall bedeck my bride. The Haram's languid years of listless ease Are well resign'd for cares for joys like Though fortune frown, or falser frien betray. How dear the dream in darkest hours of i Should all be changed, to find thee faithf still! Be but thy soul, like Selim's, firmly show To thee be Selim's tender as thine own: To soothe each sorrow,share in each delig Blend every thought, do all-but disunit Once free, 'tis mine our horde again to guid Friends to each other, foes to aught besid Yet there we follow but the bent assign By fatal nature to man's warring kind: Mark! where his carnage and his conque cease! He makes a solitude, and calls it-peac I like the rest must use my skill or streng But ask no land beyond my sabre's lengt Power sways but by division-her resou The blest alternative of fraud or force! Ours be the last; in time deceit may con When cities cage us in a social home: There even thy soul might err-how the heart Corruption shakes which peril could part! And woman, more than man, when dea or woe Or even Disgrace would lay her lover lo Sunk in the lap of Luxury will shameAway suspicion!—not Zuleika's name! But life is hazard at the best; and here No more remains to win, and much to fe Yes, fear!—the doubt, the dread of losi thee, By Osman's power and Giaffir's stern decr That dread shall vanish with the favouri gale, Which Love to-night hath promised to 1 sail: No danger daunts the pair his smile ha blest, Their steps still roving, but their hea at rest. With thee all toils are sweet, each cli hath charms; Earth-sea alike—our world within arms! Ay-let the loud winds whistle o'er the dec So that those arms cling closer round u neck: The deepest murmur of this lip shall be But hence ye thoughts that rise in Horror shape! This hour bestows, or ever bars escape. Few words remain of mine my tale to close Of thine but one to waft us from our foc Yea-foes-to me will Giaffir's hate decline And is not Osman, who would part us, thin **His head and faith from doubt and death | Farewell, Zuleika!-Sweet! retire: 1 And since, though parted from my band No deed they've done, nor deed shall do, But now too long I've held thine ear; Zeleika, mute and motionless, Sod like that statue of distress, Then her last hope for ever gone, mother harden'd into stone; the maid that eye could see Ja but a younger Niobé. Bere her lip, or even her eye, Ly'd to speak, or look reply, Bath the garden's wicket porch fur flash'd on high a blazing torch! Another and another—and anothery-no more—yet now my more than brother!" Ob! fy-no F. wide, through every thicket spread, these alone for each right hand now almost they touch the cave— Dauntless he stood-"Tis come-soon past One kiss, Zuleika-'tis my last: But yet my band not far from shore My hear this signal, see the flash; ow too few-the attempt were rash : atter-yet one effort more." Farh to the cavern-mouth he stept; pistol's echo rang on high. Zabika started not, nor wept, Despair benumb'd her breast and eye!— "They hear me not, or if they ply Their ears, 'tis but to see me die; Then forth my father's scimitar, That sound bath drawn my focs more nigh. Thon ne'er hast seen less equal war! Yet stay within-here linger safe, One bound he made, and gain'd the sand : Already at his feet hath sunk The foremost of the prying band, A gasping head, a quivering trunk: Another falls-but round him close A swarming circle of his foes; From right to left his path he cleft, And almost met the meeting wave: His boat appears-not five oars' lengthHis comrades strain with desperate strength. Oh! are they yet in time to save? His feet the foremost breakers lave; His band are plunging in the bay, Their sabres glitter through the spray; Wet-wild-unwearied to the strand They struggle-now they touch the land! They come 'tis but to add to slaughterHis heart's best blood is on the water! Escaped from shot, unharm'd by steel, Or scarcely grazed it's force to feel, Had Selim won, betray'd, beset, To where the strand and billows met: There as his last step left the land, And the last death-blow dealt his handAh! wherefore did he turn to look For her his eye but sought in vain? That pause, that fatal gaze he took, Hath doom'd his death, or fix'd his chain. Sad proof, in peril and in pain, How late will Lover's hope remain! His back was to the dashing spray, Behind, but close, his comrades lay, When, at the instant, hiss'd the ball"So may the foes of Giaffir fall!" Whose voice is heard? whose carbine rang? Whose bullet through the night-air sang, Too nearly, deadly aim'd to err? Tis thine-Abdallah's Murderer! The father slowly rued thy hate, The son hath found a quicker fate: Fast from his breast the blood is bubbling, The whiteness of the sea-foam troubling. If aught his lips essay'd to groan, The rushing billows choak'd the tone! Morn slowly rolls the clouds away; Few trophies of the fight are there: The shouts that shook the midnight-bay Are silent; but some signs of fray That strand of strife may bear, And fragments of each shiver'd brand; Steps stamp'd; and dash'd into the sand 'Tis rent in twain-one dark-red stain The sea-birds shriek above the prey, His head heaves with the heaving billow; Thought of the gloomy day and ghast That winds around, and tears the quiveri Ah! wherefore not consume it - and depar By that same hand Abdallah - Selim ble She, whom thy sultan had but seen Thy Daughter's dead! Hope of thine age, thy twilight's lone beam, The Star hath set that shone on Hell stream. What recks it, though that corse shall lie What quench'd its rays? the blood th Within a living grave? The bird that tears that prostrate form Hath only robb'd the meaner worm; The only heart, the only eye Had bled or wept to see him die, Had seen those scatter'd limbs composed, And mourn'd above his turban-stone, thou hast shed! Hark! to the hurried question of Despai "Where is my child?" an Echo answers "Where?" Within the place of thousand tombs That heart hath burst-that eye was closed-The sad but living cypress glooms By Helle's stream there is a voice of wail! The loud Wal-wulleh warn his distant ear? The Koran-chanters of the hymn of fate, Thou didst not view thy Selim fall! He was thy hope- thy joy-thy love-thine And that last thought on him thou couldst Sufficed to kill; not save Burst forth in one wild cry-and all was still. Thrice happy! ne'er to feel nor fear the force And, oh! that pang where more than Madness lies! | | And withers not, though branch and lea But soft as harp that Houri strings | It were the Bulbul; but his throat, The worm that will not sleep— and never | And yet so sweet the tears they shed, dies; Tis sorrow so unmix'd with dread, |