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 these:
Not blind to fate, I see, where'er I rove,
Unnumber'd perils-but one only love!
Yet well my toils shall that fond breast repay,
Though fortune frown, or falser friends betray.
How dear the dream in darkest hours of ill,
Should all be changed, to find thee faithful stil!!
Be but thy soul, like Selim's, firmly shown;
To thee be Selim's tender as thine own;
To soothe each sorrow, share in each delight,
Blend every thought, do all-but disunite!
Once free, 'tis mine our horde again to guide;
Friends to each other, foes to aught beside:
Yet there we follow but the bent assign'd
By fatal Nature to man's warring kind:
Mark! where his carnage and his conquests ccaso !
He makes a solitude, and calls it-peace!
I like the rest must use my skill or strength,
But ask no land beyond my sabre's length:
Power sways but by division-her resource
The blest alternative of fraud or force!
Ours be the last; in time deceit may come,
When cities cage us in a social home:
There ev'n thy soul might err-how oft the heart
Corruption shakes which peril could not part!
And woman, more than man, when death or woo,
Or even Disgrace, would lay her lover low,
Sunk in the lap of Luxury will shame-
Away Suspicion !-not Zuleika's name!
But life is hazard at the best; and here
No more remains to win, and much to fear:
Yes, fear-the doubt, the dread of losing theo,
By Osman's power, and Giaffir's stern decree.
That dread shall vanish with the favouring gale,
Which Love to-night hath promised to my sail:
No danger daunts the pair his smile hath bless'd,
Their steps still roving, but their hearts at rest.
With thee all toils are sweet, each clime hath chai me
Earth-sea alike-our world within our arms!
Ay-let the loud winds whistle o'er the deck,
So that those arms cling closer round my neck:
The deepest murmur of this lip shall be
No sigh for safety, but a prayer for thee!
The war of elements no fears impart
To Love, whose deadliest bane is human Art:
There lie the only rocks our course can check;
Here moments menace-there are years of wreck !
But hence ye thoughts that rise in Horror's 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 foes &