XXVIII.

Within the place of thousand tombs

That shine beneath, while dark above
The sad but living cypress glooms,

And withers not, though branch and leaf
Are stamp'd with an eternal grief,
Like early unrequited Love,
One spot exists, which ever blooms,
Ev'n in that deadly grove –

A single rose is shedding there

Its lonely lustre, meek and pale: It looks as planted by Despair

So white. so faint-the slightest gale
Might whirl the leaves on high;

And yet, though storms and blight assail,
And hands more rude than wintry sky
May wring it from the stem. -in vain.

To-morrow sees it bloom again!

The stalk some spirit gently rears,
And waters with celestial tears;

For well may maids of Helle deem

That this can be no earthly flower,

Which mocks the tempest's withering hour,
And buds unshelter'd by a bower;

Nor droops, though spring refuse her shower,
Nor woos the summer beam:

To it the livelong night there sings

A bird unseen-but not remote:

Invisible his airy wings,

But soft as harp that Houri strings

known as to render a reference almost superfluous; but to whose pages all

will be delighted to recur.

His long entrancing note!

It were the Bulbul; but his throat,

Though mournful, pours not such a strain; For they who listen cannot leave

The spot, but linger there and grieve,

As if they loved in vain!

And yet so sweet the tears they shed,
"Tis sorrow so unmix'd with dread,

They scarce can bear the morn to break
That melancholy spell,

And longer yet would weep and wake,
He sings so wild and well!

But when the day-blush bursts from high
Expires that magic melody.

And some have been who could believe,
(So fondly youthful dreams deceive,

Yet harsh be they that blame,) That note so piercing and profound Will shape and syllable (1) its sound Into Zuleika's name. (2)

(1)" And airy tongues that syllable men's names.” —

MILTON.

For a belief that the souls of the dead inhabit the form of birds, we need not travel to the East. Lord Lyttleton's ghost story, the belief of the Duchess of Kendal, that George I. flew into her window in the shape of a raven (see Orford's Reminiscences), and many other instances, bring this superstition nearer home. The most singular was the whim of a Worcester lady, who, believing her daughter to exist in the shape of a singing bird, literally furnished her pew in the cathedral with cages full of the kind; and as she was rich, and a benefactress in beautifying the church, no objection was made to her harmless folly. For this anecdote, see Orford's Letters.

(2) [The heroine of this poem, the blooming Zuleika, is all purity and loveliness. Never was a faultless character more delicately or more justly delineated. Her piety, her intelligence, her strict sense of duty, and her undeviating love of truth, appear to have been originally blended in her mind, rather than inculcated by education. She is always natural, always

'Tis from her cypress summit heard,
That melts in air the liquid word:
'Tis from her lowly virgin earth

That white rose takes its tender birth.
There late was laid a marble stone;
Eve saw it placed-the Morrow gone!
It was no mortal arm that bore
That deep fixed pillar to the shore;
For there, as Helle's legends tell,

Next morn 'twas found where Selim fell;
Lash'd by the tumbling tide, whose wave
Denied his bones a holier grave:
And there by night, reclined, 'tis said,
Is seen a ghastly turban'd head:

And hence extended by the billow,
'Tis named the "Pirate-phantom's pillow!"
Where first it lay that mourning flower
Hath flourished; flourisheth this hour,
Alone and dewy, coldly pure and pale ;

As weeping Beauty's cheek at Sorrow's tale! (1)

attractive, always affectionate; and it must be admitted that her affections are not unworthily bestowed. Selim, while an orphan and dependant, is never degraded by calamity; when better hopes are presented to him, his buoyant spirit rises with his expectations: he is enterprising, with no more rashness than becomes his youth; and when disappointed in the success of a well-concerted project, he meets, with intrepidity, the fate to which he is exposed through his own generous forbearance. To us, "The Bride of Abydos" appears to be, in every respect, superior to "The Giaour," though, in point of diction, it has been, perhaps, less warmly admired. We will not argue this point, but will simply observe, that what is read with ease is generally read with rapidity; and that many beauties of style which escape observation in a simple and connected narrative, would be forced on the reader's attention by abrupt and perplexing transitions. It is only when a traveller is obliged to stop on his journey, that he is disposed to examine and admire the prospect.. GEORGE ELLIS.]

(1) [" The Bride,' such as it is, is my first entire composition of any

length (except the Satire, and be d-d to it), for the Giaour' is but a string of passages, and 'Childe Harold' is, and I rather think always will be, unconcluded." It was published on Thursday, the 2d of December; but how it is liked, I know not. Whether it succeeds or not, is no fault of the public, against whom I can have no complaint. But I am much more indebted to the tale than I can ever be to the most important reader; as it wrung my thoughts from reality to imagination'; from selfish regrets to vivid recollections; and recalled me to a country replete with the brightest and darkest, but always most lively colours of my memory."— B. Diary, Dec. 5. 1813.-E.]

THE CORSAIR,

A TALE. (1)

I suoi pensieri in lui dormir non ponno."
TASSO, Gerusalemme Liberata, canto x.

(1) ["The Corsair" was begun on the 18th, and finished on the 31st, of December, 1813; a rapidity of composition which, taking into consideration the extraordinary beauty of the poem, is, perhaps, unparalleled in the literary history of the country. Lord Byron states it to have been written 66 con amore, and very much from existence." In the original MS. the chief female character was called Francesca, in whose person the author meant to delineate one of his acquaintance; but, while the work was at press, he changed the name to Medora. —. -E.]