If shrines that ne'er approach allow Where were thy friend--and who my guide? When flies that shaft, and fly it must XIL He lived-he breathed-he moved-he felt; He raised the maid from where she knelt: His trance was gone-his keen eye shone With thoughts that long in darkness dwelt; With thoughts that burn-in rays that melt. As the stream late conceal'd By the fringe of its willows, When it rushes reveal'd In the light of its billows; As the bolt bursts on high From the black cloud that bound it, Flash'd the soul of that eye Through the long lashes round it. A war-horse at the trumpet's sound, A lion roused by heedless hound, A tyrant waked to sudden strife By graze of ill-directed knife, Starts not to more convulsive life Than he, who heard that vow, display'd, And all, before repress'd, betrayed: 'Now thou art mine, for ever mine, With life to keep, and scarce with life resign Now thou art mine, that sacred oath, Though sworn by one, hath bound us both. Yes, fondly, wisely hast thou done, That vow hath saved inore heads than one: But blench not thou-thy simplest tress Claims more from me than tenderness; I would not wrong the slenderest hair That clusters round thy forehead fair, For all the treasures buried far Within the caves of Istakar.t This morning clouds upon me lower'd. Reproaches on my head were shower'd, And Giaffir almost call'd me coward! Now I have motive to be brave; The son of his neglected slaveNay, start not 'twas the term he gaveMay show, though little apt to vaunt, A heart his words nor deeds can daunt. His son, indeed !-yet thanks to thee, Perchance I am, at least shall be ! But let our plighted secret vow Be only known to us as now. 'Azrael,' the angel of death. The treasures of the Pre-Adamite Sultans. D'Herbelot, article Istakar I know the wretch who dares demand A viler race let Israel show! But let that pass-to none be told I've arms, and friends, and vengeance near.' XIIL Think not thou art what thou appearest! At least I feel my cheek too blushing. Yet what thou mean'st by "arms" and "friends," Beyond my weaker sense extends. I meant that Giaffir should have heard 'Musselim,'a governor, the next in rank after a Pacha; a Waywode is the third; and then come the Agas. 'Egripo'-the Negropont. According to the proverb, the Turks of Egripo, the Jews of Salonica, and See the Greeks of Athens, are the worst of their respec tive races. 102 These cherish'd thoughts with life begun, And such it feels while lurking here; Nor leave me thus to thoughts of fear. Ah! yonder see the Tchocadar,* My father leaves the mimic war; I tremble now to meet his eyeSay, Selim, canst thou tell me why?' Tchocadar,' one of the attendants who precedes a man of authority. 1. XIV. 'Zuleika! to thy tower's retreat, For which the Giaour may give him thanks! Such costly triumph to repay. But, mark me, when the twilight drum Then softly from the Haram creep Our garden-battlements are steep; 'Delay not thou; CANTO THE SECOND. THE winds are high on Helle's wave, As on that night of stormy water, The lonely hope of Sestos' daughter. And shrieking sea-birds warn'd him home; II. The winds are high, and Helle's tide All-save immortal dreams that could beguile The blind old man of Scio's rocky isle! III. Oh! yet-for there my steps have been; Contains no fabled hero's ashes, And that around the undoubted scene Thine own 'broad Hellespont' still dashes, Be long my lot! and cold were he Who there could gaze denying thee! IV. The night hath closed on Helle's stream, Nor yet hath risen on Ida's hill That moon, which shone on his high theme: No warrior chides her peaceful beam, But conscious shepherds bless it still. The wrangling about this epithet, 'the broad Hellespont,' or the 'boundless Hellespont,' whether it means one or the other, or what it means at all, has been beyond all possibility of detail. I have even heard it disputed on the spot; and not foreseeing a speedy conclusion to the controversy, amused myself with swimming across it in the meantime, and probably Their flocks are grazing on the mound V. Late, late to-night will Dian cheer The swain, and chase the boatman's fear; Yes, there is light in that lone chamber, Are thrown the fragrant beads of amber, Near these, with emerald rays beset, Bloom flowers in urns of China's mould; may again, before the point is settled. Indeed, the question as to the truth of 'the tale of Troy divine' still continues, much of it resting upon the talismanic word ameipos. Probably Homer had the same notion of distance that a coquette has of time; and when he talks of boundless, means half a mile; as the latter, by a like figure, when she says eternal attachment, simply specifies three weeks. Before his Persian invasion, and crowned the altar with laurel, etc. He was afterwards imitated by Caracalla in his race. It is believed that the last also poisoned a friend, named Festus, for the sake of new Patroclan games. I have seen the sheep feeding on the tombs of sietes and Antilochus: the first is in the centre of the plain. When rubbed, the amber is susceptible of a perfume, which is slight, but not disagreeable. The belief in amulets engraved on gems, or enclosed in gold boxes, containing scraps from the Koran, worn round the neck, wrist, or arm, is still universal in the East. The Koorsee (throne) verse in the second chapter of the Koran describes the attributes of the Most High, and is engraved in this manner, and worn by the pious, as the most esteemed and sublime of all sentences. 'Comboloio,' a Turkish rosary. The MSS., particularly those of the Persians, are richly adorned and illuminated. The Greek females are kept in utter ignorance; but many of the Turkish girls are highly accomplished, though not actually qualified for a Christian coterie. Perhaps some of our own 'blues' might not be the worse for bleaching, The richest work of Iran's loom, She, of this Peri cell the sprite, VI. Wrapt in the darkest sable vest, Which none save noblest Moslem wear, To guard from winds of heaven the breast As heaven itself to Selim dear, With cautious steps the thicket threading, And starting oft, as through the glade The gust its hollow moanings made, Till on the smoother pathway treading. More free her timid bosom beat, The maid pursued her silent guide; And though her terror urged retreat, How could she quit her Selim's side? How teach her tender lips to chide? VII. They reach'd at length a grotto, hewn By nature, but enlarged by art, Where oft her lute she wont to tune, And oft her Koran conn'd apart; And oft in youthful reverie She dream'd what Paradise might be. Where woman's parted soul shall go, Her Prophet had disdain'd to show; But Selim's mansion was secure, Nor deem'd she, could he long endure His bower in other worlds of bliss, Without her, most beloved in this! Oh! who so dear with him could dwell What Houri soothe him half so well? VIII. Since last she visited the spot, Some change seem'd wrought within the grot; But in a nook within the cell There arms were piled, not such as wield IX. 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, H No longer glitter'd at his waist, The greaves below his knee that wound Spake in his eye, and tone, and hand, All that a careless eye could see In him was some young Galiongée.* X. '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. XI. 'Oh! not my brother!-yet unsay- Thy sister-friend-Zuleika still. Far better with the dead to be, Than live thus nothing now to thee; Perhaps far worse, for now I know Why Giaffir always seem'd thy foe; And I, alas! am Giaffir's child, For whom thou wert contemn'd, reviled. If not thy sister-wouldst thou save My life, oh, bid me be thy slave l' XII. 'My slave, Zuleika !-nay, I'm thine: And be that thought thy sorrow's balm. So may the Koran verse display'd The name in which thy heart hath prided Must change; but, my Zuleika, know That tie is widen'd, not divided, Although thy Sire's my deadliest foe. 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, Is boiling; but for thy dear sake But first, beloved Zuleika ! hear XIII. 'How first their strife to rancour grew, The stern effect of Giaffir's hate; with silver are those of an Arnaut robber, who was my host (he had quitted the profession) at his Pyrgo, near Gastouni in the Morea: they were plated in scales one over the other, like the back of an armadillo. * The characters on all Turkish scimitars contain sometimes the name of the place of their manufacture, but more generally a text from the Koran, in letters of gold. Amongst those in my possession is one with a blade of singular construction; it is very broad, and the edge notched into serpentine curves like the ripple of water, or the wavering of flame. I asked the Armenian who sold it what possible use such a figure could add. He said, in Italian, that he did not know; but the Mussulmans had an idea that those of this form gave a severer wound, and liked it because it was piu feroce. I did not much admire the reason, but bought it for its peculiarity. It is to be observed that every allusion to any thing or personage in the Old Testament, such as the Ark or Cain, is equally the privilege of Mussulman and Jew: indeed, the former profess to be much better acquainted with the lives, true and fabulous, of the patriarchs, than is warranted by our own sacred writ; and not content with Adam, they have a biography of PreAdamites. Solomon is the monarch of all necromancy. and Moses a prophet inferior only to Christ and Ma homet. Zuleika is the Persian name of Potiphar's wife; and her amour with Joseph constitutes one of the finest poems in their language. It is therefore no violation of costume to put the names of Cain or Noah into the mouth of a Moslem. 'Galiongée, or Galiongi, a sailor, that is, a Turkish sailor: the Greeks navigate, the Turks work the guns. Their dress is picturesque; and I have seen the Capitan Pacha more than once wearing it as a kind of Paswan Oglou, the rebel of Widdin; who, for the incog. Their legs, however, are generally naked. last years of his life, set the whole power of the Porte! The buskins described in the text as sheathed behind at defiance. And how my birth disclosed to me XIV. 'When Paswan, after years of strife, Their tents were pitch'd, their posts assign'd; By Giaffir's order drugg'd and given, Dismiss'd Abdallah's hence to heaven. Reclined and feverish in the bath, He, when the hunter's sport was up, But little deem'd a brother's wrath To quench his thirst had such a cup: He drank one draught, nor needed more t Call Haroun-he can tell it out. XV. 'The deed once done, and Paswan's feud By him whom Heaven accorded none, XVI. Within thy father's house are foes; Not all who break his bread are true: To these should I my birth disclose, His days, his very hours, were few: Horse-tail,' the standard of a Pacha. + Giaffir, Pacha of Argyro Castro, or Scutari, I am not sure which, was actually taken off by the Albanian Ali in the manner described in the text. Ali Pacha, while I was in the country, married the daughter of his victim, some years after the event had taken place at a bath in Sophia, or Adrianople. The poison was mixed in the cup of coffee, which is presented before the sherbet by the bath-keeper, after dressing. They only want a heart to lead, And held that post in his Serai And not in vain it seems essay'd Far from our seats by Danube's tide, XVII. 'All this, Zuleika, harshly sounds; And long must wear: this Galiongée, To whom thy plighted vow is sworn, Is leader of those pirate hordes, Whose laws and lives are on their swords; To hear whose desolating tale Would make thy waning cheek more pale: Is fill'd-once quaff'd, they ne'er repine: XVIII. 'What could I be? Proscribed at home, |