TO THE

BRIDE OF ABYDOS.

Note 1, page 5, line 8.

Wax faint o'er the gardens of Gul in her bloom.

<< Gul,» the rose.

Note 2, page 5, line 17.

Can he smile on such deeds as his children have done? << Souls made of fire, and children of the Sun,

« With whom Revenge is Virtue. >>

YOUNG'S REVenge.

Note 3, page 7, line 20.

With Mejnoun's tale, or Sadi's song.

Mejnoun and Leila, the Romeo and Juliet of the East. Sadi, the moral poet of Persia.

Note 4, page 7, line 21.

Till I, who heard the deep tambour.

Tambour, Turkish drum, which sounds at sunrise, noon, and twilight.

Note 5, page 9, line 29.

He is an Arab to my sight.

The Turks abhor the Arabs (who return the compliment a hundred fold) even more than they hate the Christians.

Note 6, page 11, line 30.

The mind, the Music breathing from her face.

This expression has met with objections. I will not refer to «< Him who hath not Music in his soul,» but merely request the reader to recollect, for ten seconds, the features of the woman whom he believes to be the most beautiful; and if he then does not comprehend fully what is feebly expressed in the above line, I shall be sorry for us both. For an eloquent passage in the latest work of the first female

writer of this, perhaps, of any age, on the analogy (and the immediate comparison excited by that analogy) between painting and music,

MAGNE.

see vol. iii. cap. 10. DE L'ALLEAnd is not this connexion still stronger with the original than the copy? With the colouring of Nature than of Art? After all, this is rather to be felt than described; still I think there are some who will understand it, at least they would have done had they beheld the countenance whose speaking harmony suggested the idea; for this passage is not drawn from imagination but memory, that mirror which affliction dashes to the earth, and looking down upon the fragments, only beholds the reflection multiplied!

Note 7, page 11, line 22.

But yet the line of Carasman.

Carasman Oglou, or Kara Osman Oglou, is the principal landholder in Turkey, he governs Magnesia; those who, by a kind of feudal tenure, possess land on condition of service, are called Timariots: they serve as Spahis, according to the extent of territory, and bring a certain number into the field, generally cavalry.

Note 8, page 12, line 3.

And teach the messenger what fate.

When a Pacha is sufficiently strong to resist, the single messenger, who is always the first bearer of the order for his death, is strangled instead, and sometimes five or six, one after the other, on the same errand, by command of the refractory patient; if, on the contrary, he is weak or loyal, he bows, kisses the Sultan's respectable signature, and is bow-strung with great complacency. In 1810, several of these presents were exhibited in the niche of the Seraglio gate; among others, the head of the Pacha of Bagdat, a brave young man, cut off by treachery, after a desperate resistance.

Note 9, page 12, line 22.

Thrice clapped his hands, and called his steed. Clapping of the hands calls the servants. The Turks hate a superfluous expenditure of voice, and they have no bells.

Note 10, page 12, line 23.

Resigned his gem-adorned Chibouque.

Chibouque, the turkish pipe, of which the amber mouthpiece, and sometimes the ball which contains the leaf, is adorned with precious stones, if in possession of the wealthier orders.

Note 11, page 12, line 25.
With Maugrabee and Mamaluke.

Maugrabee, Moorish mercenaries.

Note 12, page 12, line 26.

His way amid his Delis took.

Deli, bravos who form the forlorn hope of the cavalry, and always begin the action.

Note 13, page 13, line 8.

Careering cleave the folded felt.

A twisted fold of felt is used for scimitar practice by the Turks, and few but Mussulman arms can cut through it at a single stroke: sometimes a tough turban is used for the same purpose. The jerreed is a game of blunt javelins, animated and graceful.

Note 14, page 13, line 11.

Nor heard their Ollahs wild and loud

Ollahs,» Alla il Allah, the « Leilies,» as the Spanish poets call them, the sound is Ollah; a cry of which the Turks, for a silent people, are somewhat profuse, particularly during the jerreed, or in the chase, but mostly in battle. Their animation in the field, and gravity in the chamber, with their pipes and comboloios, form an amusing contrast.

Note 15, page 13, line 30.
The Persian Atar-gul's perfume.

Atar-gul,» ottar of roses.

The Persian is the finest.

Note 16, page 14, line 2.

The pictured roof and marble floor.

The ceiling and wainscots, or rather walls. of the Mussulman apartments are generally painted, in great houses, with one eternal and highly coloured view of Constantinople, wherein the principal feature is a noble contempt of perspective; below, arms, scimitars, etc. are in general fancifully and not inelegantly disposed.

Note 17, page 14, line 18.

A message from the Bulbul bears.

It has been much doubted whether the notes of this << Lover of the rose» are sad or merry; and Mr Fox's remarks on the subject have provoked some learned controversy as to the opinions of the ancients on the subject. I dare not venture a conjecture on the point, though a little inclined to the « errare mallem,» etc. if Mr. Fox was mistaken.

Note 18, page 15, line 21.

Even Azrael, from his deadly quiver.

<< Azrael »-the angel of death.

Note 19, page 16, line 23.

Within the caves of Istakar.

The treasures of the Preadamite Sultans. See D'HERBELOT, article Istakar.

Note 20, page 17, line 4.

Holds not a Musselim's control.

Musselim, a governor, the next in rank after a Pacha; a Waywode is the third; and then come the Agas.

Note 21, page 17, line 5.

Was he not bred in Egripo.

Egripo-the Negropont. According to the proverb, the Turks of Egripo, the Jews of Salonica, and the Greeks of Athens, are the worst of their respective races.

Note 22, page 19, line 15.

Ah! yonder se the Tchocadar.

<<< Tchocadar

>>

man of authority.

one of the attendants who precedes a

Note 23, page 22, line 13.

Thine own « broad Hellespont » still dashes. 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 mean time, and probably may again, before the point is settled. In

deed, the question as to the truth of « the tale of Troy divine» still continues, much of it resting upon the talismanic word « απειρος: » 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.

Note 24, page 22, line 24.

Which Ammon's son ran proudly round.

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 AEsietes and Antilochus; the first is in the centre of the plain.

Note 25, page 23, line 14.

O'er which her fairy fingers ran.

When rubbed, the amber is susceptible of a perfume, which is slight but not disagreeable.

Note 26, page 23, line 17.

Her mother's sainted amulet.

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 cap, 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.

Note 27, page 23, line 20.

And by her Comboloio lies.

<«<< 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. Note 28, page 26, line 8.

In him was some young Galiongee.

»-or Galiongi, a sailor, that is, a Turkish

Galiongee»