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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,

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Without her, most beloved in this!

Oh! who so dear with him could dwell?

What Houri soothe him half so well?

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VIII.

Since last she visited the spot

Some change seem'd wrought within the grot:

It might be only that the night

Disguised things seen by better light:

That brazen lamp but dimly threw

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But in a nook within the cell

Her eye on stranger objects fell.

There arms were piled, not such as wield
The turban'd Delis in the field;

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Her Selim-" Oh! can this be he?"

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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.

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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. (28)

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.

"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 another-

"Zuleika! I am not thy brother!"

XI.

"Oh! not my brother!-yet unsay— "God! am I left alone on earth

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"To mourn-I dare not curse-the day

"That saw my solitary birth?

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"Oh! thou wilt love me now no more!

"My sinking heart foreboded ill;

"But know me all I was before,

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Thy sister-friend-Zuleika still.

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"Thou led'st 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: "Perhaps far worse, for now I know

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"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--would'st thou save

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My life, Oh! bid me be thy slave!"

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XII.

"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.

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"So may the Koran (29) 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 prided

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"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

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"That Selim late was deem'd to thee; “That brother wrought a brother's fall,

"But spared, at least, my infancy;

"And lull'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 ; (30)
"He watch'd me like a lion's whelp,
"That gnaws and yet may break his chain.
66 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.

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XIII.

"How first their strife to rancour grew, "If love or envy made them foes,

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"It matters little if I knew;
"In fiery spirits, slights, though few

"And thoughtless, will disturb repose.
"In war Abdallah's arm was strong,
"Remember'd yet in Bosniac song,

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"And Paswan's (31) rebel hordes attest "How little love they bore such guest: "His death is all I need relate,

"The stern effect of Giaffir's hate;

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"And how my birth disclosed to me,

"Whate'er beside it makes, hath made me free.

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