Sighs in the hall, and shrieks upon the gale, Thou didst not view thy Selim fall! That fearful moment when he left the cave Thy heart grew chill: 1115 He was thy hope-thy joy-thy love-thine allAnd that last thought on him thou could'st not save Sufficed to kill: Burst forth in one wild cry-and all was still. 1120 That grief-though deep-though fatal-was thy first! Wo to thee, rash and unrelenting chief! Vainly thou heap'st the dust upon thy head, Vainly the sackcloth o'er thy limbs dost spread: By that same hand Abdallah-Selim bled. Now let it tear thy beard in idle grief: Thy pride of heart, thy bride for Osman's bed, 1136 Thy Daughter's dead! 1140 Hope of thine age, thy twilight's lonely beam, The Star hath set that shone on Helle's stream. What quench'd its ray?-the blood that thou hast shed! Hark! to the hurried question of Despair 1144 Where is my child?" an Echo answers" -Where?” (42) XXXVIII. 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, A single rose is shedding there 1150 1160 And hands more rude than wintry sky May wring it from the stem-in vain- For well may maids of Helle deem 1165 That this can be no earthly flower, Which mocks the tempest's withering hour, 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 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, 1170 1175 1180 Yet harsh be they that blame) That note so piercing and profound Will shape and syllable its sound Into Zuleika's name. (43) 1195 "Tis from her cypress' summit heard, That white rose takes its tender birth. Eve saw it placed-the Morrow gone! 1200 It was no mortal arm that bore That deep-fix'd pillar to the shore; Next morn 'twas found where Selim fell; Denied his bones a holier grave: And there by night, reclined, 'tis said, 1205 Is seen a ghastly turban'd head: And hence extended by the billow, "Tis named the "Pirate-phantom's pillow!" 1210 Where first it lay that mourning flower Hath flourish'd; flourisheth this hour, Alone and dewy, coldly pure and pale; As weeping Beauty's cheek at Sorrows' tale! NOTES ΤΟ The Bride of Abydos. Note 1, page 9, line 8. Wax faint o'er the gardens of Gul in her bloom. "Gúl," the rose. Note 2, page 9, 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 12, line 2. 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 12, line 3. Till I, who heard the deep tambour. Tambour, Turkish drum, which sounds at sunrise, noon, and twilight. Note 5, page 14, line 21. He is an Arab to my sight. The Turks abhor the Arabs (who return the compli |