P R 5189 h Hflflflf ■MHMkhSWHM' Sffififfi njQjmQQEcc HL ■He MUNb HHH HF JuJra Class. Book. h ssni /I ABBA SS A H, V AN ARABIAN- TALE. IN TWO CANTOS. k Oh Love ! what is it in this world of ours, That makes it fatal to he loved ? — Ah why With cypress branches hast thou wreathed thy bowers, And 'made thy best interpreter a sigh ? . As they who doat on odours pluck the* flowers And place them on their breast, but place to die ; So the frail beings we would fondly cherish Are laid within our bosoms but to perish ! BYRON. But ties around this heart were spun • ■ That would not, could not be undone ! o'connor's child. LONDON : W. ANDERSON, WATERLOO PLACE, PALL MALL. MDCCCXXVI. a -9£ ^ ' TO JAMES WINDOW, ESQ. THIS WORK IS DEDICATED AS A FEEBLE OFFERING OF GRATITUDE AND ESTEEM FROM THE AUTHOR. The following tale relates the catastrophe of the beautiful and accomplished Abbassah, the sister of the Caliph Haroun Al Rashid, and who was married by command of that mon- arch to his favourite, the celebrated Vizier Giaffier, but upon condition that the wedded pair should never meet except in his presence. The lovers, however, violated this condition, and a child privately borne by the Princess was sent for safety to Mecca. The treachery of a slave revealed the secret to the Caliph, who at first dissembling his resentment, set out on a feigned pilgrimage to Mecca, for the purpose of dis- covering the infant. Failing in this, at his return he ordered the favourite to be executed, and the Princess to be stripped and driven from the royal palace ; she long wandered through the neighbourhood in the utmost distress, with no other covering than a rude sheep-skin, and subsisting with difficulty, and upon alms. From many different versions of the story the most simple has been selected, and the lines 803 to 814 are little more than a translation of the verses addressed by Abbassah to her husband shortly after their marriage. I have attempted to give the speakers in this tale an Oriental turn of thought and expression, and have hazarded some Eastern conceits in the Persian narrative of Mundir. ABBASSAH. ABBASSAH. CANTO I. 'Tis sweet, beneath the moonlight ray On DegialaV side, To watch the rushing currents stray, And mark the falling moonbeams play Upon the rippling tide ; Whose arrowy waters eager flow, And glancing meet that silver glow ; While smoothly glides across its breast Yon darken'd speck — the Kufa 2 boat, Or the tired steersman, sunk to rest, 10 Trusts to the waves his ozier 3 float, That, fraught with Bochtan's ore, or grain The golden growth of BethV plain, From rich Moussul adventured down, Seeks safely the imperial town. b 2 4 ABBASSAH. canto I. The evening breeze hath ceased to rave ; The branching palms no longer wave, But, fix'd and motionless on high, Stand out against the distant sky. The bird is nestling on his bough, 20 The city's sounds are silent now ; Yon towers beneath the midnight blaze In soften'd shadows shun the gaze, While gleams each gilded fane afar With quivering rays, a mimic star, That idly mocks in dancing light Creation's pause — the noon of night ! Now parching herb and withering flower Drink the cool dew's refreshing shower : Slow yielded to the gazer's eye 80 Unveils its depths yon dark blue sky, And radiant in that hour serene Glows thy fair orb, night's pensive Queen ! All hush'd and still : above, around ; The glowing stars — the darken'd heath — Till stillness self beseems a sound, A whisper, light as slumber's breath ; And the deep Muezin's call, as clear It falls upon the distant ear, CANTO I. AHBASSA1I. 5 A lonely strain of chaunted song 40 That sweeps at times the waste along, Dies, mingling with the dying breeze In wild, unearthly harmonies, As though in hours to silence given Rose Nature's voice, and told of Heaven. Land of the Sage ! — once proud and free, Why sleeps the harp of fame for thee ? O'er thy green plains no descant rings, No hand for thee awakes the strings ; And withered from thy morning prime 50 Thou slumber'st in the lap of Time ! Thy sons — a feeble, dastard race, Heirs of a name their deeds disgrace, In shadowy folds thy glory shroud, And dim its beams in fiction's cloud ; Nor, sunk in sloth and shame, aspire To wake one spark of former fire. Yet, by the voice of ages crown'd, Thy scatter'd ruins sleep around And consecrate the hallow'd ground ; 60 Though there the tale of ages gone Nor column marks, nor storied stone, 6 ABBASSAH. CANTO I. Thy mountain heaps and mighty name Speak more than proudest records claim ; And shapeless, vast, and wild, impart Their silent lesson to the heart. While he, who, lingering, loves to gaze On the wide waste of other days, And gather from the depths of time Memorials of that hour sublime, 70 When, waken'd from its long repose, The star of Ashur's might arose, And scorching in that noontide heat Earth lay in dust before his feet, — Feels, bending o'er Oblivion's brink, His soul subdued and spirit sink ; So far beneath his dizzy eye Those lessening wrecks of empire lie ; So vain his task to disengage Its traces from the moulder 1 d page. 80 Nor yet bereft the haunted ground Of all in ancient records told, Where erst in earthly pomp they frown'd, Her kings, the mighty once and bold. CANTO I. ABBASSAH. 7 There, girt with gorgeous pageants round, Their shadowy empire still they hold ; And peopling plain and ruin'd mound, They wander, wild and uncontroird. And oft — for thus in Kowsha's vale Reports the darkly whisper'd. tale — 90 Oft will the wondering peasant's eye The spirits of the passed descry, And count the aerial forms that dwell In sullen tower or secret dell, As, mindful of their ancient reign, They seek their subject realms again. There, too, the genii of the air, Slaves of the mystic seal, repair, Coerced to nightly toil, and raise The structures of departed days ; 100 That still in midnight splendours gleam, But vanish with the morning beam. Here, musing in that lonely hour, Recall the pride of earthly power : Kings who the light of glory flung O'er time, while time as yet was young ; 8 ABBASSAH. CANTO I. But now their names, long passed away, Survive but in the immortal 4 lay Where, lost in fiction's thousand dyes, Sinks the pale gleam that truth supplies. 110 All that of great and glorious show In history's page or fancy's glow ; All that the mind would fain believe, All the wrapt spirit can conceive Of mortal might, and charmed spell, That moved the powers of air and hell, And dared the Holiest on his throne To re-assert his rights alone ; Past splendours of a matchless race, That, vanish'd, leave no fabled trace, 120 As phantasms of a gorgeous dream That on the waking senses beam, And leave upon the dubious mind So deep, so bright, their forms behind, We feel their glittering hour has been — Here mingle in the shadowy scene. Here, scarce conceived by mortal eyes, Creation's earliest lords 5 arise, CANTO I. ABBASSAH. 9 Founders of empire ! — could an hour Set limits to that boundless power, 130 Nor sea, nor air, nor earth retain One fragment of the golden chain ? Their mighty deeds and glorious doom Distinguish^ but by deeper gloom, Far through the gathered mists of time They tower in giant state sublime ; Their height but seen as radiant 6 clouds, Their base, the veil of ages shrouds. Here may thy thought the footsteps trace 7 Of him, the Mighty of the chase, 140 Who brought the savage from his den, And built eternal walls for men ; Where rose the tower, whose Titan pride The boundless cope of heaven defied, Piercing the depths of air, to scan The starry powers that influence man. Presumptuous man ! thy tower, thy trust, For ever shatterM, sinks to dust ; Despite thy pride — supreme, unknown The mysteries of th 1 Eternal throne ; 150 12 ABBASSAH. CANTO I. And yon red fires' unceasing gleams Flash baleful midst unearthly screams, There, reining with impetuous hands The winged steed, Thamuras 10 stands, While demons strained in bands of steel Gnash writhing at his chariot wheel. High on his helm the Simurgh plume 200 Floats, omen of resistless doom ; Fierce as when trembling Ginnistan Confessed the victor-steps of man, When to the Peri's aid he came With charred cuirass and sword of flame, And warring fiends in vain essay'd The dread Sipar's impervious shade, Unharm , d in even the etherial fight Where sank the last Preadamite. Heard ye that sound ! — it dies — again ! — 210 Whence wakes afar that mystic M strain ? Hark ! rising o'er the listening deep How wild, how wide its echoes sweep, As viewless choirs, dispersed around, Receive — prolong the sacred sound ! I an TO I. ABB ASS AH. 13 Borne thro 1 mid-air it floats along In liquid notes of angel song, Etherial, holy, melting, dear As sink upon the slumbering ear, When far Eolian murmurs roll 220 Their dreamy rapture on the soul. Now high th' ascending cadence swells, Now, nearer pealing, deeper dwells ; Earth, ocean, air, the skies, rejoice To join that universal voice, As poured in deepening volumes round It spreads— a loud expanse of sound ; Heard, felt, in all — through all — alone, Creation heaves — a pulse — a tone; — And Being trembles on its sigh, 230 Dissolving into harmony ! And see — the heavenly portals blaze. Wide-opening with refulgent rays, Whence fiery streams in ceaseless flow Of living splendours flash below ! It comes — it comes ! — yon effluence bright Descending, pours a flood of light ; 14 ABBASSAH. CANTO I. It scatters — spreads : — above, around, Bright, lucid forms a throne surround, With crown-encircled brows that wear 240 The beamy blaze no eye can bear, And lavish roses fragrance shed, And lilies spring where'er they tread. Wheeling their dance in rapid maze They meet and mock the dazzled gaze ; Half lost, save as the rainbow flings Its mingling glories from their wings, That, waving, scatter o'er the sky The rustling breath of zephyr's sigh. And silver censers, flaming, breathe 250 Delight in many a rising wreath, Where clouds of odorous sweets dispense A fragrant languor o'er the sense : And aerial voices raise the song ; And golden harps the notes prolong ; And, wide around, etherial flowers Thick-scattered, fall in snowy showers ; And glowing shapes, — unknown, yet fair, — Glance by — resolve — and melt in air ; And starry gleams, and purple hues, 260 Transpicuous, all the scene suffuse ; CANTO I. ABBASSAH. 15 And bright, and fast-commingling rise, Till air, overcharged, to mortal eyes Floats palpable with radiant dyes. And he, who thus, supreme, alone Reclines upon the jewelled throne ; That form of light 12 , whose hallow'd head The peacock's emerald plumes o'erspread ; Beneath whose feet the clustered vine Dissolves in streams of gushing wine ; 270 For whom the mirror'd gem displays Each change, each form of fate that strays The wide unknown's mysterious maze ; Whose voice along the golden spheres Recalls the erring flight of years ; He, whilst adoring myriads kneel, But lifts on high the signet seal, And lo ! yon rising wonder shines With all the wealth of orient mines, Where genii labours raise afar 280 Thy faery splendours — Istekar ! 'Tis past at once : — the jewell'd throne, Blaze, song, and pageant, — all are gone ; 16 ABB ASS AH. CANTO I. And far as eye can reach around Instinct with life the blacken'd ground. Voice, sound is hushed : — the general eye Intently gazing, fixed on high, Till the loud peal that rends the air Bends the mute mass in prostrate prayer. Thick as the crowded shadows 13 rose 290 Before the first of human-kind, When favouring Allah deigned disclose His offspring's numbers to his mind, Princes, and chiefs, and rulers, swarm To bow before the golden form ; Since he, whose pride of might disdains The kneeling slaves, their will constrains. He, sate with pomp and power ; elate In conscious strength ; secure of fate ; — Earth shadow'd by his shade, the sky 300 Seems from his haughty grasp to fly, And heaven's high lord his lord no more : — A "moment — and that dream is o'er ! To thee, 14 Oh King ! the warning spoke — . Crushed, — shattered by the viewless stroke, The idol falls ; — the clay is broke ; — Blasted that trunk, and rent the bough, The band of iron binds him now. CANTO I. ABBASSAII. 17 Moons wane, years pass, and midnight dews CTer that worn frame their chills effuse, 31 Sunk to the beast : — the desart lair His sole asylum of despair ; Till, humbled by th' avenging rod, He feels and owns the mightier god. Look where afar th 1 impregnate air Burns, reddening in the deepen'd glare Where countless torches shame away The fainter fires of dying day. There the loud harp, the timbrel's strain, The song, the revel, shake the plain ; 320 For Susa's thousand l5 chiefs repair And Susa's loveliest forms are there, And golden gleams with glancing ray Of pearl and gem commingling play ; While from long ages' ample hoard Spoils of a hundred nations poured In lavish splendour load the board ; There too, profaned by impious sight, The hallow'd goblets grace the rite, For Triumph spreads the feast to night ; 530 18 ABBASSAII. * CAXTO I. And o'er that wild debauch of pride The youthful Monarch shall preside. See, where attendant sovereigns wait, He sits enshrined in purple state ; His eye's broad glow, his flushing cheek, That hour's unmingled transport speak ; And as above the festal band The sacred wine- cup decks his hand, With glance of conscious courtesy proud Half bending to that maddening crowd, 340 His lips approach its mantling brim : — And every eye but turns on him, And waving hands are raised on high, And joyous voices swell the cry, And timbrels, lutes, and haT'ps resound ; And echoing roofs his name declare, And cymbal-clank, and trumpet-blare, And gong's thick din is thundering there, To pledge What silence sinks around ! — What dims the triumph of that brow ? 350 Why falls th' untasted wine-cup now ? Hushed is the harp — the shout — the song — And scattered fly th' affrighted throng ; — CANTO I. ABBASSAH. 19 Yet, rooted to the lofty throne, Why stands the monarch — fixed — alone ? Alas ! — where quench'd in living fire The torches' fainting gleams expire, Too well his fate-struck eye surveys The shadowy hand — the mystic blaze ! There stands the fearful doom reveal'd, 360 His days, — his kingdom, — number'd — seal'd. Even as he reads the glowing walls The torrent bursts — the rampart falls — And, answering to the Hebrew's word, Peals the wild cry of conquest heard ! His feast is blood ! — his sceptred power Is broken — vanish'd — in an hour ; And weighed, and wanting in the scale, His life is but a dreamer's tale ! Yon western glow 16 faint lingers yet — '370 It was his empire's sun that set ; Secure in conscious glory then — Now, trampled by the feet of men ! Eve saw his pride : the scarce gray morn Beholds his midnight splendours shorn, c2 20 ABBASSAH, Another to his throne succeed, His kingdom subject to the Mede ; And this his night of boundless bliss — His boast — his banquet — spread for this ! CANTO 1. But where the Persian's kingdom ? — Torn And scatter'd by the he-goafs l7 horn, When the fierce scourge of Roumi's war In blood-dyed vengeance comes from far To plant on Asia's trembling plain The standards of Olympian reign. Son of the Mighty ! — Thou, who wept When peace beneath thy sceptre slept, That not submitted earth could yield The transports of another field : Lord of the world ! — could fear l8 with stay Or fortune bar thy conquering way, And to the might of victory's pride The victor's triumph be denied ? Lo, as the dying prophet scann'd From Pisgah's heights the promised land Whose honied vales and waters bright Must never glad his nearer sight ; 380 390 CANTO I. ABBASSAH. £1 Thou too yon lofty towers shalt see ; Their gates unclosed, but not for thee ! High o'er those walls thy banners spread, 400 That threshold stops the conqueror's tread ; And dark the thickening portents grow With presages of pending woe. Here find'st thou — deem'd in vain foretold — The iron soil and sky of gold ; Doomed at thine l9 Irenes gate to swell The dread firman of Azrael : Here must thy hope's wide prospect end ; Here heaven's proud child to dust descend ; Thy might surviving but in fame, 410 Thy boundless empire in a name ; And all that earth affords thee here, Remnant of conquest's vast career, To choose from out her realms — a bier ! How — thy far course of glory run, — From kingdoms sack'd and conquests done Sink'st thou in death — immortal one ! While she, who spread thine early tomb, And wept her vanquish'd victor's doom, Still in thy fall exults to miss 420 The flames of lost Persepolis. 22 ABBASSAH. CANTO l. And yet thy'vaunted reign is o'er, Lady of Kingdoms ! — now no more ! And Mithra's worshipped beams decline Before the lunar crescent's shine, Where slaughter' d heaps, in carnage crush'd, Defile the fires of Zeratusht*. The camel's wand'ring driver late — His is the hour, the star of fate ! Bow to the rule of heavenly might — 430 'Tis he, who on 20 Al Merag's night Explored the Empyrean height ; HaiPd by seven skies, who track'd alone The infinite, to Allah's throne, And gazed, as darkening round his way, Mysterious worlds unfathom'd lay ; Saw life evolve unnumber'd forms Where uncreated spirit swarms ; Where Light's pure fount resplendent plays Through hues of many colour'd rays, 440 One various, universal blaze, Shaming earth's gems : — there, dazzled, bent Before th' unveil'd Omnipotent ; * Zoroaster. ' canto i. ABBASSAH. 23 And felt immortal essence dart In icy dullness through his heart. There scann'd, with nature's mortal thrill, The marvels of Almighty will : The void, immense, immeasured deep, Where Thought, and Hope, and Silence sleep ; Eternity's unbounded place, 4-50 Where Matter co-extends with Space ; Creation's source; — Time's pathless range ; — Existence, present — without change ! See, to his eye, by heaven unseal'd, The angel-penned Koran reveal'd ; That gives Arabia's raging horde The sacred law, and slaughtering sword, While Thou — too fruitful womb of faith — Must yield to his command, or death. Thou too obey'st the Prophet's will ; 460 His star illumed, — illumes thee still : But Thou ! — in desolation bowed Amidst thy silent ruins proud, Whose 21 stagnant pools the breezes' sigh Alone disturbs, or bittern's cry : — Thou golden cup whence nations drunk ! Thou volume in the waters sunk ! 24 ABBASSAH. CANTO I. Beholding thro"* thy long decay Creeds — Empires — rise, and pass away, When shall thy place on earth be o'er ? 470 When Babylon be known no more ? Lone relics of a mighty line W T hose records mock our narrow scan ; Yet stamp'd on earth their lasting sign That proudly claims a source divine ; While pilgrims bow before the shrine Where ruin toils to humble man ! Pause ere thou pass that hallow'd bound, Nor lightly rend the veil between ; Pause — for the place is holy ground, 480 Where wonder dwells— enshrined around— Nor break the sacred sleep profound Of grandeur's last, deserted scene. Their halls are mute ! — Their glory fled I Their roofless temples desolate ! Their chambers are the foxes bed ; Their courts resound 22 thy courser's tread ; And mouldering piles gigantic spread Their fragments in the broken gate ! CANTO I. ABB ASS AH. 25 There, — where of earth's imperial crown 490 Once blazed the purest, proudest gem ; There — thro" the broad, bright moon shines down — Involved in midnight horrors brown The rugged masses darkly frown ; — And hast thou, dreamer, peopled them ! Pure, sacred scene of soft repose ! If here even childhood 23 conscious strays, Or man, with riper feeling, knows The charm of that unclouded blaze ; Or while from memory's aged eye 500 The darken' d present disappears ; And, lost in joys that still seem nigh, Will wandering fancy fondly fly To dreams of earliest years ; Oh ! can your smile no peace impart To calm the tortures of the heart ; No sweetness to atone ? — Or boast ye but a spell to still The throb of each remember'd ill, Save love's wild pangs alone ? 510 26 ABBASSAH. CAXTO T. And see — beneath the Sunbur gloom 24 That half conceals yon lonely tomb, Where the pale moonbeam sleeps ; Yon faded form, that, prostrate thrown, Like statue rooted to the stone There motions not, nor weeps ; Or rising now with hurried air And aimless gesture of despair, Upturns towards Heaven the glassy eye Of changeless, deep despondency. 520 Down that fair neck the raven tress Floats wild in utter heedlessness : The drooping lids those orbs that veil, The bloodless lip, the forehead pale, And eyes whose vacant gleams betray That soul and sense are pass'd away, As coldly fiVd in trance profound They mark not— see not— aught around ; All tell, within that weary breast The dove of peace hath flown 25 her nest, 530 And, tenant of the house of care, Alone the canker-worm is there. Say, thou that tread'st 26 this lonely vale, Why is her cheek so wan and pale ? CANTO I. ABBASSAH. 27 Why droop those tearless lids, or why So wildly gleams that wandering eye ? Hath guile betray 'd, or passion cross'd That bleeding heart when valued most, While love, the star of human way That bums to lead the steps astray, 540 With all its thousand dreams is flown, A nd reason wakes to woe alone ; And hope, the fire that shone to save, Shows but the darkness of the grave ! Sure change like this, the withering blast Of life's Simoom hath o'er her past, And while the garden blossom'd fair Hath left a blacken'd desart there ; For well I ween far prouder vest Than the rude skins that form has press'd ; 550 O'er those wan features faintly play The faded beams of former sway, Where want nor woe can all deface The bearing of a lordly race. 1 Stranger ! for well thy looks proclaim, * Thy garb, thy speech, a stranger's name, 28 ABBASSAH. CANTO I. 1 Can life no smiling page afford 1 That here thou searchest griefs record ; ' Or bears the wither'd rose-leaf power c To win thee from the blooming flower ? 560 ' Yet pity soothes the pulse of pain, 4 And sorrow's pang is wisdom's gain, 6 Since life such stores for thought supplies 8 That whoso ponders must be wise. 6 If, train'd in wisdom's school, thy mind ' Seeks but to know, and serve mankind, ' Say, wanderer of the distant zone, * What lands remote thy birth-place own, ' And where this tale of grief unknown ? * From Ganges' sages speeds thy way, 570 4 Or eastmost realms of far Kathay 27 , 6 Where the young day's first roses shed ' Their blushing leaves on Wangi's bed ; ' Or where amidst Mahrabeen 23 waves 1 The western sun his splendours laves, , 6 That, blending in their course on high, ' Dissolve in glory o'er the sky, 6 Whilst, wide in boundless distance roll'd, ' Glows Ocean's plain in burning gold ? CANTO I. ABBASSAH. 29 ' By pride's stern mandate unsuppress'd, 580 ' Its echoes ring through every breast ' That owns our faith ; — too well reveal'd 4 From heart to heart, though lips be seaPd ! ' And thou, beware thy heedless path ' Rouse not the lion in his wrath ; ' But close the doors 29 of secresy, c Nor own 30 the camel passed by thee.' From colder clime and northern sky Amidst your plains a stranger I. Chance led I sought this spot, nor soar 590 To Afric's art or Eastern lore. Hard is his task who toils through art To find a balsam for the heart ; And learning's ransack'd stores but show Who adds to wisdom, adds to woe. Yet, while eternal shadows hide The pageants of an earlier hour, And those— the broken toys of pride — Proclaim the vanity of power, Hath tyranny's unheeding eye 600 Regardless pass'd the moral by, 30 ABEASSAH. CANTO I. And doom'd this lovely land a home But for the mourner's foot to roam ? Alas ! through earth, in crowds, alone, Man wakes the universal moan ; Vain nature's charm, or nature's tie, Joy is a dream, and life a sigh ! ' Vain nature's tie ! — ah ! know'st thou not 6 How worse than hopeless is his lot 4 Who flies the raging sea to prove 610 6 That rocky shore, a kinsman's love ? ' Who deems the milk a brother shares, ' The golden hours in childhood past, ' The early hopes, the infant cares c A moment raised and sunk as fast, 4 So train young hearts — nor after years ' Nor pain divide, nor coldness sears ? 4 Or that the days of guileless truth, 1 When breast is link'd to breast in youth, 6 In chains of lasting love can bind 620 ' When future passions sway the mind ? * If such thou deem'st — and nature's ties Charm thy fond thought, in time be wise : CANTO I. ABBASSAH. SI ' There, where in bowers of soft repose 1 Once gay and bright young Hope arose ; ' There, where of life the choicest wreath ' Bloom'd fragrant in affection's breath ; ' There scan the changing page of fate, ' Heaven's last, worst curse — a brother's hate ! 6 Where earth from Kaf to Kaf 3l extends, 630 6 Far as the moon's broad pathway bends ' Throughout the subject world are known 6 The glories of the Caliph's throne. ' And as the queen of light 32 , whose ray 4 Gives burning splendour to the day, ' Her far reflected radiance throws ' To where her paler brother glows, 6 So too, Alrashid's orb of fame * Drank lustre from Abbassah's name. ' Rose of delight ! each holier power 640 ' Propitious at her natal hour 6 Rain'd influence on the budding flower. 32 ABBASSAH. CANTO I. 6 Though fix'd to earth the blossom grew, 6 The breath of heaven its fragrance drew, ' And bathed its stem celestial dew : ' Lovely and fair to mortal eyes ' It bloom'd, that flower of Paradise, ' Till mortal loveliness outvied * The houri charms' immortal pride. * Grace of her sex — the sage's theme— 650 6 The poet's song — the lover's dream— 6 What Moslem breast but throbb'd to raise ' Its proudest altar to her praise ? ' What Moslem heart, but on the lyre ' Pour'd forth for her the strains of fire ? c The purple dawn of smiling fate ; ' The prophet line ; the princely state ; ' The cheek youth's loveliest blush o'erspread, 6 The graces of her gliding tread, 6 Smooth as yon bough 33 in airy ease 660 6 Sways, waving on the southern breeze ; ' The ray that fired that large dark eye, 4 As lightning wakes the midnight sky, 6 When, from its liquid depths, the mind * Blazed forth, in brightness unconfined ; canto r. ABBASSAH. 33 ' The strains admiring Mecca 34 haiPd ; 8 The wit that won when wisdom fail'd ; ' The skill that chain'd, — o , ermaster , d, mute, * The bulbul 35 to her warbling lute ; * All that could awe, inspire, or move, 670 * And steep the subject -sense in love; ' Earth's incense heap'd upon thy shrine, ' Bright orb ! — the throne of earth was thine ! 36 4 Star of the soul-absorbing sigh — c How wide thy noontide radiance shines ! c Now in mid-heaven exalted high ' With glowing fervours fills the sky ; 6 Now from thy rapt adorer's eye 6 Even while he bends 37 the knee, declines ; 6 And sinking, finds thine humbler bed 680 6 Beneath the earth his footsteps tread : 6 Even while we gaze, and feel thou must 6 So soon remingle with the dust ; 4 And that the fleeting term of man ' Far, far exceeds thy narrow span ; 6 And that thy train of shooting light, c A purer vapour of the night, c But dazzles in its rapid flight ; D 34 ABBASSAH. CANTO I. ' Even while our lips the truth avow, ' How bright, how fair, how dear art thou ! 690 1 Frail though thy fleeting life may be, ' Who does not turn — to worship thee ! 6 And still, retiring from the weight 4 Of empire, and the toils of power, ' Those gilded chains that load the great, 6 At eve from his Divan of state 6 Her monarch-brother sought her bower ; c And, sate with feverish schemes of day, ' Forgot in woman's gentle sway ' The sceptred reign of care ; 700 6 And thought his furrow'd brow unbent 6 As soul-seducing numbers blent c With murmuring music breathed content, c While wit its jewel I'd lustre lent 4 In vivid sparkles there. 6 Blest hours ! — that, mingling soul with soul, 6 The fondest ties more fondly bind ; 6 While, lapt in bliss, the unheeding mind * Dreams on, nor recks of Fate's control ! 6 Ah, happy — if, supremely bless'd, 710 6 Man knew the blessings he possess'd ! CANTO T. ABBASSAH. 35 ' If his proud spirit, forrrTd to range, c Waked not, to ask some happier change ! ' If, led from failing hope to hope, ' His frenzy found not wider scope ; ' And, casting all he holds aside 1 For that unknown, still, still denied, ' Founds on his shatter'd hopes a claim ' To heaven, of which he knows — the name ! * Though gay the wine of pleasure laughVl 720 - ' High mantling o'er the goblet's brim ; fc Yet deem'd the Caliph as he quaff'd ' One balm was wanting in the draught 6 That pour'd its lavish sweets for him. c The tide of soul reach'd not its height, 4 The spell of life had lost its art ; — ' How could he taste its all delight ' Unless the brother of his heart, 6 He, whose mild rule his people bless'd, c His first, best favourite, wont to share 730 c The inmost secrets of his breast, 6 His true, his loved vizier was there ? 6 Such was the care his mind engrossM, 6 In turns by varying passions toss'd, d 2 36 ABBASSAH. CANTO I. 6 As friendship strove, and pride, and shame ' Conflicting struggled in his frame. ' He knew our sacred customs kept 6 The gentler offspring of his race, 6 Pure from all eyes, his own except, 6 Secluded in the Harem's space ; 740 4 And, safe within that hallowed pale < Which bars the evil eye and hand, 6 The heart's best shield, the maiden's veil 6 Yields only to her lord's command. 6 Yet brooked he not, his royal line, 6 The blood that gave the Prophet birth, ' Should in its glorious course combine 6 With the less favour'd streams of earth ; 6 Nor durst his haughty will disdain 6 The jealous law of eastern reign. 750 6 But yet, unwont his wish to stay, ' Or keep his feet in reason's way, s His weakness chose a mid career — 6 That dubious course — that path of fear — ' Which still in tortuous windings run c Meets every risk it strives to shun ; 6 To each extreme of action loth, 4 Combining the worst ills of both. CANTO I. AKBASSAH. 37 ' Oh, blinded King ! — for thee in vain 4 Thy proper passions spurn'd the rein, — 760 ' Thy pride, untaught, aspiring still ' To bend all nature to its will. 4 Deem'd'st thou, by earthly laws restrained, 4 To mar what holier laws ordain'd ? ' Deem'd'st thou to Man the power was given 4 To sever ties enjoin'd by Heaven ? 4 That, by thy will heart link'd to heart, 4 Thy will could tear the links apart, ' And, rending every tie, divide 4 The husband-lover from his bride? 770 4 Too oft, — too well thy days have curs'd 4 That frenzied dream thy darkness nursed, .* That stern, inhuman mandate ! — Say, — 4 Could love, could faith, could man obey ? ' Enough that to a husbands name 6 Unbarr'd the Harem's deep recess, 4 Doom'd to that ordeal 38 of the flame 4 With his proud lord the victim came ; 4 The sequel, canst thou fail to guess ? — 4 Yet had the master-spell been thrown 780 4 Obnoxious to his sight alone, 38 ABBASSAH. CANTO T. ' By coldness, duty, promise, steel'd, 6 His loyalty had scorn'd to yield, 6 And that pure spring through scorching earth 6 Had kept the dullness of its birth. y But vain was wisdom's weak defence £ Against each charm that wins the sense: — 4 His deep resolve and firmest mood 4 Her various powers assail'd, subdued ; 6 Compell'd the burning sands to prove 790 6 And breathe the fiery blasts of love, [ He could not strive, — he could not fly, — 6 Fix'd to the stake, to parch, and die ! 6 Eve's glowing star, and still, soft hour ' Sunk on his heart with silent power ; 6 Night's deep, dissolving moments stole 6 In burning languors o'er his soul, ' As the rapt breast, o'erpower'd, o'erwrought, 6 Panted for visions of its thought ; ' And on the accents of her tongue 800 6 How all the enamour'd spirit hung, 6 Transported when Abbassah sung ! " In vain would pride, — in vain would shame " Repress my soul's consuming flame ; CANTO I. ABBASSAH. 39 " In vain a thousand fears inipart " Their trembling silence to my heart : " Despite my will, its pulse is free, "It beats with love ; — it beats for thee ! " Dost thou repel that fond desire ? " Shame, secret love, at once expire — 810 " And deem'st thou, thus, jny life to save ? — " Alas ! — thy pride prepares my grave ! " Nor unavenged that doom shall be : — " It speaks in death — it speaks of thee !" 4 Beats there the heart that will not own 4 Its pulses trembling to the tone, 4 When the loved voice, so soft, so dear, 4 Breathes rapture on the listening ear ; ' And passion burns in music's sigh — 4 Its own deep tones of harmony ? 820 4 While, hushed around, the amorous air 4 In breathless silence lingers there, ' As if its pinions dared not stray •' Or fear'd to waft one charm away, 4 One sound, recall'd 30 from spheres of bliss 4 To soothe and cheer the pangs of this. 40 ABBASSAH. CANTO I. ' Ah ! — though the weary world impart 6 Its weight of sorrows to the heart, ' And feelings — warmly wont to thrill — 6 In life's bleak course grow dull and chill ; — 830 ' Waked by that call, to memory's eyes c How fair the dreams of fancy rise ; 6 Cares, toils, and sufferings, lull'd to sleep, ' Repose in hallowed slumber deep ; 6 Visions of joy, and love, and truth, * Return in all their light of youth ; 6 Bright phantoms woo the wilder'd brain, * And all is peace and hope again ! 6 Deem it not strange — the manly form, ' The eye with kindling raptures warm, 840 6 The lofty thought, the soul sincere, . ' The milder virtues that endear, 6 The graces that in Giaffier shone ' On woman's yielding spirit won. 6 The females of our fiery sky, ' Form'd by love's hand, breathe but his sigh ; — 6 And drain the maddening potion up 6 Though death be mingled in the cup. canto I. ABBASSAH. 41 1 Deem it not strange ; — the blood that froze ' In his cold veins 40 , at beauty's ray 850 * Waked, as when burst from long repose * On Elwand's height the wintry snows ; 6 And down the headlong torrent goes, ' Till Teer's swoln stream impetuous flows 6 In overwhelming way : 'That he, who feebler charms had borne 6 And paid the sex's sighs with scorn, — ' When full before his dazzled eyes 4 Sparkled that fair, that glorious prize, — ' When to his hand the monarch gave 860 *■ That jewel of his diadem, ' He — beautv's doom-devoted slave — 6 Wore on his heart the glowing gem : — 6 That of life's loveliest flower possess'd, 1 He bore its beauties to his breast ; 6 Till — bending o'er that fragrant breath — 6 In mad delight brain, pulse, and soul 4 Reel'd ; and the pearl of stainless faith 6 Enrich'd the heart-dissolving bowl. 6 Slowly his sterner purpose fail'd, ' And duty wept, — but love prevail'd ; 870 m ABBASSAH. CANTO I. 6 Love forced his struggling steps astray ; * Love tore the maiden's veil 41 away. Alas ! where frowning banks combine Joy's eager current to confine, Though straiten'd by the vain control In deeper tide the waters roll ; Through barring rocks its onward course Whirls, eddying with increasing force, And crowding in its rushing might The scatter 'd springs of life's delight, But swifter urges to the sea Of doom and doubt — Eternity. 880 Curse on the cold, unpitying zeal That broke the hallow'd contract's seal To bare before the avenger's eye The sacredness of privacy ! Curse on the base, remorseless fiend, 6 Whose vampire wing and fawning breath Lull'd every waking thought, and screen'd ' In deep repose the tongue of death ! Cursed be the slave that, tempted long By hoped reward or casual wrong, 890 CANTO I. ABBASSAH. 4tf 6 In faith's 42 polluted semblance came 6 To desecrate the shrine of flame ! ' Yet how — oh ! how can failing man 4 The murderer's secret purpose scan, * Or caution pierce each dark pretence ' That shrouds the doom of innocence ? < When envy prompts th 1 insidious task, 900 ' And treason borrows duty's mask — 6 When jealousy impels the dart ' In friendship's seeming, to the heart — ' And vengeance burns in holy fires — e And virtue acts as hate inspires : — 6 The pious cheat succeeding well 6 Since heaven performs the works of hell. 6 Think what infuriate passions press'd ' For mastery in the Caliph's breast, ' When that cold serpent, gliding near, 910 6 Pour'd all the venom in his ear. ' Stunn'd — fix'd — o'erwhelm'd — he sate at first ' Of reason, memory, thought bereft, <• As though the thunder-bolt had burst 6 Upon his soul, and nought was left. f 44 ABB ASS AH. CANTO I. ' The tale — the sounds his ear received ' Unheard, — unnoted, — unbelieved : ' Something of pain the blow had dealt ; * Yet how, he knew not — scarcely felt — * But still the hideous accents rang 920 6 Upon his senses. — Could it be ? — ' Nursed he for this that viper's fang ! — ' Yet he who caused that baleful- pang, 6 The trembling caitiff at his knee, ' Durst he speak false ? — Durst slander's tongue ' There, to his face, his sister wrong ? — * A thousand damning proofs of crime ' That pass'd unheeded in their time 6 Return'd to blast his aching view : — 6 It was, — it was, — it must be true ! 930 ' And he — his own blind act connived — 6 The guilt — the traitor too, survived ! — 6 In vain upon that brain o'ercast ' Rose the long memory of the past ; ' In vain affection, service, love, ' Against the headlong fury strove. ' He mock his mandate ! — he — his slave 6 Presume his lord's command to brave, CANTO I. AB BASS AH. 45 ' And live ! — He felt against that slight c How vain his impotence of might ! 940 ' The hurried gaspings of his breath, ' Short, broken sounds, half-murmur 1 d death ; ' His face — unconscious what he did — ' The clenching hands of passion hid, 6 As though its livid thought had been 4 Too hideous to be freely seen : 6 The thrill of rage, of scorn, of shame, 1 In fierce convulsion shook his frame ; ' Stung, writhing with that fatal wound ' What recked 43 he then who stood around ? — 950 ' With impulse dubious, — unavow'd — 8 As lightning cleaves the thunder cloud, ' The monarch yielding to the man, — ' He rose and rush'd thro 1 the divan : — ' Yet, where the opening crowd appaLTd * Fell back — their terrors half recalFd ' His scattered senses : there he stood, c Deep musing in uncertain mood. ' At length, the signal of his hand 4 Dispersed the wildly -wondering band : 960 1 He raised his head : — the hue that cast 6 Its darkness o'er his brow had pass'd ; ABBASSAH. CANTO I. That sudden burst of frenzy reined, His air its wonted calm regained ; He turn'd, — and silent, and alone, With slow, firm step resumed his throne. Yet calmly though he glided by, 6 None dared the downcast forehead raise ; The deathlike stillness of that eye, — Still as the earthquake brooding nigh, — 6 We felt 44 its awe, and durst not gaze ; In dark suspense of peril near Bow'd down and shrunk in freezing fear. A long, chill, dreary pause succeeds : — c Mute, breathless, motionless, subdued, ' No glance presumed to search his mood, Till at his beck the tale proceeds ; Nor, till that weight of silence broke, Our souls felt lighten'd of its yoke. Fix'd sat the King —nor look'd — nor spoke ; One vast, pervading thought, repress'd, Controll'd, and swallow'd up the rest : Nor eye had seen, observing then, Aught but the wonted air of men ; Nor mark'd not — quelFd that first surprise — The billows of his soul arise. 970 980 CANTO I. ABBASSAH. 47 ' With set, firm gaze, and aspect cold ' He heard the fateful story told : * No sudden break, — no gathering cloud * The spirit's secret sense avow'd ; 990 i No question glanced ; no altering look * Evinced, again if passion shook ; ' Nor sound, nor gesture disengage ' The eager memory of the page, * Lest once-arrested speech might fail ' To weave each treason in the tale. * Alone the slow, pale, changeless smile ' That hung in whitening gloom awhile ' O'er his closed lips and marble air, 6 Disclosed a latent feeling there ; 1000 ' A kindled pulse — a thought suppress'd, ' That rose and settled in the breast. ' And who its hidden import seeks ' May well divine, where silence speaks, 6 That cool resolve of quenchless hate, * Unknown, yet hVd and stern as fate, c That shrouds in kindred gloom ; secure ' The bolt is aim'd, the vengeance sure, c Nor idly lightens to betray i Its purpose to the unconscious prey. 1010 48 ABB ASS AH. CANTO I. 6 And what that purpose ? — He alone ' Can tell, whose burning heart hath known ' What blackening furies there combine ( When vengeance scorns all outward sign ; ' And, pent within, the labouring flame c Heaves the choked breast, and swells the frame. 6 That gather'd rage, that would forego ' The heart's first hope — to reach its foe : 6 That thunder-feeling, that would strike ' All that its path embraced alike ; 1020 6 Singling the loftiest, dearest ties c To fall the foremost sacrifice ; 6 And gladly in the general doom 4 Itself plunge headlong to the tomb, — ' No matter — if but fate descend, 6 How wide its sweep, how wild its end ; 6 So that the ravage of its course ' But serve to mark the whirlwind's force ; c So that the ruin but proclaim ' The guilty's crime, — the avenger's name. — 1030 6 How is thy power, thy greatness fled, ' Last — noblest of the noblest 45 race ! — c How quench'd the star that wont to shed ' Its glories o'er thy resting place I CANTO I. ABBASSAH. 49 4 Where are they flown — the wise, the proud, 4 Who to thy voice submissive bow'd ? — 4 Where are they now, — the pomps of state, 4 The Emir train that throng'd thy gate ; 4 The silent slaves that watch'd thy nod, 4 The suppliant crowds thy courts that trod : 1040 4 Thy halls, where nations tributes brought, — * Thy smile, that Kings with presents sought, — 4 Thy baths, where beauty loosed her zone, — 4 Thy bowers, that rung with musics tone, — 4 Where Barmek's race, through earth's wide bound 4 For wealth, for worth, for power renown'd? — ' Where she, the pearl of Asia's pride, 4 Soul of thy heart, thy royal bride ? 4 And valour's meed, and wisdom's fame, 4 And woman's love, and man's acclaim ? — 1050 4 Oh ! could not all prolong thy date » 4 And fortune's signet 46 seal thy fate? — 4 They win, alas ! no homage now — 4 Where is their promise ! — Where art thou ! 4 No voice awakes — no mourners rave — 4 No echo answers in the grave ! 4 How art thou fallen ! — thine honour'd name 4 Sun of the morning, sets in shame : E ■ 50 ABBASSAH. CANTO I. 6 The Sangiac* blast that breathed thy doom, ' Scattered thine ashes from the tomb, 1060 * And dies upon the Minstrel's tongue 6 The sound, once worshipp'd, loved, and sung ! 6 How art thou fallen ! — yet, outcast here, ' Oh ! yet accept this grateful tear : ' Deep in the heart that silent swells * Inscribed thy cherish'd memory dwells ; 6 And though no sigh its sorrows breathe, 6 Thy name shall ever live beneath ! 6 In vain would hands the shrine deface, ' Thy glory consecrates the place ; 1070 6 The furrow'd soil and scatter'd stone ' Recall the heart to thee alone ; ' And Desolation o'er the scene 6 Broods but to mark that thou hast been V V * The icy wind of death, the Sangiac. ABBASSAH, CANTO II. As when the minstrel's art essays The silent spell of former days, And strives to wake the breath of fire That slumbers in the silent lyre O'er whose loved chords and silver tone The damp of long neglect has grown ; 1080 Still as his touch, with music rife, Recalls the withering strings to life, And fondly woos the impassion'd strain Of other years to wake again ; In sullen tones, apart, and low, The jarring chords' vibrations flow, And cold, and deep, and faint, their breath Falls on the ear in notes of death, e 2 52 ' ABBASSAH. CANTO II. And sad, and lonely, seems to moan Its brighter hours and broken tone. 1090 Yet, yielding slowly, as his skill Constrains, combines each sullen thrill ; Alternate lingers, changes, dwells, And gently sinks, or gradual swells, And blending with its plaintive sighs The scatter'd tones of memory rise That, oft-repeated, reach at last Some glimpses of the tuneful past, As mingling chords more full and free Pour the deep bursts of harmony, 1100 Though there perhance some failing string Still o'er the strain its sadness fling ; — So too that spirit, dark, and lone, Remained, the rack of passions flown ; Cold, barren, moveless, sad, exiled, The outcast wanderer of a wild, Where, blasted in that sudden doom, Each flower of hope had shed its bloom . Without one solace, to sustain The crowding tortures of a brain 1110 That reel'd beneath overwhelming fate, The victim of relentless hate. CANTO II. ABBASSAH. 53 A childless mother — widowM wife — Debarr'd from love — proscribed from life ; Doom'd but to mourn through endless years Each broken bond that life endears, And joyless, hopeless, wither'd, torn, To move the living mark of scorn : — No tongue to soothe, no hand to bind That festering wound — the bleeding mind ; 1 120 No gentle balm to reunite The feelings sever'd in their blight, Nor voice to wake the spirit's tone, And tell of hope — though hope be flown : The shatter'd pulses once that wept Had long in cold oblivion slept ; If aught of human yet held sway, \ Hush'd in that bosom's depths it lay, Where ceaseless woe and sullen care Sunk, buried in the deep despair 1130 That, spreading smooth to outward show, Yet canker'd all it hid below. Unheeded first, but lingering nigh With listless air and vacant eye, 54 ABBASSAH. canto II. That icy form, as fair, as cold Scarce saw the web of fate unrolPd : But as the tissued shadows rose Of love, and joy, and cares, and woes, And smote upon the awakening ear Each long-lost sound — so loved, so dear, 1140 The laxen'd pulses of the heart Waked into sense with sudden start, And, deep and low, the imperfect moan Half echoed 47 back the speaker's tone. He mark'd not, for his eager view Flew through the mazes of the past, Where memory's glow relumed anew The hues, so long in shadow cast ; Hopes, blooming as the roseate ray, In earnest of the brightening day, 1150 And transient cares whose softening shade In lovelier light that dawn array 'd ; Moments that teem with life — its course Untainted yet from darker source ; When the young soul and gladden'd sight Inhale the freshness of delight, CANTO II. ABBASSAH. 55 When every hour's new-kindled sense Wakes to such energies intense, And finds this world so pure, so fair, It treads not earth, but swims in air — 1160 Fond redolence of joy, — how soon To fade in manhood's fiery noon ! As these bright themes, too long disjoin'd, Renewed, relinquished, urged again, Wrought, with repeated touch, that mind Disused to one unbroken strain, Faint, varying shades of feeling stray'd O'er all her face ; — her pale lip play'd With quivering life ; — her wither'd frame Nearer, with gradual footstep, came ; 1170 More fix'd her eye, whose dubious beams Seem'd kindling with remember'd gleams Of former light : a sad, wild tone, To human utterance long unknown, Wander' d through sounds no language frames, And reason recks not — or disclaims, — Then, faint and fainter, sought at length That pause, where memory gathers strength. As the lone heart, but waked to weep, Woos the deep stillness of its sleep, 1180 56 ABBASSAH. CANTO II. And strives to cheat the throb of pain With eye that shuns the light, in vain ; — Fain for that slumber to dispense With the cold pride of waking sense, Though day's obtrusive beam forbids Oblivion to those aching lids : So, from that cold forgetfulness Where nature, sunk beneath distress, Felt not misfortune's weary yoke, Again to life the mourner woke : 1190 Woke but to find resumed again The fever-blight of breast and brain, And feel of life how small a part Rests for the widow'd, broken heart. As one that knew not earth, amazed In doubting mood she wildly gazed ; For long the spirit, sorrow-changed, From nature's living forms estranged Strove its own bodings to deceive ; Calm as that welcome blank had been 1200 This hour's was no unreal scene, Too keen its pang to disbelieve ; Waked she indeed to truth at last ? — Was it no dream, that dreadful past ! — CANTO II. ABBASSAH. 57 'Twas her own tale ! The crowding train Of frenzies, swept across her brain , Rung in that low, convulsive cry, That straiiVd the chords of agony. It roused at once, that thrill of pain, The life-blood stagnate in each vein ; 1210 Pulse, feeling, memory, reason, thought, Inspired, compeU'd, combined, o'erfraught, Awaken'd in their gather d might As rose the night-bound Nazarite, Burst the dark chain that had confined The soul's communion from its kind, And slow the struggling accents spoke Where the deep tide of feeling broke. " Stranger,"" she said, " for strangers' ear " Alone would dare the griefs to hear, 1220 " From which the Mosleman withdraws " In terror of avenging laws, — " Thanks for this generous sympathy ! " Though long the well of feelings seal'd, " Its hidden waters unreveal'd, " Gush from their fount, to welcome thee ; I 58 ABBASSAH. canto II. " And deep the welcome — sad, yet dear " When sorrow pours the grateful tear ! " But ah • — what vails it thee to know " The lengthen'd track of human woe ; 1280 " Or trace the scenes of other days " On which the sight so long hath closed : " Though in that interval of pain, " That silence of the desart plain " Of dreary suffering, interposed, " The heart will fondly turn — to gaze — " And breathe again each wind that brings " Their influence on its welcome wings, " Regardless that its gusts alight " In burning blast 48 , or mildew blight. 1 240 " What can such spirit offer thee ? " What beam of heaven impart a smile " To gild Akarkouf's 49 wasted pile? — " Lone monument of misery — " Its form decay'd, — its glory flown,— " Its pride, its boast, for ever gone ! " Ah ! happier thou ! — that, born afar i( And nurtured under gentler star, CANTO II. ABBASSAH. 59 " O'er earth, o'er ocean free to range " The rugged path at will can change ; 1250 " And, when the cares of life oppress, " And hope is turn'd to bitterness, " Can search the world's untrodden bower, " And gather still some gladdening flower " Whose sweets the jaded sense beguile " And woo to peace, a little while ! " Undoom'd in silence to sustain " The tortures of that galling chain " Where crowded griefs, in links combined, " Fix to one spot the sinking mind, 1260 " Whose sad, unchanging forms recall " Alone the memory of its fall ! " Deem'st thou that hope should soothe this brain ? " Hope cannot burst the bonds of pain ! " How sweet soe'er its promise be, " Life never more will bloom for me ; " How have my days of pleasure sped ; — " What ashes 50 fallen on my head ! — " All that remains on earth — the boon " Of pitying heaven, awaits me soon, 1270 " When in the holy, deep repose " Of nature's rest, my sorrows close ! 60 ABB ASS AH. CANTO II. " God of unbounded heavens ! — whose power " Sustains affliction's gloomiest hour, " And sheds on darkling man the ray " That guides his feet in wisdom's way : — " Whose mercy gave, involving Fate, " The Volumed Essence 51 Increate : — " Whose goodness spreads a happier sphere " To wean him from his passions here, 1280 " And bids the cry of anguish cease " In mansions of eternal peace ; " Requiting earthly sacrifice " With loveliest bowers of Paradise : — " Thou ! — Wonder of the wilder'd sense ! — " First, — Sole, — Supreme, Intelligence ! — " Whose glory in its boundless blaze " Dimm'd the rapt Prophet's dazzled gaze ; " For whom Creation forms a throne ; " Eternal ;— Infinite ;—- Alone !— 1 290 " That deign'st to view with pitying eye " The broken spirit's secret sigh, " And point, when earthly ills oppress, " His only refuge from distress ! " Oh ! yet forgive thy chasten'd slave " Whose frenzy thus presumes to rave, CANTO II. ABBASSAH. 61 " 'Gainst the award thy will has given ; " Alas ! — from sorrow's rending throes " The unbidden cry of anguish flows " That dares deplore the doom of Heaven ! 1300 " Bow'd, humbled to the earth, I own " The sin long years would fain atone, " When this vain heart, in folly free, " Roam'd through delight, unheeding Thee ; " Unmindful of the duty owed " That source from whence its blessings flow'd. " High is thy power ! — thy doom is just ! — " Yet suffer, pity, pardon, — dust ! " Ah ! who that mourns when nature shrouds " Her evening form in gather'd clouds, 1310 " Can all forget the glorious ray, " That glowing zenith of the day " Which pass'd — its lustre must decline ; " Where joy's broad pinions upwards soar " Till hope and heaven can give no more, " And if the heart a pulse retain " Untired, untried, — 'tis but for pain ! " Such life — such moment, has been mine. 62 ABBASSAH. CANTO II. " Nor, though I mourn o'er fate's decree " When reason wanders in its gloom, 1320 " And all the heart is agony — " Would I forego the bitter doom ; " Nor change, for all that earth can give, " The traces that in memory live ; " So dear their faded shadows seem " Truth cannot shed so bright a beam. " What ! — shall the spirit's drooping sigh " Prove false to every holier tie ; " Or craven suffering tear apart " The life-strings that uphold the heart ? 1330 " Oh ! no, no, no, come what come may, " They cannot, cannot pass away ! " Thou — of my soul the light — the star ! — " What treason can thine image mar ? " What future boon — what joy — what hope " With ought that bears thy memory cope ; " Or how the dream of rapture flee " That rose — remained — and sunk with thee ! " And raptured was that hour, when first • et Upon my sight the vision burst 1340 CANTO II. ABBASSAH. 63 " In glorious, bright reality ; — " Nought that the ardent spirit deems " Of angel-forms in morning dreams " Had ever shone so fair on me. " Though friendships voice and courtier's phrase " Had ever loved to gild his praise, " And glory spread his proud acclaim, " And sorrow blest her soother's name ; " Though wide the universal tongue " Through every breast his plaudits rung, 1350 " Till woman's heart, that never saw, " The portrait would delight to draw, " And attributes by fancy given " Invested man with hues of heaven ; " Though in its panting solitude " My spirit ranged in wildest mood, " And, every added moment, framed " Fresh charms for him my lips ne'er named, " And deem'd him, like yon orb of love, " As bright 52 — as far my hopes above ; — 1360 . " Yet, when in bowers of privacy " His living image met my eye, "And all before my soul subdued " That form in breathing beauty stood ; 64 ABB ASS AH. CANTO II. " Though Haroun's brow of lordly pride " And statelier presence tower'd beside, t( How cold the shapes of earth and air " Sank in the glance of glory there ! " How weak, how faint had fancy's scan " Divined that faultless form of man ! 1370 " I know not if my cheek betray'd " What passed within : — a sudden shade " Came o'er my sight — my pulses shook — " And yet I sought, and met his look. " Long was that look — severe, yet sweet, " When souls, at once embracing, meet, " Nor then control the eager gaze " Which all the opening heart displays, " Where thoughts, and doubts, and fancies warm " Combin'd to shape the cherished form ; 1380 " And beauty, grace, and glowing youth, " Now first resolving into truth " Join with one dearer, stronger tie, " The thrill of kindling sympathy. " Our hearts were tuned to love, perchance : — " Our spirits trembled in that glance, " And sought to fly with effort Vain ; u Yet turned to feel its power again ; CANTO II. ABBASSAH. 65 " Absorb'd and fix'd by spell profound, "As Yazid 53 in the circle's bound ; 1390 " Confused, — yet fearing to forget " The troubled meaning there it met ; " Or doubting if aright divined " The dubious omen of the mind ; " Nor strove to free from that control, " That night-mare 34 charm, the struggling soul.