"And when he dies, to leave his lofty name "A light, a landmark on the cliffs of fame? "It was not so, Land of the generous thought "And daring deed, thy godlike sages taught; "It was not thus, in bowers of wanton ease, "Thy Freedom nursed her sacred energies; "O! not beneath the' enfeebling, withering glow "Of such dull luxury did those myrtles grow, "With which she wreathed her sword, when she would dare "Immortal deeds; but in the bracing air "Of toil, of temperance, of that high, rare, —of "Ethereal virtue, which alone can breathe "Life, health, and lustre into Freedom's wreath. "Who, that surveys this span of earth we press,"This speck of life in time's great wilderness, "This narrow isthmus 'twixt two boundless seas, "The past, the future, two eternities! - "Would sully the bright spot, or leave it bare, "When he might build him a proud temple there, "A name, that long shall hallow all its space, "And be each purer soul's high resting-place? "But no - it cannot be, that one, whom God "Has sent to break the wizard Falsehood's rod, "A Prophet of the truth, whose mission draws "Its rights from Heaven, should thus profane its cause "With the world's vulgar pomps;-no, no, I see"He thinks me weak-this glare of luxury "Is but to tempt, to try the eaglet gaze "Of my young soul-shine on, 'twill stand the blaze!" So thought the youth:-but, ev'n while he defied This witching scene, he felt its witchery glide Thro' every sense. The perfume breathing round, Of Indian bees at sunset, when they throng In its blue blossoms hum themselves to sleep; 1 His soul up to sweet thoughts, like wave on wave "O my loved mistress, thou, whose spirit still "The paths of glory; to light up thy cheek 1 "My Pandits assure me that the plant before us (the Nilica) is their Sephalica, thus named because the bees are supposed to sleep on its blosSir W. Jones. soms "How shall I bear the moment, when restored "To that young heart where I alone am Lord, "Though of such bliss unworthy, since the best "Alone deserve to be the happiest ; "When from those lips, unbreathed upon for years, "I shall again kiss off the soul-felt tears, "And find those tears warm as when last they started, "Those sacred kisses pure as when we parted! แ "O my own life! - why should a single day, "A moment keep me from those arms away?" While thus he thinks, still nearer, on the breeze, Come those delicious, dream-like harmonies, Each note of which but adds new, downy links To the soft chain in which his spirit sinks. He turns him toward the sound, and far away Through a long vista, sparkling with the play Of countless lamps, — like the rich track which Day Leaves on the waters, when he sinks from us, So long the path, its light so tremulous, He sees a group of female forms advance, Some chained together in the mazy dance By fetters, forged in the green sunny bowers, As they were captives to the King of Flowers; And some disporting round, unlinked and free, Who seemed to mock their sisters' slavery; And round and round them still, in wheeling flight Went, like gay moths about a lamp at night; While others waked, as gracefully along Their feet kept time, the very soul of song 1 1 "They deferred it till the King of Flowers should ascend his throne of enamelled foliage." - The Bahardanush. From psaltery, pipe, and lutes of heavenly thrill, Awhile they dance before him, then divide, No veil to curtain o'er her beauteous brow, 1 "One of the head-dresses of the Persian women is composed of a light golden chain-work, set with small pearls, with a thin gold plate pendant, about the bigness of a crown-piece, on which is impressed an Arabian prayer, and which hangs upon the cheek below the ear."-Hanway's Travels. 2 "Certainly the women of Yezd are the handsomest women in Persia. The proverb is, that to live happy a man must have a wife of Yezd, eat the bread of Yezdecas, and drink the wine of Shiraz.". Tavernier. But when at length a timid glance she stole She saw through all his features calmed her fear, Though shrinking still, she came; then sat her down. Touched a preluding strain, and thus began: There's a bower of roses by BENDEMEER'S 3 stream, And the nightingale sings round it all the day long ; In the time of my childhood 'twas like a sweet dream, To sit in the roses and hear the bird's song. That bower and its music I never forget, But oft when alone, in the bloom of the year, I think Is the nightingale singing there yet? Are the roses still bright by the calm BENDEMEER? No, the roses soon withered that hung o'er the wave, But some blossoms were gathered, while freshly they shone, And a dew was distilled from their flowers, that gave All the fragrance of summer, when summer was gone. Thus memory draws from delight, ere it dies, An essence that breathes of it many a year; Thus bright to my soul, as 'twas then to my eyes, Is that bower on the banks of the calm BENDEMEER! 1 Musnuds are cushioned seats, usually reserved for persons of distinction. 2 The Persians, like the ancient Greeks, call their musical modes or Perdas by the names of different countries or cities, as the mode of Isfahan, the mode of Irak, &c. 3 A river which flows near the ruins of Chilminar. |