The Giaour

  1. 1No breath of air to break the wave
  2. 2That rolls below the Athenian's grave,
  3. 3That tomb which, gleaming o'er the cliff,
  4. 4First greets the homeward-veering skiff
  5. 5High o'er the land he saved in vain;
  6. 6When shall such Hero live again?
  1. 7Fair clime! where every season smiles
  2. 8Benignant o'er those blessed isles,
  3. 9Which, seen from far Colonna's height,
  4. 10Make glad the heart that hails the sight,
  5. 11And lend to loneliness delight.
  6. 12There mildly dimpling, Ocean's cheek
  7. 13Reflects the tints of many a peak
  8. 14Caught by the laughing tides that lave
  9. 15These Edens of the eastern wave:
  10. 16And if at times a transient breeze
  11. 17Break the blue crystal of the seas,
  12. 18Or sweep one blossom from the trees,
  13. 19How welcome is each gentle air
  14. 20That wakes and wafts the odours there!
  15. 21For there the Rose, o'er crag or vale,
  16. 22Sultana of the Nightingale,
  17. 23The maid for whom his melody,
  18. 24His thousand songs are heard on high,
  19. 25Blooms blushing to her lover's tale:
  20. 26His queen, the garden queen, his Rose,
  21. 27Unbent by winds, unchilled by snows,
  22. 28Far from the winters of the west,
  23. 29By every breeze and season blest,
  24. 30Returns the sweets by Nature given
  25. 31In softest incense back to Heaven;
  26. 32And grateful yields that smiling sky
  27. 33Her fairest hue and fragrant sigh.
  28. 34And many a summer flower is there,
  29. 35And many a shade that Love might share,
  30. 36And many a grotto, meant for rest,
  31. 37That holds the pirate for a guest;
  32. 38Whose bark in sheltering cove below
  33. 39Lurks for the passing peaceful prow,
  34. 40Till the gay mariner's guitar
  35. 41Is heard, and seen the Evening Star;
  36. 42Then stealing with the muffled oar,
  37. 43Far shaded by the rocky shore,
  38. 44Rush the night-prowlers on the prey,
  39. 45And turn to groans his roundelay.
  40. 46Strange--that where Nature loved to trace,
  41. 47As if for Gods, a dwelling place,
  42. 48And every charm and grace hath mixed
  43. 49Within the Paradise she fixed,
  44. 50There man, enamoured of distress,
  45. 51Should mar it into wilderness,
  46. 52And trample, brute-like, o'er each flower
  47. 53That tasks not one laborious hour;
  48. 54Nor claims the culture of his hand
  49. 55To bloom along the fairy land,
  50. 56But springs as to preclude his care,
  51. 57And sweetly woos him--but to spare!
  52. 58Strange--that where all is Peace beside,
  53. 59There Passion riots in her pride,
  54. 60And Lust and Rapine wildly reign
  55. 61To darken o'er the fair domain.
  56. 62It is as though the Fiends prevailed
  57. 63Against the Seraphs they assailed,
  58. 64And, fixed on heavenly thrones, should dwell
  59. 65The freed inheritors of Hell;
  60. 66So soft the scene, so formed for joy,
  61. 67So curst the tyrants that destroy!
  1. 68He who hath bent him o'er the dead
  2. 69Ere the first day of Death is fled,
  3. 70The first dark day of Nothingness,
  4. 71The last of Danger and Distress,
  5. 72(Before Decay's effacing fingers
  6. 73Have swept the lines where Beauty lingers,)
  7. 74And marked the mild angelic air,
  8. 75The rapture of Repose that's there,
  9. 76The fixed yet tender traits that streak
  10. 77The languor of the placid cheek,
  11. 78And--but for that sad shrouded eye,
  12. 79That fires not, wins not, weeps not, now,
  13. 80And but for that chill, changeless brow,
  14. 81Where cold Obstruction's apathy
  15. 82Appals the gazing mourner's heart,
  16. 83As if to him it could impart
  17. 84The doom he dreads, yet dwells upon;
  18. 85Yes, but for these and these alone,
  19. 86Some moments, aye, one treacherous hour,
  20. 87He still might doubt the Tyrant's power;
  21. 88So fair, so calm, so softly sealed,
  22. 89The first, last look by Death revealed!
  23. 90Such is the aspect of this shore;
  24. 91'Tis Greece, but living Greece no more!
  25. 92So coldly sweet, so deadly fair,
  26. 93We start, for Soul is wanting there.
  27. 94Hers is the loveliness in death,
  28. 95That parts not quite with parting breath;
  29. 96But beauty with that fearful bloom,
  30. 97That hue which haunts it to the tomb,
  31. 98Expression's last receding ray,
  32. 99A gilded Halo hovering round decay,
  33. 100The farewell beam of Feeling past away!
  34. 101Spark of that flame, perchance of heavenly birth,
  35. 102Which gleams, but warms no more its cherished earth!
  1. 103Clime of the unforgotten brave!
  2. 104Whose land from plain to mountain-cave
  3. 105Was Freedom's home or Glory's grave!
  4. 106Shrine of the mighty! can it be,
  5. 107That this is all remains of thee?
  6. 108Approach, thou craven crouching slave:
  7. 109Say, is not this Thermopylæ?
  8. 110These waters blue that round you lave,--
  9. 111Oh servile offspring of the free--
  10. 112Pronounce what sea, what shore is this?
  11. 113The gulf, the rock of Salamis!
  12. 114These scenes, their story not unknown,
  13. 115Arise, and make again your own;
  14. 116Snatch from the ashes of your Sires
  15. 117The embers of their former fires;
  16. 118And he who in the strife expires
  17. 119Will add to theirs a name of fear
  18. 120That Tyranny shall quake to hear,
  19. 121And leave his sons a hope, a fame,
  20. 122They too will rather die than shame:
  21. 123For Freedom's battle once begun,
  22. 124Bequeathed by bleeding Sire to Son,
  23. 125Though baffled oft is ever won.
  24. 126Bear witness, Greece, thy living page!
  25. 127Attest it many a deathless age!
  26. 128While Kings, in dusty darkness hid,
  27. 129Have left a nameless pyramid,
  28. 130Thy Heroes, though the general doom
  29. 131Hath swept the column from their tomb,
  30. 132A mightier monument command,
  31. 133The mountains of their native land!
  32. 134There points thy Muse to stranger's eye
  33. 135The graves of those that cannot die!
  34. 136'Twere long to tell, and sad to trace,
  35. 137Each step from Splendour to Disgrace;
  36. 138Enough--no foreign foe could quell
  37. 139Thy soul, till from itself it fell;
  38. 140Yet! Self-abasement paved the way
  39. 141To villain-bonds and despot sway.
  1. 142What can he tell who treads thy shore?
  2. 143No legend of thine olden time,
  3. 144No theme on which the Muse might soar
  4. 145High as thine own in days of yore,
  5. 146When man was worthy of thy clime.
  6. 147The hearts within thy valleys bred,
  7. 148The fiery souls that might have led
  8. 149Thy sons to deeds sublime,
  9. 150Now crawl from cradle to the Grave,
  10. 151Slaves--nay, the bondsmen of a Slave,
  11. 152And callous, save to crime;
  12. 153Stained with each evil that pollutes
  13. 154Mankind, where least above the brutes;
  14. 155Without even savage virtue blest,
  15. 156Without one free or valiant breast,
  16. 157Still to the neighbouring ports they waft
  17. 158Proverbial wiles, and ancient craft;
  18. 159In this the subtle Greek is found,
  19. 160For this, and this alone, renowned.
  20. 161In vain might Liberty invoke
  21. 162The spirit to its bondage broke
  22. 163Or raise the neck that courts the yoke:
  23. 164No more her sorrows I bewail,
  24. 165Yet this will be a mournful tale,
  25. 166And they who listen may believe,
  26. 167Who heard it first had cause to grieve.
  1. 168Far, dark, along the blue sea glancing,
  2. 169The shadows of the rocks advancing
  3. 170Start on the fisher's eye like boat
  4. 171Of island-pirate or Mainote;
  5. 172And fearful for his light caïque,
  6. 173He shuns the near but doubtful creek:
  7. 174Though worn and weary with his toil,
  8. 175And cumbered with his scaly spoil,
  9. 176Slowly, yet strongly, plies the oar,
  10. 177Till Port Leone's safer shore
  11. 178Receives him by the lovely light
  12. 179That best becomes an Eastern night.
  1. 180Who thundering comes on blackest steed,
  2. 181With slackened bit and hoof of speed?
  3. 182Beneath the clattering iron's sound
  4. 183The caverned Echoes wake around
  5. 184In lash for lash, and bound for bound:
  6. 185The foam that streaks the courser's side
  7. 186Seems gathered from the Ocean-tide:
  8. 187Though weary waves are sunk to rest,
  9. 188There's none within his rider's breast;
  10. 189And though to-morrow's tempest lower,
  11. 190'Tis calmer than thy heart, young Giaour!
  12. 191I know thee not, I loathe thy race,
  13. 192But in thy lineaments I trace
  14. 193What Time shall strengthen, not efface:
  15. 194Though young and pale, that sallow front
  16. 195Is scathed by fiery Passion's brunt;
  17. 196Though bent on earth thine evil eye,
  18. 197As meteor-like thou glidest by,
  19. 198Right well I view and deem thee one
  20. 199Whom Othman's sons should slay or shun.
  1. 200On--on he hastened, and he drew
  2. 201My gaze of wonder as he flew:
  3. 202Though like a Demon of the night
  4. 203He passed, and vanished from my sight,
  5. 204His aspect and his air impressed
  6. 205A troubled memory on my breast,
  7. 206And long upon my startled ear
  8. 207Rung his dark courser's hoofs of fear.
  9. 208He spurs his steed; he nears the steep,
  10. 209That, jutting, shadows o'er the deep;
  11. 210He winds around; he hurries by;
  12. 211The rock relieves him from mine eye;
  13. 212For, well I ween, unwelcome he
  14. 213Whose glance is fixed on those that flee;
  15. 214And not a star but shines too bright
  16. 215On him who takes such timeless flight.
  17. 216He wound along; but ere he passed
  18. 217One glance he snatched, as if his last,
  19. 218A moment checked his wheeling steed,
  20. 219A moment breathed him from his speed,
  21. 220A moment on his stirrup stood--
  22. 221Why looks he o'er the olive wood?
  23. 222The Crescent glimmers on the hill,
  24. 223The Mosque's high lamps are quivering still
  25. 224Though too remote for sound to wake
  26. 225In echoes of the far tophaike,
  27. 226The flashes of each joyous peal
  28. 227Are seen to prove the Moslem's zeal.
  29. 228To-night, set Rhamazani's sun;
  30. 229To-night, the Bairam feast's begun;
  31. 230To-night--but who and what art thou
  32. 231Of foreign garb and fearful brow?
  33. 232And what are these to thine or thee,
  34. 233That thou shouldst either pause or flee?
  1. 234He stood--some dread was on his face,
  2. 235Soon Hatred settled in its place:
  3. 236It rose not with the reddening flush
  4. 237Of transient Anger's hasty blush,
  5. 238But pale as marble o'er the tomb,
  6. 239Whose ghastly whiteness aids its gloom.
  7. 240His brow was bent, his eye was glazed;
  8. 241He raised his arm, and fiercely raised,
  9. 242And sternly shook his hand on high,
  10. 243As doubting to return or fly;
  11. 244Impatient of his flight delayed,
  12. 245Here loud his raven charger neighed--
  13. 246Down glanced that hand, and grasped his blade;
  14. 247That sound had burst his waking dream,
  15. 248As Slumber starts at owlet's scream.
  16. 249The spur hath lanced his courser's sides;
  17. 250Away--away--for life he rides:
  18. 251Swift as the hurled on high jerreed
  19. 252Springs to the touch his startled steed;
  20. 253The rock is doubled, and the shore
  21. 254Shakes with the clattering tramp no more;
  22. 255The crag is won, no more is seen
  23. 256His Christian crest and haughty mien.
  24. 257'Twas but an instant he restrained
  25. 258That fiery barb so sternly reined;
  26. 259'Twas but a moment that he stood,
  27. 260Then sped as if by Death pursued;
  28. 261But in that instant o'er his soul
  29. 262Winters of Memory seemed to roll,
  30. 263And gather in that drop of time
  31. 264A life of pain, an age of crime.
  32. 265O'er him who loves, or hates, or fears,
  33. 266Such moment pours the grief of years:
  34. 267What felt he then, at once opprest
  35. 268By all that most distracts the breast?
  36. 269That pause, which pondered o'er his fate,
  37. 270Oh, who its dreary length shall date!
  38. 271Though in Time's record nearly nought,
  39. 272It was Eternity to Thought!
  40. 273For infinite as boundless space
  41. 274The thought that Conscience must embrace,
  42. 275Which in itself can comprehend
  43. 276Woe without name, or hope, or end.
  1. 277The hour is past, the Giaour is gone:
  2. 278And did he fly or fall alone?
  3. 279Woe to that hour he came or went!
  4. 280The curse for Hassan's sin was sent
  5. 281To turn a palace to a tomb;
  6. 282He came, he went, like the Simoom,
  7. 283That harbinger of Fate and gloom,
  8. 284Beneath whose widely-wasting breath
  9. 285The very cypress droops to death--
  10. 286Dark tree, still sad when others' grief is fled,
  11. 287The only constant mourner o'er the dead!
  1. 288The steed is vanished from the stall;
  2. 289No serf is seen in Hassan's hall;
  3. 290The lonely Spider's thin gray pall
  4. 291Waves slowly widening o'er the wall;
  5. 292The Bat builds in his Haram bower,
  6. 293And in the fortress of his power
  7. 294The Owl usurps the beacon-tower;
  8. 295The wild-dog howls o'er the fountain's brim,
  9. 296With baffled thirst, and famine, grim;
  10. 297For the stream has shrunk from its marble bed,
  11. 298Where the weeds and the desolate dust are spread.
  12. 299'Twas sweet of yore to see it play
  13. 300And chase the sultriness of day,
  14. 301As springing high the silver dew
  15. 302In whirls fantastically flew,
  16. 303And flung luxurious coolness round
  17. 304The air, and verdure o'er the ground.
  18. 305'Twas sweet, when cloudless stars were bright,
  19. 306To view the wave of watery light,
  20. 307And hear its melody by night.
  21. 308And oft had Hassan's Childhood played
  22. 309Around the verge of that cascade;
  23. 310And oft upon his mother's breast
  24. 311That sound had harmonized his rest;
  25. 312And oft had Hassan's Youth along
  26. 313Its bank been soothed by Beauty's song;
  27. 314And softer seemed each melting tone
  28. 315Of Music mingled with its own.
  29. 316But ne'er shall Hassan's Age repose
  30. 317Along the brink at Twilight's close:
  31. 318The stream that filled that font is fled--
  32. 319The blood that warmed his heart is shed!
  33. 320And here no more shall human voice
  34. 321Be heard to rage, regret, rejoice.
  35. 322The last sad note that swelled the gale
  36. 323Was woman's wildest funeral wail:
  37. 324That quenched in silence, all is still,
  38. 325But the lattice that flaps when the wind is shrill:
  39. 326Though raves the gust, and floods the rain,
  40. 327No hand shall close its clasp again.
  41. 328On desert sands 'twere joy to scan
  42. 329The rudest steps of fellow man,
  43. 330So here the very voice of Grief
  44. 331Might wake an Echo like relief--
  45. 332At least 'twould say, "All are not gone;
  46. 333There lingers Life, though but in one"--
  47. 334For many a gilded chamber's there,
  48. 335Which Solitude might well forbear;
  49. 336Within that dome as yet Decay
  50. 337Hath slowly worked her cankering way--
  51. 338But gloom is gathered o'er the gate,
  52. 339Nor there the Fakir's self will wait;
  53. 340Nor there will wandering Dervise stay,
  54. 341For Bounty cheers not his delay;
  55. 342Nor there will weary stranger halt
  56. 343To bless the sacred "bread and salt."
  57. 344Alike must Wealth and Poverty
  58. 345Pass heedless and unheeded by,
  59. 346For Courtesy and Pity died
  60. 347With Hassan on the mountain side.
  61. 348His roof, that refuge unto men,
  62. 349Is Desolation's hungry den.
  63. 350The guest flies the hall, and the vassal from labour,
  64. 351Since his turban was cleft by the infidel's sabre!
  1. 352I hear the sound of coming feet,
  2. 353But not a voice mine ear to greet;
  3. 354More near--each turban I can scan,
  4. 355And silver-sheathèd ataghan;
  5. 356The foremost of the band is seen
  6. 357An Emir by his garb of green:
  7. 358"Ho! who art thou?"--"This low salam
  8. 359Replies of Moslem faith I am.
  9. 360The burthen ye so gently bear,
  10. 361Seems one that claims your utmost care,
  11. 362And, doubtless, holds some precious freight--
  12. 363My humble bark would gladly wait."
  1. 364"Thou speakest sooth: thy skiff unmoor,
  2. 365And waft us from the silent shore;
  3. 366Nay, leave the sail still furled, and ply
  4. 367The nearest oar that's scattered by,
  5. 368And midway to those rocks where sleep
  6. 369The channelled waters dark and deep.
  7. 370Rest from your task--so--bravely done,
  8. 371Our course has been right swiftly run;
  9. 372Yet 'tis the longest voyage, I trow,
  10. 373That one of--"
  1. 374Sullen it plunged, and slowly sank,
  2. 375The calm wave rippled to the bank;
  3. 376I watched it as it sank, methought
  4. 377Some motion from the current caught
  5. 378Bestirred it more,--'twas but the beam
  6. 379That checkered o'er the living stream:
  7. 380I gazed, till vanishing from view,
  8. 381Like lessening pebble it withdrew;
  9. 382Still less and less, a speck of white
  10. 383That gemmed the tide, then mocked the sight;
  11. 384And all its hidden secrets sleep,
  12. 385Known but to Genii of the deep,
  13. 386Which, trembling in their coral caves,
  14. 387They dare not whisper to the waves.
  1. 388As rising on its purple wing
  2. 389The insect-queen of Eastern spring,
  3. 390O'er emerald meadows of Kashmeer
  4. 391Invites the young pursuer near,
  5. 392And leads him on from flower to flower
  6. 393A weary chase and wasted hour,
  7. 394Then leaves him, as it soars on high,
  8. 395With panting heart and tearful eye:
  9. 396So Beauty lures the full-grown child,
  10. 397With hue as bright, and wing as wild:
  11. 398A chase of idle hopes and fears,
  12. 399Begun in folly, closed in tears.
  13. 400If won, to equal ills betrayed,
  14. 401Woe waits the insect and the maid;
  15. 402A life of pain, the loss of peace;
  16. 403From infant's play, and man's caprice:
  17. 404The lovely toy so fiercely sought
  18. 405Hath lost its charm by being caught,
  19. 406For every touch that wooed its stay
  20. 407Hath brushed its brightest hues away,
  21. 408Till charm, and hue, and beauty gone,
  22. 409'Tis left to fly or fall alone.
  23. 410With wounded wing, or bleeding breast,
  24. 411Ah! where shall either victim rest?
  25. 412Can this with faded pinion soar
  26. 413From rose to tulip as before?
  27. 414Or Beauty, blighted in an hour,
  28. 415Find joy within her broken bower?
  29. 416No: gayer insects fluttering by
  30. 417Ne'er droop the wing o'er those that die,
  31. 418And lovelier things have mercy shown
  32. 419To every failing but their own,
  33. 420And every woe a tear can claim
  34. 421Except an erring Sister's shame.
  1. 422The Mind, that broods o'er guilty woes,
  2. 423Is like the Scorpion girt by fire;
  3. 424In circle narrowing as it glows,
  4. 425The flames around their captive close,
  5. 426Till inly searched by thousand throes,
  6. 427And maddening in her ire,
  7. 428One sad and sole relief she knows--
  8. 429The sting she nourished for her foes,
  9. 430Whose venom never yet was vain,
  10. 431Gives but one pang, and cures all pain,
  11. 432And darts into her desperate brain:
  12. 433So do the dark in soul expire,
  13. 434Or live like Scorpion girt by fire;
  14. 435So writhes the mind Remorse hath riven,
  15. 436Unfit for earth, undoomed for heaven,
  16. 437Darkness above, despair beneath,
  17. 438Around it flame, within it death!
  1. 439Black Hassan from the Haram flies,
  2. 440Nor bends on woman's form his eyes;
  3. 441The unwonted chase each hour employs,
  4. 442Yet shares he not the hunter's joys.
  5. 443Not thus was Hassan wont to fly
  6. 444When Leila dwelt in his Serai.
  7. 445Doth Leila there no longer dwell?
  8. 446That tale can only Hassan tell:
  9. 447Strange rumours in our city say
  10. 448Upon that eve she fled away
  11. 449When Rhamazan's last sun was set,
  12. 450And flashing from each Minaret
  13. 451Millions of lamps proclaimed the feast
  14. 452Of Bairam through the boundless East.
  15. 453'Twas then she went as to the bath,
  16. 454Which Hassan vainly searched in wrath;
  17. 455For she was flown her master's rage
  18. 456In likeness of a Georgian page,
  19. 457And far beyond the Moslem's power
  20. 458Had wronged him with the faithless Giaour.
  21. 459Somewhat of this had Hassan deemed;
  22. 460But still so fond, so fair she seemed,
  23. 461Too well he trusted to the slave
  24. 462Whose treachery deserved a grave:
  25. 463And on that eve had gone to Mosque,
  26. 464And thence to feast in his Kiosk.
  27. 465Such is the tale his Nubians tell,
  28. 466Who did not watch their charge too well;
  29. 467But others say, that on that night,
  30. 468By pale Phingari's trembling light,
  31. 469The Giaour upon his jet-black steed
  32. 470Was seen, but seen alone to speed
  33. 471With bloody spur along the shore,
  34. 472Nor maid nor page behind him bore.
  1. 473Her eye's dark charm 'twere vain to tell,
  2. 474But gaze on that of the Gazelle,
  3. 475It will assist thy fancy well;
  4. 476As large, as languishingly dark,
  5. 477But Soul beamed forth in every spark
  6. 478That darted from beneath the lid,
  7. 479Bright as the jewel of Giamschid.
  8. 480Yea, Soul, and should our prophet say
  9. 481That form was nought but breathing clay,
  10. 482By Alla! I would answer nay;
  11. 483Though on Al-Sirat's arch I stood,
  12. 484Which totters o'er the fiery flood,
  13. 485With Paradise within my view,
  14. 486And all his Houris beckoning through.
  15. 487Oh! who young Leila's glance could read
  16. 488And keep that portion of his creed
  17. 489Which saith that woman is but dust,
  18. 490A soulless toy for tyrant's lust?
  19. 491On her might Muftis gaze, and own
  20. 492That through her eye the Immortal shone;
  21. 493On her fair cheek's unfading hue
  22. 494The young pomegranate's blossoms strew
  23. 495Their bloom in blushes ever new;
  24. 496Her hair in hyacinthine flow,
  25. 497When left to roll its folds below,
  26. 498As midst her handmaids in the hall
  27. 499She stood superior to them all,
  28. 500Hath swept the marble where her feet
  29. 501Gleamed whiter than the mountain sleet
  30. 502Ere from the cloud that gave it birth
  31. 503It fell, and caught one stain of earth.
  32. 504The cygnet nobly walks the water;
  33. 505So moved on earth Circassia's daughter,
  34. 506The loveliest bird of Franguestan!
  35. 507As rears her crest the ruffled Swan,
  36. 508And spurns the wave with wings of pride,
  37. 509When pass the steps of stranger man
  38. 510Along the banks that bound her tide;
  39. 511Thus rose fair Leila's whiter neck:--
  40. 512Thus armed with beauty would she check
  41. 513Intrusion's glance, till Folly's gaze
  42. 514Shrunk from the charms it meant to praise.
  43. 515Thus high and graceful was her gait;
  44. 516Her heart as tender to her mate;
  45. 517Her mate--stern Hassan, who was he?
  46. 518Alas! that name was not for thee!
  1. 519Stern Hassan hath a journey ta'en
  2. 520With twenty vassals in his train,
  3. 521Each armed, as best becomes a man,
  4. 522With arquebuss and ataghan;
  5. 523The chief before, as decked for war,
  6. 524Bears in his belt the scimitar
  7. 525Stained with the best of Arnaut blood,
  8. 526When in the pass the rebels stood,
  9. 527And few returned to tell the tale
  10. 528Of what befell in Parne's vale.
  11. 529The pistols which his girdle bore
  12. 530Were those that once a Pasha wore,
  13. 531Which still, though gemmed and bossed with gold,
  14. 532Even robbers tremble to behold.
  15. 533'Tis said he goes to woo a bride
  16. 534More true than her who left his side;
  17. 535The faithless slave that broke her bower,
  18. 536And--worse than faithless--for a Giaour!
  1. 537The sun's last rays are on the hill,
  2. 538And sparkle in the fountain rill,
  3. 539Whose welcome waters, cool and clear,
  4. 540Draw blessings from the mountaineer:
  5. 541Here may the loitering merchant Greek
  6. 542Find that repose 'twere vain to seek
  7. 543In cities lodged too near his lord,
  8. 544And trembling for his secret hoard--
  9. 545Here may he rest where none can see,
  10. 546In crowds a slave, in deserts free;
  11. 547And with forbidden wine may stain
  12. 548The bowl a Moslem must not drain
  1. 549The foremost Tartar's in the gap
  2. 550Conspicuous by his yellow cap;
  3. 551The rest in lengthening line the while
  4. 552Wind slowly through the long defile:
  5. 553Above, the mountain rears a peak,
  6. 554Where vultures whet the thirsty beak,
  7. 555And theirs may be a feast to-night,
  8. 556Shall tempt them down ere morrow's light;
  9. 557Beneath, a river's wintry stream
  10. 558Has shrunk before the summer beam,
  11. 559And left a channel bleak and bare,
  12. 560Save shrubs that spring to perish there:
  13. 561Each side the midway path there lay
  14. 562Small broken crags of granite gray,
  15. 563By time, or mountain lightning, riven
  16. 564From summits clad in mists of heaven;
  17. 565For where is he that hath beheld
  18. 566The peak of Liakura unveiled?
  1. 567They reach the grove of pine at last;
  2. 568"Bismillah! now the peril's past;
  3. 569For yonder view the opening plain,
  4. 570And there we'll prick our steeds amain:"
  5. 571The Chiaus spake, and as he said,
  6. 572A bullet whistled o'er his head;
  7. 573The foremost Tartar bites the ground!
  8. 574Scarce had they time to check the rein,
  9. 575Swift from their steeds the riders bound;
  10. 576But three shall never mount again:
  11. 577Unseen the foes that gave the wound,
  12. 578The dying ask revenge in vain.
  13. 579With steel unsheathed, and carbine bent,
  14. 580Some o'er their courser's harness leant,
  15. 581Half sheltered by the steed;
  16. 582Some fly beneath the nearest rock,
  17. 583And there await the coming shock,
  18. 584Nor tamely stand to bleed
  19. 585Beneath the shaft of foes unseen,
  20. 586Who dare not quit their craggy screen.
  21. 587Stern Hassan only from his horse
  22. 588Disdains to light, and keeps his course,
  23. 589Till fiery flashes in the van
  24. 590Proclaim too sure the robber-clan
  25. 591Have well secured the only way
  26. 592Could now avail the promised prey;
  27. 593Then curled his very beard with ire,
  28. 594And glared his eye with fiercer fire;
  29. 595"Though far and near the bullets hiss,
  30. 596I've scaped a bloodier hour than this."
  31. 597And now the foe their covert quit,
  32. 598And call his vassals to submit;
  33. 599But Hassan's frown and furious word
  34. 600Are dreaded more than hostile sword,
  35. 601Nor of his little band a man
  36. 602Resigned carbine or ataghan,
  37. 603Nor raised the craven cry, Amaun!
  38. 604In fuller sight, more near and near,
  39. 605The lately ambushed foes appear,
  40. 606And, issuing from the grove, advance
  41. 607Some who on battle-charger prance.
  42. 608Who leads them on with foreign brand
  43. 609Far flashing in his red right hand?
  44. 610"'Tis he!'tis he! I know him now;
  45. 611I know him by his pallid brow;
  46. 612I know him by the evil eye
  47. 613That aids his envious treachery;
  48. 614I know him by his jet-black barb;
  49. 615Though now arrayed in Arnaut garb,
  50. 616Apostate from his own vile faith,
  51. 617It shall not save him from the death:
  52. 618'Tis he! well met in any hour,
  53. 619Lost Leila's love--accursed Giaour!"
  1. 620As rolls the river into Ocean,
  2. 621In sable torrent wildly streaming;
  3. 622As the sea-tide's opposing motion,
  4. 623In azure column proudly gleaming,
  5. 624Beats back the current many a rood,
  6. 625In curling foam and mingling flood,
  7. 626While eddying whirl, and breaking wave,
  8. 627Roused by the blast of winter, rave;
  9. 628Through sparkling spray, in thundering clash,
  10. 629The lightnings of the waters flash
  11. 630In awful whiteness o'er the shore,
  12. 631That shines and shakes beneath the roar;
  13. 632Thus--as the stream and Ocean greet,
  14. 633With waves that madden as they meet--
  15. 634Thus join the bands, whom mutual wrong,
  16. 635And fate, and fury, drive along.
  17. 636The bickering sabres' shivering jar;
  18. 637And pealing wide or ringing near
  19. 638Its echoes on the throbbing ear,
  20. 639The deathshot hissing from afar;
  21. 640The shock, the shout, the groan of war,
  22. 641Reverberate along that vale,
  23. 642More suited to the shepherd's tale:
  24. 643Though few the numbers--theirs the strife,
  25. 644That neither spares nor speaks for life!
  26. 645Ah! fondly youthful hearts can press,
  27. 646To seize and share the dear caress;
  28. 647But Love itself could never pant
  29. 648For all that Beauty sighs to grant
  30. 649With half the fervour Hate bestows
  31. 650Upon the last embrace of foes,
  32. 651When grappling in the fight they fold
  33. 652Those arms that ne'er shall lose their hold:
  34. 653Friends meet to part; Love laughs at faith;
  35. 654True foes, once met, are joined till death!
  1. 655With sabre shivered to the hilt,
  2. 656Yet dripping with the blood he spilt;
  3. 657Yet strained within the severed hand
  4. 658Which quivers round that faithless brand;
  5. 659His turban far behind him rolled,
  6. 660And cleft in twain its firmest fold;
  7. 661His flowing robe by falchion torn,
  8. 662And crimson as those clouds of morn
  9. 663That, streaked with dusky red, portend
  10. 664The day shall have a stormy end;
  11. 665A stain on every bush that bore
  12. 666A fragment of his palampore;
  13. 667His breast with wounds unnumbered riven,
  14. 668His back to earth, his face to Heaven,
  15. 669Fall'n Hassan lies--his unclosed eye
  16. 670Yet lowering on his enemy,
  17. 671As if the hour that sealed his fate
  18. 672Surviving left his quenchless hate;
  19. 673And o'er him bends that foe with brow
  20. 674As dark as his that bled below.
  1. 675"Yes, Leila sleeps beneath the wave,
  2. 676But his shall be a redder grave;
  3. 677Her spirit pointed well the steel
  4. 678Which taught that felon heart to feel.
  5. 679He called the Prophet, but his power
  6. 680Was vain against the vengeful Giaour:
  7. 681He called on Alla--but the word
  8. 682Arose unheeded or unheard.
  9. 683Thou Paynim fool! could Leila's prayer
  10. 684Be passed, and thine accorded there?
  11. 685I watched my time, I leagued with these,
  12. 686The traitor in his turn to seize;
  13. 687My wrath is wreaked, the deed is done,
  14. 688And now I go--but go alone."
  1. 689The browsing camels' bells are tinkling:
  2. 690His mother looked from her lattice high--
  3. 691She saw the dews of eve besprinkling
  4. 692The pasture green beneath her eye,
  5. 693She saw the planets faintly twinkling:
  6. 694"'Tis twilight--sure his train is nigh."
  7. 695She could not rest in the garden-bower,
  8. 696But gazed through the grate of his steepest tower.
  9. 697"Why comes he not? his steeds are fleet,
  10. 698Nor shrink they from the summer heat;
  11. 699Why sends not the Bridegroom his promised gift?
  12. 700Is his heart more cold, or his barb less swift?
  13. 701Oh, false reproach! yon Tartar now
  14. 702Has gained our nearest mountain's brow,
  15. 703And warily the steep descends,
  16. 704And now within the valley bends;
  17. 705And he bears the gift at his saddle bow--
  18. 706How could I deem his courser slow?
  19. 707Right well my largess shall repay
  20. 708His welcome speed, and weary way."
  1. 709The Tartar lighted at the gate,
  2. 710But scarce upheld his fainting weight!
  3. 711His swarthy visage spake distress,
  4. 712But this might be from weariness;
  5. 713His garb with sanguine spots was dyed,
  6. 714But these might be from his courser's side;
  7. 715He drew the token from his vest--
  8. 716Angel of Death! 'tis Hassan's cloven crest!
  9. 717His calpac rent--his caftan red--
  10. 718"Lady, a fearful bride thy Son hath wed:
  11. 719Me, not from mercy, did they spare,
  12. 720But this empurpled pledge to bear.
  13. 721Peace to the brave! whose blood is spilt:
  14. 722Woe to the Giaour! for his the guilt."
  1. 723A Turban carved in coarsest stone,
  2. 724A Pillar with rank weeds o'ergrown,
  3. 725Whereon can now be scarcely read
  4. 726The Koran verse that mourns the dead,
  5. 727Point out the spot where Hassan fell
  6. 728A victim in that lonely dell.
  7. 729There sleeps as true an Osmanlie
  8. 730As e'er at Mecca bent the knee;
  9. 731As ever scorned forbidden wine,
  10. 732Or prayed with face towards the shrine,
  11. 733In orisons resumed anew
  12. 734At solemn sound of "Alla Hu!"
  13. 735Yet died he by a stranger's hand,
  14. 736And stranger in his native land;
  15. 737Yet died he as in arms he stood,
  16. 738And unavenged, at least in blood.
  17. 739But him the maids of Paradise
  18. 740Impatient to their halls invite,
  19. 741And the dark heaven of Houris' eyes
  20. 742On him shall glance for ever bright;
  21. 743They come--their kerchiefs green they wave,
  22. 744And welcome with a kiss the brave!
  23. 745Who falls in battle 'gainst a Giaour
  24. 746Is worthiest an immortal bower.
  1. 747But thou, false Infidel! shall writhe
  2. 748Beneath avenging Monkir's scythe;
  3. 749And from its torments 'scape alone
  4. 750To wander round lost Eblis' throne;
  5. 751And fire unquenched, unquenchable,
  6. 752Around, within, thy heart shall dwell;
  7. 753Nor ear can hear nor tongue can tell
  8. 754The tortures of that inward hell!
  9. 755But first, on earth as Vampire sent,
  10. 756Thy corse shall from its tomb be rent:
  11. 757Then ghastly haunt thy native place,
  12. 758And suck the blood of all thy race;
  13. 759There from thy daughter, sister, wife,
  14. 760At midnight drain the stream of life;
  15. 761Yet loathe the banquet which perforce
  16. 762Must feed thy livid living corse:
  17. 763Thy victims ere they yet expire
  18. 764Shall know the demon for their sire,
  19. 765As cursing thee, thou cursing them,
  20. 766Thy flowers are withered on the stem.
  21. 767But one that for thy crime must fall,
  22. 768The youngest, most beloved of all,
  23. 769Shall bless thee with a father's name--
  24. 770That word shall wrap thy heart in flame!
  25. 771Yet must thou end thy task, and mark
  26. 772Her cheek's last tinge, her eye's last spark,
  27. 773And the last glassy glance must view
  28. 774Which freezes o'er its lifeless blue;
  29. 775Then with unhallowed hand shalt tear
  30. 776The tresses of her yellow hair,
  31. 777Of which in life a lock when shorn
  32. 778Affection's fondest pledge was worn,
  33. 779But now is borne away by thee,
  34. 780Memorial of thine agony!
  35. 781Wet with thine own best blood shall drip
  36. 782Thy gnashing tooth and haggard lip;
  37. 783Then stalking to thy sullen grave,
  38. 784Go--and with Gouls and Afrits rave;
  39. 785Till these in horror shrink away
  40. 786From Spectre more accursed than they!
  1. 787"How name ye yon lone Caloyer?
  2. 788His features I have scanned before
  3. 789In mine own land: 'tis many a year,
  4. 790Since, dashing by the lonely shore,
  5. 791I saw him urge as fleet a steed
  6. 792As ever served a horseman's need.
  7. 793But once I saw that face, yet then
  8. 794It was so marked with inward pain,
  9. 795I could not pass it by again;
  10. 796It breathes the same dark spirit now,
  11. 797As death were stamped upon his brow.
  1. 798"'Tis twice three years at summer tide
  2. 799Since first among our freres he came;
  3. 800And here it soothes him to abide
  4. 801For some dark deed he will not name.
  5. 802But never at our Vesper prayer,
  6. 803Nor e'er before Confession chair
  7. 804Kneels he, nor recks he when arise
  8. 805Incense or anthem to the skies,
  9. 806But broods within his cell alone,
  10. 807His faith and race alike unknown.
  11. 808The sea from Paynim land he crost,
  12. 809And here ascended from the coast;
  13. 810Yet seems he not of Othman race,
  14. 811But only Christian in his face:
  15. 812I'd judge him some stray renegade,
  16. 813Repentant of the change he made,
  17. 814Save that he shuns our holy shrine,
  18. 815Nor tastes the sacred bread and wine.
  19. 816Great largess to these walls he brought,
  20. 817And thus our Abbot's favour bought;
  21. 818But were I Prior, not a day
  22. 819Should brook such stranger's further stay,
  23. 820Or pent within our penance cell
  24. 821Should doom him there for aye to dwell.
  25. 822Much in his visions mutters he
  26. 823Of maiden whelmed beneath the sea;
  27. 824Of sabres clashing, foemen flying,
  28. 825Wrongs avenged, and Moslem dying.
  29. 826On cliff he hath been known to stand,
  30. 827And rave as to some bloody hand
  31. 828Fresh severed from its parent limb,
  32. 829Invisible to all but him,
  33. 830Which beckons onward to his grave,
  34. 831And lures to leap into the wave."
  1. 832Dark and unearthly is the scowl
  2. 833That glares beneath his dusky cowl:
  3. 834The flash of that dilating eye
  4. 835Reveals too much of times gone by;
  5. 836Though varying, indistinct its hue,
  6. 837Oft with his glance the gazer rue,
  7. 838For in it lurks that nameless spell,
  8. 839Which speaks, itself unspeakable,
  9. 840A spirit yet unquelled and high,
  10. 841That claims and keeps ascendancy;
  11. 842And like the bird whose pinions quake,
  12. 843But cannot fly the gazing snake,
  13. 844Will others quail beneath his look,
  14. 845Nor 'scape the glance they scarce can brook.
  15. 846From him the half-affrighted Friar
  16. 847When met alone would fain retire,
  17. 848As if that eye and bitter smile
  18. 849Transferred to others fear and guile:
  19. 850Not oft to smile descendeth he,
  20. 851And when he doth 'tis sad to see
  21. 852That he but mocks at Misery.
  22. 853How that pale lip will curl and quiver!
  23. 854Then fix once more as if for ever;
  24. 855As if his sorrow or disdain
  25. 856Forbade him e'er to smile again.
  26. 857Well were it so--such ghastly mirth
  27. 858From joyaunce ne'er derived its birth.
  28. 859But sadder still it were to trace
  29. 860What once were feelings in that face:
  30. 861Time hath not yet the features fixed,
  31. 862But brighter traits with evil mixed;
  32. 863And there are hues not always faded,
  33. 864Which speak a mind not all degraded
  34. 865Even by the crimes through which it waded:
  35. 866The common crowd but see the gloom
  36. 867Of wayward deeds, and fitting doom;
  37. 868The close observer can espy
  38. 869A noble soul, and lineage high:
  39. 870Alas! though both bestowed in vain,
  40. 871Which Grief could change, and Guilt could stain,
  41. 872It was no vulgar tenement
  42. 873To which such lofty gifts were lent,
  43. 874And still with little less than dread
  44. 875On such the sight is riveted.
  45. 876The roofless cot, decayed and rent,
  46. 877Will scarce delay the passer-by;
  47. 878The tower by war or tempest bent,
  48. 879While yet may frown one battlement,
  49. 880Demands and daunts the stranger's eye;
  50. 881Each ivied arch, and pillar lone,
  51. 882Pleads haughtily for glories gone!
  52. 883"His floating robe around him folding,
  53. 884Slow sweeps he through the columned aisle;
  54. 885With dread beheld, with gloom beholding
  55. 886The rites that sanctify the pile.
  56. 887But when the anthem shakes the choir,
  57. 888And kneel the monks, his steps retire;
  58. 889By yonder lone and wavering torch
  59. 890His aspect glares within the porch;
  60. 891There will he pause till all is done--
  61. 892And hear the prayer, but utter none.
  62. 893See--by the half-illumined wall
  63. 894His hood fly back, his dark hair fall,
  64. 895That pale brow wildly wreathing round,
  65. 896As if the Gorgon there had bound
  66. 897The sablest of the serpent-braid
  67. 898That o'er her fearful forehead strayed:
  68. 899For he declines the convent oath,
  69. 900And leaves those locks unhallowed growth,
  70. 901But wears our garb in all beside;
  71. 902And, not from piety but pride,
  72. 903Gives wealth to walls that never heard
  73. 904Of his one holy vow nor word.
  74. 905Lo!--mark ye, as the harmony
  75. 906Peals louder praises to the sky,
  76. 907That livid cheek, that stony air
  77. 908Of mixed defiance and despair!
  78. 909Saint Francis, keep him from the shrine!
  79. 910Else may we dread the wrath divine
  80. 911Made manifest by awful sign.
  81. 912If ever evil angel bore
  82. 913The form of mortal, such he wore;
  83. 914By all my hope of sins forgiven,
  84. 915Such looks are not of earth nor heaven!"
  1. 916To Love the softest hearts are prone,
  2. 917But such can ne'er be all his own;
  3. 918Too timid in his woes to share,
  4. 919Too meek to meet, or brave despair;
  5. 920And sterner hearts alone may feel
  6. 921The wound that Time can never heal.
  7. 922The rugged metal of the mine
  8. 923Must burn before its surface shine,
  9. 924But plunged within the furnace-flame,
  10. 925It bends and melts--though still the same;
  11. 926Then tempered to thy want, or will,
  12. 927'Twill serve thee to defend or kill--
  13. 928A breast-plate for thine hour of need,
  14. 929Or blade to bid thy foeman bleed;
  15. 930But if a dagger's form it bear,
  16. 931Let those who shape its edge, beware!
  17. 932Thus Passion's fire, and Woman's art,
  18. 933Can turn and tame the sterner heart;
  19. 934From these its form and tone are ta'en,
  20. 935And what they make it, must remain,
  21. 936But break--before it bend again.
  1. 937If solitude succeed to grief,
  2. 938Release from pain is slight relief;
  3. 939The vacant bosom's wilderness
  4. 940Might thank the pang that made it less.
  5. 941We loathe what none are left to share:
  6. 942Even bliss--'twere woe alone to bear;
  7. 943The heart once left thus desolate
  8. 944Must fly at last for ease--to hate.
  9. 945It is as if the dead could feel
  10. 946The icy worm around them steal,
  11. 947And shudder, as the reptiles creep
  12. 948To revel o'er their rotting sleep,
  13. 949Without the power to scare away
  14. 950The cold consumers of their clay!
  15. 951It is as if the desert bird,
  16. 952Whose beak unlocks her bosom's stream
  17. 953To still her famished nestlings' scream,
  18. 954Nor mourns a life to them transferred,
  19. 955Should rend her rash devoted breast,
  20. 956And find them flown her empty nest.
  21. 957The keenest pangs the wretched find
  22. 958Are rapture to the dreary void,
  23. 959The leafless desert of the mind,
  24. 960The waste of feelings unemployed.
  25. 961Who would be doomed to gaze upon
  26. 962A sky without a cloud or sun?
  27. 963Less hideous far the tempest's roar,
  28. 964Than ne'er to brave the billows more--
  29. 965Thrown, when the war of winds is o'er,
  30. 966A lonely wreck on Fortune's shore,
  31. 967'Mid sullen calm, and silent bay,
  32. 968Unseen to drop by dull decay;--
  33. 969Better to sink beneath the shock
  34. 970Than moulder piecemeal on the rock!
  1. 971"Father! thy, days have passed in peace,
  2. 972'Mid counted beads, and countless prayer;
  3. 973To bid the sins of others cease,
  4. 974Thyself without a crime or care,
  5. 975Save transient ills that all must bear,
  6. 976Has been thy lot from youth to age;
  7. 977And thou wilt bless thee from the rage
  8. 978Of passions fierce and uncontrolled,
  9. 979Such as thy penitents unfold,
  10. 980Whose secret sins and sorrows rest
  11. 981Within thy pure and pitying breast.
  12. 982My days, though few, have passed below
  13. 983In much of Joy, but more of Woe;
  14. 984Yet still in hours of love or strife,
  15. 985I've 'scaped the weariness of Life:
  16. 986Now leagued with friends, now girt by foes,
  17. 987I loathed the languor of repose.
  18. 988Now nothing left to love or hate,
  19. 989No more with hope or pride elate,
  20. 990I'd rather be the thing that crawls
  21. 991Most noxious o'er a dungeon's walls,
  22. 992Than pass my dull, unvarying days,
  23. 993Condemned to meditate and gaze.
  24. 994Yet, lurks a wish within my breast
  25. 995For rest--but not to feel 'tis rest.
  26. 996Soon shall my Fate that wish fulfil;
  27. 997And I shall sleep without the dream
  28. 998Of what I was, and would be still
  29. 999Dark as to thee my deeds may seem:
  30. 1000My memory now is but the tomb
  31. 1001Of joys long dead; my hope, their doom:
  32. 1002'Though better to have died with those
  33. 1003Than bear a life of lingering woes.
  34. 1004My spirit shrunk not to sustain
  35. 1005The searching throes of ceaseless pain;
  36. 1006Nor sought the self-accorded grave
  37. 1007Of ancient fool and modern knave:
  38. 1008Yet death I have not feared to meet;
  39. 1009And in the field it had been sweet,
  40. 1010Had Danger wooed me on to move
  41. 1011The slave of Glory, not of Love.
  42. 1012I've braved it--not for Honour's boast;
  43. 1013I smile at laurels won or lost;
  44. 1014To such let others carve their way,
  45. 1015For high renown, or hireling pay:
  46. 1016But place again before my eyes
  47. 1017Aught that I deem a worthy prize--
  48. 1018The maid I love, the man I hate--
  49. 1019And I will hunt the steps of fate,
  50. 1020To save or slay, as these require,
  51. 1021Through rending steel, and rolling fire:
  52. 1022Nor needst thou doubt this speech from one
  53. 1023Who would but do--what he hath done.
  54. 1024Death is but what the haughty brave,
  55. 1025The weak must bear, the wretch must crave;
  56. 1026Then let life go to Him who gave:
  57. 1027I have not quailed to Danger's brow
  58. 1028When high and happy--need I now?
  1. 1029"I loved her, Friar! nay, adored--
  2. 1030But these are words that all can use--
  3. 1031I proved it more in deed than word;
  4. 1032There's blood upon that dinted sword,
  5. 1033A stain its steel can never lose:
  6. 1034'Twas shed for her, who died for me,
  7. 1035It warmed the heart of one abhorred:
  8. 1036Nay, start not--no--nor bend thy knee,
  9. 1037Nor midst my sin such act record;
  10. 1038Thou wilt absolve me from the deed,
  11. 1039For he was hostile to thy creed!
  12. 1040The very name of Nazarene
  13. 1041Was wormwood to his Paynim spleen.
  14. 1042Ungrateful fool! since but for brands
  15. 1043Well wielded in some hardy hands,
  16. 1044And wounds by Galileans given--
  17. 1045The surest pass to Turkish heaven--
  18. 1046For him his Houris still might wait
  19. 1047Impatient at the Prophet's gate.
  20. 1048I loved her--Love will find its way
  21. 1049Through paths where wolves would fear to prey;
  22. 1050And if it dares enough,'twere hard
  23. 1051If Passion met not some reward--
  24. 1052No matter how, or where, or why,
  25. 1053I did not vainly seek, nor sigh:
  26. 1054Yet sometimes, with remorse, in vain
  27. 1055I wish she had not loved again.
  28. 1056She died--I dare not tell thee how;
  29. 1057But look--'tis written on my brow!
  30. 1058There read of Cain the curse and crime,
  31. 1059In characters unworn by Time:
  32. 1060Still, ere thou dost condemn me, pause;
  33. 1061Not mine the act, though I the cause.
  34. 1062Yet did he but what I had done
  35. 1063Had she been false to more than one.
  36. 1064Faithless to him--he gave the blow;
  37. 1065But true to me--I laid him low:
  38. 1066Howe'er deserved her doom might be,
  39. 1067Her treachery was truth to me;
  40. 1068To me she gave her heart, that all
  41. 1069Which Tyranny can ne'er enthrall;
  42. 1070And I, alas! too late to save!
  43. 1071Yet all I then could give, I gave--
  44. 1072'Twas some relief--our foe a grave.
  45. 1073His death sits lightly; but her fate
  46. 1074Has made me--what thou well mayst hate.
  47. 1075His doom was sealed--he knew it well,
  48. 1076Warned by the voice of stern Taheer,
  49. 1077Deep in whose darkly boding ear
  50. 1078The deathshot pealed of murder near,
  51. 1079As filed the troop to where they fell!
  52. 1080He died too in the battle broil,
  53. 1081A time that heeds nor pain nor toil;
  54. 1082One cry to Mahomet for aid,
  55. 1083One prayer to Alla all he made:
  56. 1084He knew and crossed me in the fray--
  57. 1085I gazed upon him where he lay,
  58. 1086And watched his spirit ebb away:
  59. 1087Though pierced like pard by hunter's steel,
  60. 1088He felt not half that now I feel.
  61. 1089I searched, but vainly searched, to find
  62. 1090The workings of a wounded mind;
  63. 1091Each feature of that sullen corse
  64. 1092Betrayed his rage, but no remorse.
  65. 1093Oh, what had Vengeance given to trace
  66. 1094Despair upon his dying face!
  67. 1095The late repentance of that hour
  68. 1096When Penitence hath lost her power
  69. 1097To tear one terror from the grave,
  70. 1098And will not soothe, and cannot save.
  1. 1099"The cold in clime are cold in blood,
  2. 1100Their love can scarce deserve the name;
  3. 1101But mine was like the lava flood
  4. 1102That boils in Ætna's breast of flame.
  5. 1103I cannot prate in puling strain
  6. 1104Of Ladye-love, and Beauty's chain:
  7. 1105If changing cheek, and scorching vein,
  8. 1106Lips taught to writhe, but not complain,
  9. 1107If bursting heart, and maddening brain,
  10. 1108And daring deed, and vengeful steel,
  11. 1109And all that I have felt, and feel,
  12. 1110Betoken love--that love was mine,
  13. 1111And shown by many a bitter sign.
  14. 1112'Tis true, I could not whine nor sigh,
  15. 1113I knew but to obtain or die.
  16. 1114I die--but first I have possessed,
  17. 1115And come what may, I have been blessed.
  18. 1116Shall I the doom I sought upbraid?
  19. 1117No--reft of all, yet undismayed
  20. 1118But for the thought of Leila slain,
  21. 1119Give me the pleasure with the pain,
  22. 1120So would I live and love again.
  23. 1121I grieve, but not, my holy Guide!
  24. 1122For him who dies, but her who died:
  25. 1123She sleeps beneath the wandering wave--
  26. 1124Ah! had she but an earthly grave,
  27. 1125This breaking heart and throbbing head
  28. 1126Should seek and share her narrow bed.
  29. 1127She was a form of Life and Light,
  30. 1128That, seen, became a part of sight;
  31. 1129And rose, where'er I turned mine eye,
  32. 1130The Morning-star of Memory!
  1. 1131"Yes, Love indeed is light from heaven;
  2. 1132A spark of that immortal fire
  3. 1133With angels shared, by Alia given,
  4. 1134To lift from earth our low desire.
  5. 1135Devotion wafts the mind above,
  6. 1136But Heaven itself descends in Love;
  7. 1137A feeling from the Godhead caught,
  8. 1138To wean from self each sordid thought;
  9. 1139A ray of Him who formed the whole;
  10. 1140A Glory circling round the soul!
  11. 1141I grant my love imperfect, all
  12. 1142That mortals by the name miscall;
  13. 1143Then deem it evil, what thou wilt;
  14. 1144But say, oh say, hers was not Guilt!
  15. 1145She was my Life's unerring Light:
  16. 1146That quenched--what beam shall break my night?
  17. 1147Oh! would it shone to lead me still,
  18. 1148Although to death or deadliest ill!
  19. 1149Why marvel ye, if they who lose
  20. 1150This present joy, this future hope,
  21. 1151No more with Sorrow meekly cope;
  22. 1152In phrensy then their fate accuse;
  23. 1153In madness do those fearful deeds
  24. 1154That seem to add but Guilt to Woe?
  25. 1155Alas! the breast that inly bleeds
  26. 1156Hath nought to dread from outward blow:
  27. 1157Who falls from all he knows of bliss,
  28. 1158Cares little into what abyss.
  29. 1159Fierce as the gloomy vulture's now
  30. 1160To thee, old man, my deeds appear:
  31. 1161I read abhorrence on thy brow,
  32. 1162And this too was I born to bear!
  33. 1163'Tis true, that, like that bird of prey,
  34. 1164With havock have I marked my way:
  35. 1165But this was taught me by the dove,
  36. 1166To die--and know no second love.
  37. 1167This lesson yet hath man to learn,
  38. 1168Taught by the thing he dares to spurn:
  39. 1169The bird that sings within the brake,
  40. 1170The swan that swims upon the lake,
  41. 1171One mate, and one alone, will take.
  42. 1172And let the fool still prone to range,
  43. 1173And sneer on all who cannot change,
  44. 1174Partake his jest with boasting boys;
  45. 1175I envy not his varied joys,
  46. 1176But deem such feeble, heartless man,
  47. 1177Less than yon solitary swan;
  48. 1178Far, far beneath the shallow maid
  49. 1179He left believing and betrayed.
  50. 1180Such shame at least was never mine--
  51. 1181Leila! each thought was only thine!
  52. 1182My good, my guilt, my weal, my woe,
  53. 1183My hope on high--my all below.
  54. 1184Each holds no other like to thee,
  55. 1185Or, if it doth, in vain for me:
  56. 1186For worlds I dare not view the dame
  57. 1187Resembling thee, yet not the same.
  58. 1188The very crimes that mar my youth,
  59. 1189This bed of death--attest my truth!
  60. 1190'Tis all too late--thou wert, thou art
  61. 1191The cherished madness of my heart!
  1. 1192"And she was lost--and yet I breathed,
  2. 1193But not the breath of human life:
  3. 1194A serpent round my heart was wreathed,
  4. 1195And stung my every thought to strife.
  5. 1196Alike all time, abhorred all place,
  6. 1197Shuddering I shrank from Nature's face,
  7. 1198Where every hue that charmed before
  8. 1199The blackness of my bosom wore.
  9. 1200The rest thou dost already know,
  10. 1201And all my sins, and half my woe.
  11. 1202But talk no more of penitence;
  12. 1203Thou seest I soon shall part from hence:
  13. 1204And if thy holy tale were true,
  14. 1205The deed that's done canst thou undo?
  15. 1206Think me not thankless--but this grief
  16. 1207Looks not to priesthood for relief.
  17. 1208My soul's estate in secret guess:
  18. 1209But wouldst thou pity more, say less.
  19. 1210When thou canst bid my Leila live,
  20. 1211Then will I sue thee to forgive;
  21. 1212Then plead my cause in that high place
  22. 1213Where purchased masses proffer grace.
  23. 1214Go, when the hunter's hand hath wrung
  24. 1215From forest-cave her shrieking young,
  25. 1216And calm the lonely lioness:
  26. 1217But soothe not--mock not my distress!
  1. 1218"In earlier days, and calmer hours,
  2. 1219When heart with heart delights to blend,
  3. 1220Where bloom my native valley's bowers,
  4. 1221I had--Ah! have I now?--a friend!
  5. 1222To him this pledge I charge thee send,
  6. 1223Memorial of a youthful vow;
  7. 1224I would remind him of my end:
  8. 1225Though souls absorbed like mine allow
  9. 1226Brief thought to distant Friendship's claim,
  10. 1227Yet dear to him my blighted name.
  11. 1228'Tis strange--he prophesied my doom,
  12. 1229And I have smiled--I then could smile--
  13. 1230When Prudence would his voice assume,
  14. 1231And warn--I recked not what--the while:
  15. 1232But now Remembrance whispers o'er
  16. 1233Those accents scarcely marked before.
  17. 1234Say--that his bodings came to pass,
  18. 1235And he will start to hear their truth,
  19. 1236And wish his words had not been sooth:
  20. 1237Tell him--unheeding as I was,
  21. 1238Through many a busy bitter scene
  22. 1239Of all our golden youth had been,
  23. 1240In pain, my faltering tongue had tried
  24. 1241To bless his memory--ere I died;
  25. 1242But Heaven in wrath would turn away,
  26. 1243If Guilt should for the guiltless pray.
  27. 1244I do not ask him not to blame,
  28. 1245Too gentle he to wound my name;
  29. 1246And what have I to do with Fame?
  30. 1247I do not ask him not to mourn,
  31. 1248Such cold request might sound like scorn;
  32. 1249And what than Friendship's manly tear
  33. 1250May better grace a brother's bier?
  34. 1251But bear this ring, his own of old,
  35. 1252And tell him--what thou dost behold!
  36. 1253The withered frame, the ruined mind,
  37. 1254The wrack by passion left behind,
  38. 1255A shrivelled scroll, a scattered leaf,
  39. 1256Seared by the autumn blast of Grief!
  1. 1257"Tell me no more of Fancy's gleam,
  2. 1258No, father, no,'twas not a dream;
  3. 1259Alas! the dreamer first must sleep,
  4. 1260I only watched, and wished to weep;
  5. 1261But could not, for my burning brow
  6. 1262Throbbed to the very brain as now:
  7. 1263I wished but for a single tear,
  8. 1264As something welcome, new, and dear:
  9. 1265I wished it then, I wish it still;
  10. 1266Despair is stronger than my will.
  11. 1267Waste not thine orison, despair
  12. 1268Is mightier than thy pious prayer:
  13. 1269I would not, if I might, be blest;
  14. 1270I want no Paradise, but rest.
  15. 1271'Twas then--I tell thee--father! then
  16. 1272I saw her; yes, she lived again;
  17. 1273And shining in her white symar
  18. 1274As through yon pale gray cloud the star
  19. 1275Which now I gaze on, as on her,
  20. 1276Who looked and looks far lovelier;
  21. 1277Dimly I view its trembling spark;
  22. 1278To-morrow's night shall be more dark;
  23. 1279And I, before its rays appear,
  24. 1280That lifeless thing the living fear.
  25. 1281I wander--father! for my soul
  26. 1282Is fleeting towards the final goal.
  27. 1283I saw her--friar! and I rose
  28. 1284Forgetful of our former woes;
  29. 1285And rushing from my couch, I dart,
  30. 1286And clasp her to my desperate heart;
  31. 1287I clasp--what is it that I clasp?
  32. 1288No breathing form within my grasp,
  33. 1289No heart that beats reply to mine--
  34. 1290Yet, Leila! yet the form is thine!
  35. 1291And art thou, dearest, changed so much
  36. 1292As meet my eye, yet mock my touch?
  37. 1293Ah! were thy beauties e'er so cold,
  38. 1294I care not--so my arms enfold
  39. 1295The all they ever wished to hold.
  40. 1296Alas! around a shadow prest
  41. 1297They shrink upon my lonely breast;
  42. 1298Yet still 'tis there! In silence stands,
  43. 1299And beckons with beseeching hands!
  44. 1300With braided hair, and bright-black eye--
  45. 1301I knew 'twas false--she could not die!
  46. 1302But he is dead! within the dell
  47. 1303I saw him buried where he fell;
  48. 1304He comes not--for he cannot break
  49. 1305From earth;--why then art thou awake?
  50. 1306They told me wild waves rolled above
  51. 1307The face I view--the form I love;
  52. 1308They told me--'twas a hideous tale!--
  53. 1309I'd tell it, but my tongue would fail:
  54. 1310If true, and from thine ocean-cave
  55. 1311Thou com'st to claim a calmer grave,
  56. 1312Oh! pass thy dewy fingers o'er
  57. 1313This brow that then will burn no more;
  58. 1314Or place them on my hopeless heart:
  59. 1315But, Shape or Shade! whate'er thou art,
  60. 1316In mercy ne'er again depart!
  61. 1317Or farther with thee bear my soul
  62. 1318Than winds can waft or waters roll!
  1. 1319"Such is my name, and such my tale.
  2. 1320Confessor! to thy secret ear
  3. 1321I breathe the sorrows I bewail,
  4. 1322And thank thee for the generous tear
  5. 1323This glazing eye could never shed.
  6. 1324Then lay me with the humblest dead,
  7. 1325And, save the cross above my head,
  8. 1326Be neither name nor emblem spread,
  9. 1327By prying stranger to be read,
  10. 1328Or stay the passing pilgrim's tread."
  1. 1329He passed--nor of his name and race
  2. 1330He left a token or a trace,
  3. 1331Save what the Father must not say
  4. 1332Who shrived him on his dying day:
  5. 1333This broken tale was all we knew
  6. 1334Of her he loved, or him he slew.