• Home
  • Poems
  • The Bride of Abydos[;] Canto the Second

The Bride of Abydos[;] Canto the Second

  1. 1The winds are high on Helle's wave,
  2. 2As on that night of stormy water
  3. 3When Love, who sent, forgot to save
  4. 4The young--the beautiful--the brave--
  5. 5The lonely hope of Sestos' daughter.
  6. 6Oh! when alone along the sky
  7. 7Her turret-torch was blazing high,
  8. 8Though rising gale, and breaking foam,
  9. 9And shrieking sea-birds warned him home;
  10. 10And clouds aloft and tides below,
  11. 11With signs and sounds, forbade to go,
  12. 12He could not see, he would not hear,
  13. 13Or sound or sign foreboding fear;
  14. 14His eye but saw that light of Love,
  15. 15The only star it hailed above;
  16. 16His ear but rang with Hero's song,
  17. 17"Ye waves, divide not lovers long!"--
  18. 18That tale is old, but Love anew
  19. 19May nerve young hearts to prove as true.
  1. 20The winds are high and Helle's tide
  2. 21Rolls darkly heaving to the main;
  3. 22And Night's descending shadows hide
  4. 23That field with blood bedewed in vain,
  5. 24The desert of old Priam's pride;
  6. 25The tombs, sole relics of his reign,
  7. 26All--save immortal dreams that could beguile
  8. 27The blind old man of Scio's rocky isle!
  1. 28Oh! yet--for there my steps have been;
  2. 29These feet have pressed the sacred shore,
  3. 30These limbs that buoyant wave hath borne--
  4. 31Minstrel! with thee to muse, to mourn,
  5. 32To trace again those fields of yore,
  6. 33Believing every hillock green
  7. 34Contains no fabled hero's ashes,
  8. 35And that around the undoubted scene
  9. 36Thine own "broad Hellespont" still dashes,
  10. 37Be long my lot! and cold were he
  11. 38Who there could gaze denying thee!
  1. 39The Night hath closed on Helle's stream,
  2. 40Nor yet hath risen on Ida's hill
  3. 41That Moon, which shone on his high theme:
  4. 42No warrior chides her peaceful beam,
  5. 43But conscious shepherds bless it still.
  6. 44Their flocks are grazing on the Mound
  7. 45Of him who felt the Dardan's arrow:
  8. 46That mighty heap of gathered ground
  9. 47Which Ammon's son ran proudly round,
  10. 48By nations raised, by monarchs crowned,
  11. 49Is now a lone and nameless barrow!
  12. 50Within--thy dwelling-place how narrow!
  13. 51Without--can only strangers breathe
  14. 52The name of him that was beneath:
  15. 53Dust long outlasts the storied stone;
  16. 54But Thou--thy very dust is gone!
  1. 55Late, late to-night will Dian cheer
  2. 56The swain, and chase the boatman's fear;
  3. 57Till then--no beacon on the cliff
  4. 58May shape the course of struggling skiff;
  5. 59The scattered lights that skirt the bay,
  6. 60All, one by one, have died away;
  7. 61The only lamp of this lone hour
  8. 62Is glimmering in Zuleika's tower.
  9. 63Yes! there is light in that lone chamber,
  10. 64And o'er her silken ottoman
  11. 65Are thrown the fragrant beads of amber,
  12. 66O'er which her fairy fingers ran;
  13. 67Near these, with emerald rays beset,
  14. 68(How could she thus that gem forget?)
  15. 69Her mother's sainted amulet,
  16. 70Whereon engraved the Koorsee text,
  17. 71Could smooth this life, and win the next;
  18. 72And by her Comboloio lies
  19. 73A Koran of illumined dyes;
  20. 74And many a bright emblazoned rhyme
  21. 75By Persian scribes redeemed from Time;
  22. 76And o'er those scrolls, not oft so mute,
  23. 77Reclines her now neglected lute;
  24. 78And round her lamp of fretted gold
  25. 79Bloom flowers in urns of China's mould;
  26. 80The richest work of Iran's loom,
  27. 81And Sheeraz tribute of perfume;
  1. 82All that can eye or sense delight
  2. 83Are gathered in that gorgeous room:
  3. 84But yet it hath an air of gloom.
  4. 85She, of this Peri cell the sprite,
  5. 86What doth she hence, and on so rude a night?
  1. 87Wrapt in the darkest sable vest,
  2. 88Which none save noblest Moslem wear,
  3. 89To guard from winds of Heaven the breast
  4. 90As Heaven itself to Selim dear,
  5. 91With cautious steps the thicket threading,
  6. 92And starting oft, as through the glade
  7. 93The gust its hollow moanings made,
  8. 94Till on the smoother pathway treading,
  9. 95More free her timid bosom beat,
  10. 96The maid pursued her silent guide;
  11. 97And though her terror urged retreat,
  12. 98How could she quit her Selim's side?
  13. 99How teach her tender lips to chide?
  1. 100They reached at length a grotto, hewn
  2. 101By nature, but enlarged by art,
  3. 102Where oft her lute she wont to tune,
  4. 103And oft her Koran conned apart;
  5. 104And oft in youthful reverie
  6. 105She dreamed what Paradise might be:
  7. 106Where Woman's parted soul shall go
  8. 107Her Prophet had disdained to show;
  9. 108But Selim's mansion was secure,
  10. 109Nor deemed she, could he long endure
  11. 110His bower in other worlds of bliss
  12. 111Without her, most beloved in this!
  13. 112Oh! who so dear with him could dwell?
  14. 113What Houri soothe him half so well?
  1. 114Since last she visited the spot
  2. 115Some change seemed wrought within the grot:
  3. 116It might be only that the night
  4. 117Disguised things seen by better light:
  5. 118That brazen lamp but dimly threw
  6. 119A ray of no celestial hue;
  7. 120But in a nook within the cell
  8. 121Her eye on stranger objects fell.
  9. 122There arms were piled, not such as wield
  10. 123The turbaned Delis in the field;
  11. 124But brands of foreign blade and hilt,
  12. 125And one was red--perchance with guilt!
  13. 126Ah! how without can blood be spilt?
  14. 127A cup too on the board was set
  15. 128That did not seem to hold sherbet.
  16. 129What may this mean? she turned to see
  17. 130Her Selim--"Oh! can this be he?"
  1. 131His robe of pride was thrown aside,
  2. 132His brow no high-crowned turban bore,
  3. 133But in its stead a shawl of red,
  4. 134Wreathed lightly round, his temples wore:
  5. 135That dagger, on whose hilt the gem
  6. 136Were worthy of a diadem,
  7. 137No longer glittered at his waist,
  8. 138Where pistols unadorned were braced;
  9. 139And from his belt a sabre swung,
  10. 140And from his shoulder loosely hung
  11. 141The cloak of white, the thin capote
  12. 142That decks the wandering Candiote;
  13. 143Beneath--his golden plated vest
  14. 144Clung like a cuirass to his breast;
  15. 145The greaves below his knee that wound
  16. 146With silvery scales were sheathed and bound.
  17. 147But were it not that high command
  18. 148Spake in his eye, and tone, and hand,
  19. 149All that a careless eye could see
  20. 150In him was some young Galiongée.
  1. 151"I said I was not what I seemed;
  2. 152And now thou see'st my words were true:
  3. 153I have a tale thou hast not dreamed,
  4. 154If sooth--its truth must others rue.
  5. 155My story now 'twere vain to hide,
  6. 156I must not see thee Osman's bride:
  7. 157But had not thine own lips declared
  8. 158How much of that young heart I shared,
  9. 159I could not, must not, yet have shown
  10. 160The darker secret of my own.
  11. 161In this I speak not now of love;
  12. 162That--let Time--Truth--and Peril prove:
  13. 163But first--Oh! never wed another--
  14. 164Zuleika! I am not thy brother!"
  1. 165"Oh! not my brother!--yet unsay--
  2. 166God! am I left alone on earth
  3. 167To mourn--I dare not curse--the day
  4. 168That saw my solitary birth?
  5. 169Oh! thou wilt love me now no more!
  6. 170My sinking heart foreboded ill;
  7. 171But know me all I was before,
  8. 172Thy sister--friend--Zuleika still.
  9. 173Thou led'st me here perchance to kill;
  10. 174If thou hast cause for vengeance, see!
  11. 175My breast is offered--take thy fill!
  12. 176Far better with the dead to be
  13. 177Than live thus nothing now to thee:
  14. 178Perhaps far worse, for now I know
  15. 179Why Giaffir always seemed thy foe;
  16. 180And I, alas! am Giaffir's child,
  17. 181For whom thou wert contemned, reviled.
  18. 182If not thy sister--would'st thou save
  19. 183My life--Oh! bid me be thy slave!"
  1. 184"My slave, Zuleika!--nay, I'm thine:
  2. 185But, gentle love, this transport calm,
  3. 186Thy lot shall yet be linked with mine;
  4. 187I swear it by our Prophet's shrine,
  5. 188And be that thought thy sorrow's balm.
  6. 189So may the Koran verse displayed
  7. 190Upon its steel direct my blade,
  8. 191In danger's hour to guard us both,
  9. 192As I preserve that awful oath!
  10. 193The name in which thy heart hath prided
  11. 194Must change; but, my Zuleika, know,
  12. 195That tie is widened, not divided,
  13. 196Although thy Sire's my deadliest foe.
  14. 197My father was to Giaffir all
  15. 198That Selim late was deemed to thee;
  16. 199That brother wrought a brother's fall,
  17. 200But spared, at least, my infancy!
  18. 201And lulled me with a vain deceit
  19. 202That yet a like return may meet.
  20. 203He reared me, not with tender help,
  21. 204But like the nephew of a Cain;
  22. 205He watched me like a lion's whelp,
  23. 206That gnaws and yet may break his chain.
  24. 207My father's blood in every vein
  25. 208Is boiling! but for thy dear sake
  26. 209No present vengeance will I take;
  27. 210Though here I must no more remain.
  28. 211But first, beloved Zuleika! hear
  29. 212How Giaffir wrought this deed of fear.
  1. 213"How first their strife to rancour grew,
  2. 214If Love or Envy made them foes,
  3. 215It matters little if I knew;
  4. 216In fiery spirits, slights, though few
  5. 217And thoughtless, will disturb repose.
  6. 218In war Abdallah's arm was strong,
  7. 219Remembered yet in Bosniac song,
  8. 220And Paswan's rebel hordes attest
  9. 221How little love they bore such guest:
  10. 222His death is all I need relate,
  11. 223The stern effect of Giaffir's hate;
  12. 224And how my birth disclosed to me,
  13. 225Whate'er beside it makes, hath made me free.
  1. 226"When Paswan, after years of strife,
  2. 227At last for power, but first for life,
  3. 228In Widdin's walls too proudly sate,
  4. 229Our Pachas rallied round the state;
  5. 230Not last nor least in high command,
  6. 231Each brother led a separate band;
  7. 232They gave their Horse-tails to the wind,
  8. 233And mustering in Sophia's plain
  9. 234Their tents were pitched, their post assigned;
  10. 235To one, alas! assigned in vain!
  11. 236What need of words? the deadly bowl,
  12. 237By Giaffir's order drugged and given,
  13. 238With venom subtle as his soul,
  14. 239Dismissed Abdallah's hence to heaven.
  15. 240Reclined and feverish in the bath,
  16. 241He, when the hunter's sport was up,
  17. 242But little deemed a brother's wrath
  18. 243To quench his thirst had such a cup:
  19. 244The bowl a bribed attendant bore;
  20. 245He drank one draught, nor needed more!
  21. 246If thou my tale, Zuleika, doubt,
  22. 247Call Haroun--he can tell it out.
  1. 248"The deed once done, and Paswan's feud
  2. 249In part suppressed, though ne'er subdued,
  3. 250Abdallah's Pachalick was gained:--
  4. 251Thou know'st not what in our Divan
  5. 252Can wealth procure for worse than man--
  6. 253Abdallah's honours were obtained
  7. 254By him a brother's murder stained;
  8. 255'Tis true, the purchase nearly drained
  9. 256His ill-got treasure, soon replaced.
  10. 257Would'st question whence? Survey the waste,
  11. 258And ask the squalid peasant how
  12. 259His gains repay his broiling brow!--
  13. 260Why me the stern Usurper spared,
  14. 261Why thus with me his palace spared,
  15. 262I know not. Shame--regret--remorse--
  16. 263And little fear from infant's force--
  17. 264Besides, adoption as a son
  18. 265By him whom Heaven accorded none,
  19. 266Or some unknown cabal, caprice,
  20. 267Preserved me thus:--but not in peace:
  21. 268He cannot curb his haughty mood,
  22. 269Nor I forgive a father's blood.
  1. 270"Within thy Father's house are foes;
  2. 271Not all who break his bread are true:
  3. 272To these should I my birth disclose,
  4. 273His days-his very hours were few:
  5. 274They only want a heart to lead,
  6. 275A hand to point them to the deed.
  7. 276But Haroun only knows, or knew
  8. 277This tale, whose close is almost nigh:
  9. 278He in Abdallah's palace grew,
  10. 279And held that post in his Serai
  11. 280Which holds he here--he saw him die;
  12. 281But what could single slavery do?
  13. 282Avenge his lord? alas! too late;
  14. 283Or save his son from such a fate?
  15. 284He chose the last, and when elate
  16. 285With foes subdued, or friends betrayed,
  17. 286Proud Giaffir in high triumph sate,
  18. 287He led me helpless to his gate,
  19. 288And not in vain it seems essayed
  20. 289To save the life for which he prayed.
  21. 290The knowledge of my birth secured
  22. 291From all and each, but most from me;
  23. 292Thus Giaffir's safety was ensured.
  24. 293Removed he too from Roumelie
  25. 294To this our Asiatic side,
  26. 295Far from our seats by Danube's tide,
  27. 296With none but Haroun, who retains
  28. 297Such knowledge--and that Nubian feels
  29. 298A Tyrant's secrets are but chains,
  30. 299From which the captive gladly steals,
  31. 300And this and more to me reveals:
  32. 301Such still to guilt just Allah sends--
  33. 302Slaves, tools, accomplices--no friends!
  1. 303"All this, Zuleika, harshly sounds;
  2. 304But harsher still my tale must be:
  3. 305Howe'er my tongue thy softness wounds,
  4. 306Yet I must prove all truth to thee."
  5. 307I saw thee start this garb to see,
  6. 308Yet is it one I oft have worn,
  7. 309And long must wear: this Galiongée,
  8. 310To whom thy plighted vow is sworn,
  9. 311Is leader of those pirate hordes,
  10. 312Whose laws and lives are on their swords;
  11. 313To hear whose desolating tale
  12. 314Would make thy waning cheek more pale:
  13. 315Those arms thou see'st my band have brought,
  14. 316The hands that wield are not remote;
  15. 317This cup too for the rugged knaves
  16. 318Is filled--once quaffed, they ne'er repine:
  17. 319Our Prophet might forgive the slaves;
  18. 320They're only infidels in wine.
  1. 321"What could I be? Proscribed at home,
  2. 322And taunted to a wish to roam;
  3. 323And listless left--for Giaffir's fear
  4. 324Denied the courser and the spear--
  5. 325Though oft--Oh, Mahomet! how oft!--
  6. 326In full Divan the despot scoffed,
  7. 327As if my weak unwilling hand
  8. 328Refused the bridle or the brand:
  9. 329He ever went to war alone,
  10. 330And pent me here untried--unknown;
  11. 331To Haroun's care with women left,
  12. 332By hope unblest, of fame bereft,
  13. 333While thou--whose softness long endeared,
  14. 334Though it unmanned me, still had cheered--
  15. 335To Brusa's walls for safety sent,
  16. 336Awaited'st there the field's event.
  17. 337Haroun who saw my spirit pining
  18. 338Beneath inaction's sluggish yoke,
  19. 339His captive, though with dread resigning,
  20. 340My thraldom for a season broke,
  21. 341On promise to return before
  22. 342The day when Giaffir's charge was o'er.
  23. 343'Tis vain--my tongue can not impart
  24. 344My almost drunkenness of heart,
  25. 345When first this liberated eye
  26. 346Surveyed Earth--Ocean--Sun--and Sky--
  27. 347As if my Spirit pierced them through,
  28. 348And all their inmost wonders knew!
  29. 349One word alone can paint to thee
  30. 350That more than feeling--I was Free!
  31. 351E'en for thy presence ceased to pine;
  32. 352The World--nay, Heaven itself was mine!
  1. 353"The shallop of a trusty Moor
  2. 354Conveyed me from this idle shore;
  3. 355I longed to see the isles that gem
  4. 356Old Ocean's purple diadem:
  5. 357I sought by turns, and saw them all;
  6. 358But when and where I joined the crew,
  7. 359With whom I'm pledged to rise or fall,
  8. 360When all that we design to do
  9. 361Is done,'twill then be time more meet
  10. 362To tell thee, when the tale's complete.
  1. 363"'Tis true, they are a lawless brood,
  2. 364But rough in form, nor mild in mood;
  3. 365And every creed, and every race,
  4. 366With them hath found--may find a place:
  5. 367But open speech, and ready hand,
  6. 368Obedience to their Chief's command;
  7. 369A soul for every enterprise,
  8. 370That never sees with Terror's eyes;
  9. 371Friendship for each, and faith to all,
  10. 372And vengeance vowed for those who fall,
  11. 373Have made them fitting instruments
  12. 374For more than e'en my own intents.
  13. 375And some--and I have studied all
  14. 376Distinguished from the vulgar rank,
  15. 377But chiefly to my council call
  16. 378The wisdom of the cautious Frank:--
  17. 379And some to higher thoughts aspire.
  18. 380The last of Lambro's patriots there
  19. 381Anticipated freedom share;
  20. 382And oft around the cavern fire
  21. 383On visionary schemes debate,
  22. 384To snatch the Rayahs from their fate.
  23. 385So let them ease their hearts with prate
  24. 386Of equal rights, which man ne'er knew;
  25. 387I have a love for freedom too.
  26. 388Aye! let me like the ocean-Patriarch roam,
  27. 389Or only know on land the Tartar's home!
  28. 390My tent on shore, my galley on the sea,
  29. 391Are more than cities and Serais to me:
  30. 392Borne by my steed, or wafted by my sail,
  31. 393Across the desert, or before the gale,
  32. 394Bound where thou wilt, my barb! or glide, my prow!
  33. 395But be the Star that guides the wanderer, Thou!
  34. 396Thou, my Zuleika, share and bless my bark;
  35. 397The Dove of peace and promise to mine ark!
  36. 398Or, since that hope denied in worlds of strife,
  37. 399Be thou the rainbow to the storms of life!
  38. 400The evening beam that smiles the clouds away,
  39. 401And tints to-morrow with prophetic ray!
  40. 402Blest--as the Muezzin's strain from Mecca's wall
  41. 403To pilgrims pure and prostrate at his call;
  42. 404Soft--as the melody of youthful days,
  43. 405That steals the trembling tear of speechless praise;
  44. 406Dear--as his native song to Exile's ears,
  45. 407Shall sound each tone thy long-loved voice endears.
  46. 408For thee in those bright isles is built a bower
  47. 409Blooming as Aden in its earliest hour.
  48. 410A thousand swords, with Selim's heart and hand,
  49. 411Wait--wave--defend--destroy--at thy command!
  50. 412Girt by my band, Zuleika at my side,
  51. 413The spoil of nations shall bedeck my bride.
  52. 414The Haram's languid years of listless ease
  53. 415Are well resigned for cares--for joys like these:
  54. 416Not blind to Fate, I see, where'er I rove,
  55. 417Unnumbered perils,--but one only love!
  56. 418Yet well my toils shall that fond breast repay,
  57. 419Though Fortune frown, or falser friends betray.
  58. 420How dear the dream in darkest hours of ill,
  59. 421Should all be changed, to find thee faithful still!
  60. 422Be but thy soul, like Selim's firmly shown;
  61. 423To thee be Selim's tender as thine own;
  62. 424To soothe each sorrow, share in each delight,
  63. 425Blend every thought, do all--but disunite!
  64. 426Once free, 'tis mine our horde again to guide;
  65. 427Friends to each other, foes to aught beside:
  66. 428Yet there we follow but the bent assigned
  67. 429By fatal Nature to man's warring kind:
  68. 430Mark! where his carnage and his conquests cease!
  69. 431He makes a solitude, and calls it--peace!
  70. 432I like the rest must use my skill or strength,
  71. 433But ask no land beyond my sabre's length:
  72. 434Power sways but by division--her resource
  73. 435The blest alternative of fraud or force!
  74. 436Ours be the last; in time Deceit may come
  75. 437When cities cage us in a social home:
  76. 438There ev'n thy soul might err--how oft the heart
  77. 439Corruption shakes which Peril could not part!
  78. 440And Woman, more than Man, when Death or Woe,
  79. 441Or even Disgrace, would lay her lover low,
  80. 442Sunk in the lap of Luxury will shame--
  81. 443Away suspicion!--not Zuleika's name!
  82. 444But life is hazard at the best; and here
  83. 445No more remains to win, and much to fear:
  84. 446Yes, fear!--the doubt, the dread of losing thee,
  85. 447By Osman's power, and Giaffir's stern decree.
  86. 448That dread shall vanish with the favouring gale,
  87. 449Which Love to-night hath promised to my sail:
  88. 450No danger daunts the pair his smile hath blest,
  89. 451Their steps still roving, but their hearts at rest.
  90. 452With thee all toils are sweet, each clime hath charms;
  91. 453Earth--sea alike--our world within our arms!
  92. 454Aye--let the loud winds whistle o'er the deck,
  93. 455So that those arms cling closer round my neck:
  94. 456The deepest murmur of this lip shall be,
  95. 457No sigh for safety, but a prayer for thee!
  96. 458The war of elements no fears impart
  97. 459To Love, whose deadliest bane is human Art:
  98. 460There lie the only rocks our course can check;
  99. 461Here moments menace--there are years of wreck!
  100. 462But hence ye thoughts that rise in Horror's shape!
  101. 463This hour bestows, or ever bars escape.
  102. 464Few words remain of mine my tale to close;
  103. 465Of thine but one to waft us from our foes;
  104. 466Yea--foes--to me will Giaffir's hate decline?
  105. 467And is not Osman, who would part us, thine?
  1. 468"His head and faith from doubt and death
  2. 469Returned in time my guard to save;
  3. 470Few heard, none told, that o'er the wave
  4. 471From isle to isle I roved the while:
  5. 472And since, though parted from my band
  6. 473Too seldom now I leave the land,
  7. 474No deed they've done, nor deed shall do,
  8. 475Ere I have heard and doomed it too:
  9. 476I form the plan--decree the spoil--
  10. 477Tis fit I oftener share the toil.
  11. 478But now too long I've held thine ear;
  12. 479Time presses--floats my bark--and here
  13. 480We leave behind but hate and fear.
  14. 481To-morrow Osman with his train
  15. 482Arrives--to-night must break thy chain:
  16. 483And would'st thou save that haughty Bey,--
  17. 484Perchance his life who gave thee thine,--
  18. 485With me this hour away--away!
  19. 486But yet, though thou art plighted mine,
  20. 487Would'st thou recall thy willing vow,
  21. 488Appalled by truths imparted now,
  22. 489Here rest I--not to see thee wed:
  23. 490But be that peril on my head!"
  1. 491Zuleika, mute and motionless,
  2. 492Stood like that Statue of Distress,
  3. 493When, her last hope for ever gone,
  4. 494The Mother hardened into stone;
  5. 495All in the maid that eye could see
  6. 496Was but a younger Niobé.
  7. 497But ere her lip, or even her eye,
  8. 498Essayed to speak, or look reply,
  9. 499Beneath the garden's wicket porch
  10. 500Far flashed on high a blazing torch!
  11. 501Another--and another--and another--
  12. 502"Oh! fly--no more--yet now my more than brother!"
  13. 503Far, wide, through every thicket spread
  14. 504The fearful lights are gleaming red;
  15. 505Nor these alone--for each right hand
  16. 506Is ready with a sheathless brand.
  17. 507They part--pursue--return, and wheel
  18. 508With searching flambeau, shining steel;
  19. 509And last of all, his sabre waving,
  20. 510Stern Giaffir in his fury raving:
  21. 511And now almost they touch the cave--
  22. 512Oh! must that grot be Selim's grave?
  1. 513Dauntless he stood--"'Tis come--soon past--
  2. 514One kiss, Zuleika--'tis my last:
  3. 515But yet my band not far from shore
  4. 516May hear this signal, see the flash;
  5. 517Yet now too few--the attempt were rash:
  6. 518No matter--yet one effort more."
  7. 519Forth to the cavern mouth he stept;
  8. 520His pistol's echo rang on high,
  9. 521Zuleika started not, nor wept,
  10. 522Despair benumbed her breast and eye!--
  11. 523"They hear me not, or if they ply
  12. 524Their oars,'tis but to see me die;
  13. 525That sound hath drawn my foes more nigh.
  14. 526Then forth my father's scimitar,
  15. 527Thou ne'er hast seen less equal war!
  16. 528Farewell, Zuleika!--Sweet! retire:
  17. 529Yet stay within--here linger safe,
  18. 530At thee his rage will only chafe.
  19. 531Stir not--lest even to thee perchance
  20. 532Some erring blade or ball should glance.
  21. 533Fear'st them for him?--may I expire
  22. 534If in this strife I seek thy sire!
  23. 535No--though by him that poison poured;
  24. 536No--though again he call me coward!
  25. 537But tamely shall I meet their steel?
  26. 538No--as each crest save his may feel!"
  1. 539One bound he made, and gained the sand:
  2. 540Already at his feet hath sunk
  3. 541The foremost of the prying band,
  4. 542A gasping head, a quivering trunk:
  5. 543Another falls--but round him close
  6. 544A swarming circle of his foes;
  7. 545From right to left his path he cleft,
  8. 546And almost met the meeting wave:
  9. 547His boat appears--not five oars' length--
  10. 548His comrades strain with desperate strength--
  11. 549Oh! are they yet in time to save?
  12. 550His feet the foremost breakers lave;
  13. 551His band are plunging in the bay,
  14. 552Their sabres glitter through the spray;
  15. 553Wet--wild--unwearied to the strand
  16. 554They struggle--now they touch the land!
  17. 555They come--'tis but to add to slaughter--
  18. 556His heart's best blood is on the water.
  1. 557Escaped from shot, unharmed by steel,
  2. 558Or scarcely grazed its force to feel,
  3. 559Had Selim won, betrayed, beset,
  4. 560To where the strand and billows met;
  5. 561There as his last step left the land,
  6. 562And the last death-blow dealt his hand--
  7. 563Ah! wherefore did he turn to look
  8. 564For her his eye but sought in vain?
  9. 565That pause, that fatal gaze he took,
  10. 566Hath doomed his death, or fixed his chain.
  11. 567Sad proof, in peril and in pain,
  12. 568How late will Lover's hope remain!
  13. 569His back was to the dashing spray;
  14. 570Behind, but close, his comrades lay,
  15. 571When, at the instant, hissed the ball--
  16. 572"So may the foes of Giaffir fall!"
  17. 573Whose voice is heard? whose carbine rang?
  18. 574Whose bullet through the night-air sang,
  19. 575Too nearly, deadly aimed to err?
  20. 576'Tis thine--Abdallah's Murderer!
  21. 577The father slowly rued thy hate,
  22. 578The son hath found a quicker fate:
  23. 579Fast from his breast the blood is bubbling,
  24. 580The whiteness of the sea-foam troubling--
  25. 581If aught his lips essayed to groan,
  26. 582The rushing billows choked the tone!
  1. 583Morn slowly rolls the clouds away;
  2. 584Few trophies of the fight are there:
  3. 585The shouts that shook the midnight-bay
  4. 586Are silent; but some signs of fray
  5. 587That strand of strife may bear,
  6. 588And fragments of each shivered brand;
  7. 589Steps stamped; and dashed into the sand
  8. 590The print of many a struggling hand
  9. 591May there be marked; nor far remote
  10. 592A broken torch, an oarless boat;
  11. 593And tangled on the weeds that heap
  12. 594The beach where shelving to the deep
  13. 595There lies a white capote!
  14. 596'Tis rent in twain--one dark-red stain
  15. 597The wave yet ripples o'er in vain:
  16. 598But where is he who wore?
  17. 599Ye! who would o'er his relics weep,
  18. 600Go, seek them where the surges sweep
  19. 601Their burthen round Sigæum's steep
  20. 602And cast on Lemnos' shore:
  21. 603The sea-birds shriek above the prey,
  22. 604O'er which their hungry beaks delay,
  23. 605As shaken on his restless pillow,
  24. 606His head heaves with the heaving billow;
  25. 607That hand, whose motion is not life,
  26. 608Yet feebly seems to menace strife,
  27. 609Flung by the tossing tide on high,
  28. 610Then levelled with the wave--
  29. 611What recks it, though that corse shall lie
  30. 612Within a living grave?
  31. 613The bird that tears that prostrate form
  32. 614Hath only robbed the meaner worm;
  33. 615The only heart, the only eye
  34. 616Had bled or wept to see him die,
  35. 617Had seen those scattered limbs composed,
  36. 618And mourned above his turban-stone,
  37. 619That heart hath burst--that eye was closed--
  38. 620Yea--closed before his own!
  1. 621By Helle's stream there is a voice of wail!
  2. 622And Woman's eye is wet--Man's cheek is pale:
  3. 623Zuleika! last of Giaffir's race,
  4. 624Thy destined lord is come too late:
  5. 625He sees not--ne'er shall see thy face!
  6. 626Can he not hear
  7. 627The loud Wul-wulleh warn his distant ear?
  8. 628Thy handmaids weeping at the gate,
  9. 629The Koran-chanters of the Hymn of Fate,
  10. 630The silent slaves with folded arms that wait,
  11. 631Sighs in the hall, and shrieks upon the gale,
  12. 632Tell him thy tale!
  13. 633Thou didst not view thy Selim fall!
  14. 634That fearful moment when he left the cave
  15. 635Thy heart grew chill:
  16. 636He was thy hope--thy joy--thy love--thine all,
  17. 637And that last thought on him thou could'st not save
  18. 638Sufficed to kill;
  19. 639Burst forth in one wild cry--and all was still.
  20. 640Peace to thy broken heart--and virgin grave!
  21. 641Ah! happy! but of life to lose the worst!
  22. 642That grief--though deep--though fatal--was thy first!
  23. 643Thrice happy! ne'er to feel nor fear the force
  24. 644Of absence--shame--pride--hate--revenge--remorse!
  25. 645And, oh! that pang where more than Madness lies
  26. 646The Worm that will not sleep--and never dies;
  27. 647Thought of the gloomy day and ghastly night,
  28. 648That dreads the darkness, and yet loathes the light,
  29. 649That winds around, and tears the quivering heart!
  30. 650Ah! wherefore not consume it--and depart!
  31. 651Woe to thee, rash and unrelenting Chief!
  32. 652Vainly thou heap'st the dust upon thy head,
  33. 653Vainly the sackcloth o'er thy limbs dost spread:
  34. 654By that same hand Abdallah--Selim bled.
  35. 655Now let it tear thy beard in idle grief:
  36. 656Thy pride of heart, thy bride for Osman's bed,
  37. 657She, whom thy Sultan had but seen to wed,
  38. 658Thy Daughter's dead!
  39. 659Hope of thine age, thy twilight's lonely beam,
  40. 660The Star hath set that shone on Helle's stream.
  41. 661What quenched its ray?--the blood that thou hast shed!
  42. 662Hark! to the hurried question of Despair:
  43. 663"Where is my child?"--an Echo answers--"Where?"
  1. 664Within the place of thousand tombs
  2. 665That shine beneath, while dark above
  3. 666The sad but living cypress glooms
  4. 667And withers not, though branch and leaf
  5. 668Are stamped with an eternal grief,
  6. 669Like early unrequited Love,
  7. 670One spot exists, which ever blooms,
  8. 671Ev'n in that deadly grove--
  9. 672A single rose is shedding there
  10. 673Its lonely lustre, meek and pale:
  11. 674It looks as planted by Despair--
  12. 675So white--so faint--the slightest gale
  13. 676Might whirl the leaves on high;
  14. 677And yet, though storms and blight assail,
  15. 678And hands more rude than wintry sky
  16. 679May wring it from the stem--in vain--
  17. 680To-morrow sees it bloom again!
  18. 681The stalk some Spirit gently rears,
  19. 682And waters with celestial tears;
  20. 683For well may maids of Helle deem
  21. 684That this can be no earthly flower,
  22. 685Which mocks the tempest's withering hour,
  23. 686And buds unsheltered by a bower;
  24. 687Nor droops, though Spring refuse her shower,
  25. 688Nor woos the Summer beam:
  26. 689To it the livelong night there sings
  27. 690A Bird unseen--but not remote:
  28. 691Invisible his airy wings,
  29. 692But soft as harp that Houri strings
  30. 693His long entrancing note!
  31. 694It were the Bulbul; but his throat,
  32. 695Though mournful, pours not such a strain:
  33. 696For they who listen cannot leave
  34. 697The spot, but linger there and grieve,
  35. 698As if they loved in vain!
  36. 699And yet so sweet the tears they shed,
  37. 700'Tis sorrow so unmixed with dread,
  38. 701They scarce can bear the morn to break
  39. 702That melancholy spell,
  40. 703And longer yet would weep and wake,
  41. 704He sings so wild and well!
  42. 705But when the day-blush bursts from high
  43. 706Expires that magic melody.
  44. 707And some have been who could believe,
  45. 708(So fondly youthful dreams deceive,
  46. 709Yet harsh be they that blame,)
  47. 710That note so piercing and profound
  48. 711Will shape and syllable its sound
  49. 712Into Zuleika's name.
  50. 713'Tis from her cypress summit heard,
  51. 714That melts in air the liquid word:
  52. 715'Tis from her lowly virgin earth
  53. 716That white rose takes its tender birth.
  54. 717There late was laid a marble stone;
  55. 718Eve saw it placed--the Morrow gone!
  56. 719It was no mortal arm that bore
  57. 720That deep fixed pillar to the shore;
  58. 721For there, as Helle's legends tell,
  59. 722Next morn 'twas found where Selim fell;
  60. 723Lashed by the tumbling tide, whose wave
  61. 724Denied his bones a holier grave:
  62. 725And there by night, reclined, 'tis said.
  63. 726Is seen a ghastly turbaned head:
  64. 727And hence extended by the billow,
  65. 728'Tis named the "Pirate-phantom's pillow!"
  66. 729Where first it lay that mourning flower
  67. 730Hath flourished; flourisheth this hour,
  68. 731Alone and dewy--coldly pure and pale;
  69. 732As weeping Beauty's cheek at Sorrow's tale!