190

DISCOVERY.

of which we may suppose arose from local circum

stances.

At this meeting, Selim reveals the particulars of his birth, and surprises Zuleika with the information, that instead of being her brother, he is only her cousin ; his father Abdallah having been poisoned by Giaffir, to get possession of his property and dignity; after which, to avoid discovery, the fratricide brought up his nephew as his own son. This story Selim had learnt from Haroun, the chief of the Haram guard, by whose assistance also he had been enabled, while Giaffir was upon a distant expedition, to range at liberty for some time; during which he visited the islands of the Archipelago, and became the leader of a band of pirates. These trusty followers he thought proper to leave in due season, that his absence might not be missed by Giaffir; though he still continued to keep up a correspondence with them, and that with a view of making the connexion serviceable to his design, of carrying off Zuleika to a place of safety, and making her his bride. The resolution of Giaffir to marry his daughter to the Carasman, hastens the crisis of the piece. The elopement of Zuleika is dis

covered; and just as the pirates' boat reaches the place where the lovers are, the Pacha also arrives with his train Selim having secured his bethrothed spouse in the cave, rushes forth to meet his comrades, but

"One bound he made and gain'd the sand-
Already at his feet hath sunk

The foremost of the prying band;
A gasping head, a quivering trunk.
Another falls, but round him close
A swarming circle of his foes:

From right to left his path he cleft,

And almost met the meeting wave;—

His boat appears-not five oars' length-
His comrades strain with desperate strength.—
Oh! are they yet in time to save ?

His feet the foremost breakers lave;

His band are plunging in the bay,
Their sabres glitter through the spray;
Wet, wild, unwearied, to the strand
They struggle-now they touch the land!
They come 'tis but to add to slaughter,
His heart's best blood is on the water!"

Thus Selim falls by the hand of his father's murderer, who, however, is so far punished that he finds

192

AFFECTING PIECE.

his daughter lifeless in the cave; having been overwhelmed by the terror of the scene, grief for her beloved, and the dread of what would befall her from the ire of her parent.

Such is the romance of the Bride of Abydos, the poetry of which cannot fail to charm every reader of taste; though the improbabilities of the tale are great, and the morality of it more than questionable. One of the finest descriptions in the piece is that of the dead body of Selim, floating on the Hellespont:

O'er which their hungry beaks delay;

As, shaken on the restless pillow,

His head heaves with the heaving billow

That hand-whose motion is not life

Yet feebly seems to menace strife

Flung by the tossing tide on high,

Then levell❜d with the wave

What recks it, though that corse shall lie

Within a living grave?

SUPERSTITION.

The bird that tears that prostrate form,
Hath only robb'd the meaner worm."

193

This highly wrought dramatic romance, which in many respects will remind the reader of the Northern Minstrel, concludes with such a traditional article of belief as might naturally be expected to prevail in a land of superstition.

"There late was laid a marble stone;
Eve saw it placed-the morrow gone!
It was no mortal arm that bore

That deep-fix'd pillar to the shore;
For there, as Helle's legends tell,

Next morn 'twas found where Selim fell

Lash'd by the tumbling tide, whose wave
Denied his bones a holier grave ;—
And there, by night, reclined, 'tis said,
Is seen a ghastly turban'd head;—

And hence extended by the billow,

"Tis named "the Pirate-phantom's pillow!"
Where first it lay-that morning flower

Hath flourish'd-flourisheth this hour-
Alone-and dewy-coldly pure and pale-
As weeping beauty's cheek at sorrow's tale."

CHAPTER IX.

Publication of "The Corsair."-Beauties and defects of that Poem.-Supposed origin of the Piece.-Dedication to Thomas Moore.-Liberality of Lord Byron.-The Story of Conrad resumed in "Lara.”—Character of that Poem.Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte.

SO rapid and prolific was the genius of Lord Byron, on his return from the Levant, that scarcely had public curiosity been awakened and delighted by one poem, before another made its appearance, and commanded fresh applause. If" Childe Harold" exhibited originality of thought, eccentricity of character, and richness of description, the "Giaour" excited a stronger interest by its circumstances; while the " Bride of Abydos" had the higher poetic merit of unity of design, vigour of expression, and tenderness of sentiment.