When from power and pomp and the trophies of war
He flew to that Valley, forgetting them all
With the Light of the Haram, his young NOURMAHAL.
When free and uncrown'd as the Conqueror rov'd
By the banks of that Lake, with his only belov'd,
He saw, in the wreaths she would playfully snatch
From the hedges, a glory his crown could not match,
And preferr'd in his heart the least ringlet that curl'd
Down her exquisite neck to the throne of the world.
There's a beauty, forever unchangingly bright,
Like the long, sunny lapse of a summer-day's light.
Shining on, shining on, by no shadow made tender,
Till Love falls asleep in its sameness of splendor.
This was not the beauty — oh, nothing like this,
That to young NOURMAHAL gave such magic of bliss!
But that loveliness, ever in motion, which plays
Like the light upon autumn's soft shadowy days,
Now here and now there, giving warmth as it flies
From the lip to the cheek, from the cheek to the eyes;
Now melting in mist and now breaking in gleams,
Like the glimpses a saint hath of Heav'n in his
dreams.
When pensive, it seem'd as if that very grace,
That charm of all others, was born with her face!
And when angry, for e'en in the tranquillest climes
Light breezes will ruffle the blossoms sometimes
The short, passing anger but seem'd to awaken
.New beauty, like flowers that are sweetest when shaken.
If tenderness touch'd her, the dark of her eye
At once took a darker, a heavenlier dye,
From the depth of whose shadow, like holy revealings
From innermost shrines, came the light of her feelings.
Then her mirth oh! 'twas sportive as ever took wing
From the heart with a burst, like the wild-bird in spring;
Illum'd by a wit that would fascinate sages,
Yet playful as Peris just loos'd from their cages.
While her laugh, full of life, without any control
But the sweet one of gracefulness, rung from her soul;
And where it most sparkled no glance could discover,
In lip, cheek, or eyes, for she brighten'd all over, -
Like fair lake that the breeze is upon,
When it breaks into dimples and laughs in the sun.
Such, such were the peerless enchantments that gave
NOURMAHAL the proud Lord of the East for her slave:
And though bright was his Haram,- a living parterre
Of the flowers 325 of this planet — though treasures
were there,
For which SOLIMAN's self might have giv'n all the
That the navy from OPHIR e'er wing'd to his shore,
Yet dim before her were the smiles of them all,
And the Light of his Haram was young NOURMAHAL !
But where is she now, this night of joy,
When bliss is every heart's employ?
When all around her is so bright,
So like the visions of a trance,
That one might think, who came by chance
Into the Vale this happy night,
He saw that City of Delight 8326
In Fairy-land whose streets and towers
Are made of gems and light and flowers!
Where is the lov'd Sultana ? where,
When mirth brings out the young and fair,
Does she, the fairest, hide her brow,
In melancholy stillness now?
Alas!-how light a cause may move
Dissension between hearts that love!
Hearts that the world in vain had tried,
And sorrow but more closely tied;
That stood the storm, when waves were rough,
Yet in a sunny hour fall off,
Like ships that have gone down at sea,
When heaven was all tranquillity!
A something, light as air-a look,
A word unkind or wrongly taken
Oh! love, that tempests never shook,
A breath, a touch like this hath shaken.
And ruder words will soon rush in
To spread the breach that words begin;
And eyes forget the gentle ray
They wore in courtship's smiling day;
And voices lose the tone that shed
A tenderness round all they said;
Till fast declining, one by one,
The sweetnesses of love are gone,
And hearts, so lately mingled, seem
Like broken clouds, - or like the stream,
That smiling left the mountain's brow
As though its waters ne'er could sever,
Yet, ere it reach the plain below,
Breaks into floods, that part forever.
Oh, you, that have the charge of Love,
Keep him in rosy bondage bound,
As in the Fields of Bliss above
He sits, with flow'rets fetter'd round; 827
Loose not a tie that round him clings,
Nor ever let him use his wings;
For e'en an hour, a minute's flight
Will rob the plumes of half their light:
Like that celestial bird, - whose nest
Is found beneath far Eastern skies, Whose wings, though radiant when at rest, Lose all their glory when he flies! 328
Some difference, of this dangerous kind, -
By which, though light, the links that bind
The fondest hearts may soon be riven;
Some shadow in Love's summer heaven,
Which, though a fleecy speck at first,
May yet in awful thunder burst;-
Such cloud it is that now hangs over
The heart of the Imperial Lover,
And far hath banish'd from his sight
His NOURMAHAL, his Haram's Light!
Hence is it, on this happy night,
When Pleasure through the fields and groves
Has let loose all her world of loves,
And every heart has found its own,
He wanders, joyless and alone,
And weary as that bird of Thrace
Whose pinion knows no resting-place. 329
In vain the loveliest cheeks and eyes
This Eden of the Earth supplies
Come crowding round the cheeks are pale, The eyes are dim: - though rich the spot With every flow'r this earth has got,
What is it to the nightingale,
If there his darling rose is not? 330
In vain the Valley's smiling throng
Worship him, as he moves along;
He heeds them not
one smile of hers
Is worth a world of worshippers.
They but the Star's adorers are,
She is the Heav'n that lights the Star!
Hence is it, too, that NOURMAHAL,
Amid the luxuries of this hour,
Far from the joyous festival,
Sits in her own sequester'd bower,
With no one near, to soothe or aid,
But that inspir'd and wondrous maid,
NAMOUNA, the Enchantress; — one,
O'er whom his race the golden sun
For unremember'd years has run,
Yet never saw her blooming brow
Younger or fairer than 'tis now.
Nay, rather, as the west wind's sigh
Freshens the flower it passes by,-
Time's wing but seem'd, in stealing o'er,
To leave her lovelier than before.
Yet on her smiles a sadness hung,
And when, as oft, she spoke or sung
Of other worlds, there came a light
From her dark eyes so strangely bright,
That all believ'd nor man nor earth
Were conscious of NAMOUNA's birth!
All spells and talismans she knew,
From the great Mantra,881 which around
The Air's sublimer Spirits drew,
332 of AFRIC, bound
Upon the wandering Arab's arm,
To keep him from the Siltim's 838 harm.
And she had pledg'd her powerful art, —
Pledg'd it with all the zeal and heart
Of one who knew, though high her sphere,
What 'twas to lose a love so dear,
To find some spell that should recall
Her Selim's 384 smile to NOURMAHAL !
'Twas midnight-through the lattice, wreath'd
With woodbine, many a perfume breath'd
From plants that wake when others sleep,
From timid jasmine buds, that keep
Their odor to themselves all day,
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