Thy cavern shrines, and Idol stones, Thy Monarchs and their thousand Thrones? 'Tis He of GAZNA? fierce in wrath He comes, and INDIA's diadems Lie scatter'd in his ruinous path. His blood-hounds he adorns with gems, Torn from the violated necks 8 Of many a young and lov'd Sultana; — Priests in the very fane he slaughters, And choaks up with the glittering wrecks Downward the PERI turns her gaze, Alone, beside his native river, 7 Mahmood of Gazna, or Ghizni, who conquered India in the beginning of the 11th century. - v. his History in Dow and Sir J. Malcolm. 8 "It is reported that the hunting equipage of the Sultan Mahmoud was so magnificent, that he kept 400 grey-hounds and bloodhounds, each of which wore a collar set with jewels, and a covering edged with gold and pearls." Universal History, vol. iii. The red blade broken in his hand And the last arrow in his quiver. "Live," said the Conqueror, "live to share The trophies and the crowns I bear!" Silent that youthful warrior stood Silent he pointed to the flood All crimson with his country's blood, False flew the shaft, though pointed well; Yet mark'd the PERI where he lay, And when the rush of war was past, Swiftly descending on a ray Of morning light, she caught the lastLast glorious drop his heart had shed, Before its free-born spirit fled! "Be this," she cried, as she wing'd her flight, 66 My welcome gift at the Gates of Light. "Though foul are the drops that oft distil "On the field of warfare, blood like this, "For Liberty shed, so holy is, "It would not stain the purest rill, "That sparkles among the Bowers of Bliss! "Oh! if there be, on this earthly sphere, "A boon, an offering Heaven holds dear, " "Tis the last libation Liberty draws "From the heart that bleeds and breaks in her cause !" "Sweet," said the Angel, as she gave The gift into his radiant hand, "Sweet is our welcome of the Brave "Of Eden moves not holier far "Than ev❜n this drop the boon must be, Her first fond hope of Eden blighted, Now among AFRIC's Lunar Mountains, Far to the South, the PERI lighted; And sleek'd her plumage at the fountains Of that Egyptian tide, —whose birth Is hidden from the sons of earth, "The Mountains of the Moon, or the Montes Lunæ of anti quity, at the foot of which the Nile is supposed to arise."- Bruce. Deep in those solitary woods, Where oft the Genii of the Floods Dance 'round the cradle of their Nile, Her grots, and sepulchres of Kings 3 3 To watch the moonlight on the wings Of the white pelicans that break The azure calm of MŒRIS' Lake. " 'Twas a fair scene a Land more bright Never did mortal eye behold! Who could have thought, that saw this night Those valleys and their fruits of gold Basking in heav'n's serenest light; 2 “The Nile, which the Abyssinians know by the names of Abey and Alawy or the Giant.". Asiat. Research, vol. i. p. 387. 3 V. Perry's View of the Levant for an account of the sepulchres in Upper Thebes, and the numberless grots, covered all over with hieroglyphics in the mountains of Upper Egypt. 4" The orchards of Rosetta are filled with turtle-doves."- Sonnini. 5 Savary mentions the pelicans upon Lake Moris. Those groups of lovely date-trees bending Bathing their beauties in the lake, 6 That they may rise more fresh and bright, The relics of a splendid dream; Amid whose fairy loneliness Nought but the lap-wing's cry is heard, And glittering, like an idol bird! 6 "The superb date-tree, whose head languidly reclines, like that of a handsome woman overcome with sleep."— Dafard el Hadad. 7 "That beautiful bird, with plumage of the finest shining blue, with purple beak and legs, the natural and living ornament of the temples and palaces of the Greeks and Romans, which from the stateliness of its port, as well as the brilliancy of its colours, has obtained the title of Sultana.”. Sonnini. |