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Here wait, in silence like the dead,
And listen for the Moslem's tread
So anxiously, the carrion-bird

Above them flaps his wing unheard!

They come

that plunge into the water

Gives signal for the work of slaughter.

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them now

Had point or prowess, prove

Woe to the file that foremost wades!

They come a falchion greets each brow,

And, as they tumble, trunk on trunk,
Beneath the gory waters sunk,

Still o'er their drowning bodies press
New victims quick and numberless;
Till scarce an arm in HAFED's band,
So fierce their toil, hath power to stir,

But listless from each crimson hand

The sword hangs, clogg'd with massacre.

Never was horde of tyrants met
With bloodier welcome ―never yet
To patriot vengeance hath the sword
More terrible libations pour'd!

T

All up the dreary, long ravine,

By the red, murky glimmer seen

Of half-quench'd brands, that o'er the flood
Lie scatter'd round and burn in blood,
What ruin glares! what carnage swims!
Heads, blazing turbans, quivering limbs,
Lost swords that, dropp'd from many a hand,
In that thick pool of slaughter stand; -
Wretches who wading, half on fire

From the toss'd brands that round them fly, "Twixt flood and flame in shrieks expire;

And some who, grasp'd by those that die, Sink woundless with them, smother'd o'er In their dead brethren's gushing gore!

But vainly hundreds, thousands bleed,
Still hundreds, thousands more succeed; -
Countless as tow'rds some flame at night
The North's dark insects wing their flight,
And quench or perish in its light,

To this terrific spot they pour

Till, bridg'd with Moslem bodies o'er,
It bears aloft their slippery tread,

And o'er the dying and the dead,

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Tremendous causeway! on they pass.
Then, hapless Ghebers, then, alas,
What hope was left for you? for you,
Whose yet warm pile of sacrifice

Is smoking in their vengeful eyes

Whose swords how keen, how fierce they knew,
And burn with shame to find how few.

Crush'd down by that vast multitude,

Some found their graves where first they stood;
While some with hardier struggle died,
And still fought on by HAFED's side,
Who, fronting to the foe, trod back
Tow'rds the high towers his gory track;
And, as a lion, swept away

By sudden swell of JORDAN's pride
From the wild covert where he lay, '

2

Long battles with th' o'erwhelming tide,

2 "In this thicket upon the banks of the Jordan several sorts of wild beasts are wont to harbour themselves, whose being washed out of the covert by the overflowings of the river gave occasion to that allusion of Jeremiah, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan."- Maundrell's Aleppo.

So fought he back with fierce delay,
And kept both foes and fate at bay!

But whither now? their track is lost,

Their prey escap'd

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1

guide, torches gone —

By torrent-beds and labyrinths crost,
The scatter'd crowd rush blindly on-
"Curse on those tardy lights that wind,"
They panting cry," so far behind -
"Oh for a bloodhound's precious scent,
"To track the way the Gheber went!"
confusedly along

Vain wish

They rush, more desperate as more wrong:
Till, wilder'd by the far-off lights,

Yet glittering up those gloomy heights,
Their footing, maz'd and lost, they miss,
And down the darkling precipice

Are dash'd into the deep abyss ;-
Or midway hang, impal'd on rocks,
A banquet, yet alive, for flocks

Of ravening vultures, while the dell
Re-echoes with each horrible yell.

Those sounds-the last, to vengeance dear, That e'er shall ring in HAFED's ear,

Now reach'd him, as aloft, alone,
Upon the steep way breathless thrown,
He lay beside his reeking blade,
Resign'd, as if life's task were o'er,
Its last blood-offering amply paid,

And IRAN's self could claim no more.
One only thought, one lingering beam
Now broke across his dizzy dream
Of pain and weariness - 'twas she

His heart's pure planet, shining yet
Above the waste of memory,

When all life's other lights were set. And never to his mind before

Her image such enchantment wore.

It seem'd as if each thought that stain'd,
Each fear that chill'd their loves was past,

And not one cloud of earth remain'd

Between him and her glory cast;

As if to charms, before so bright,

New grace from other worlds was given,

And his soul saw her by the light

Now breaking o'er itself from heaven!

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