Whose sweets so thanklessly are shed

To scent the desert 3 and the dead,
All in that garden bloom, and all
Are gather'd by young NOURMAHAL,
Who heaps her baskets with the flowers
And leaves, till they can hold no more;
Then to NAMOUNA flies, and showers
Upon her lap the shining store.

With what delight th' Enchantress views
So many buds, bath'd with the dews

And beams of that bless'd hour! - her glance

Spoke something, past all mortal pleasures,
As, in a kind of holy trance,

She hung above those fragrant treasures,
Bending to drink their balmy airs,
As if she mix'd her soul with theirs.

And 'twas, indeed, the perfume shed
From flow'rs and scented flame that fed

3" In the Great Desert are found many stalks of lavender and rosemary."-Asiat. Res.

Her charmed life

for none had e'er

Beheld her taste of mortal fare,

Nor ever in aught earthly dip,
But the morn's dew, her roseate lip.
Fill'd with the cool, inspiring smell,
Th' Enchantress now begins her spell,
Thus singing, as she winds and weaves
In mystic form the glittering leaves: —

I know where the winged visions dwell
That around the night-bed play;

I know each herb and flowret's bell,
Where they hide their wings by day.

Then hasten we, maid,

To twine our braid,

To-morrow the dreams and flowers will fade.

The image of love, that nightly flies

To visit the bashful maid,

Steals from the jasmine flower, that sighs
Its soul, like her, in the shade.

The hope, in dreams, of a happier hour
That alights on misery's brow,

Springs out of the silvery almond-flower,
That blooms on a leafless bough.+

Then hasten we, maid,

To twine our braid,

To-morrow the dreams and flowers will fade.

The visions, that oft to worldly eyes

The glitter of mines unfold,
Inhabit the mountain-herb,' that dyes

The tooth of the fawn like gold.

The phantom shapes-oh touch not them—
That appal the murderer's sight,
Lurk in the fleshly mandrake's stem,

That shrieks, when torn at night!

Then hasten we, maid,

To twine our braid,

To-morrow the dreams and flowers will fade.

4" The almond-tree, with white flowers, blossoms on the bare branches."- Hasselquist.

5 An herb on Mount Libanus, which is said to communicate a yellow golden hue to the teeth of the goats and other animals that graze upon it.

The dream of the injur'd, patient mind,
That smiles at the wrongs of men,

Is found in the bruis'd and wounded rind
Of the cinnamon, sweetest then!

Then hasten we, maid,

To twine our braid,

To-morrow the dreams and flowers will fade.

1

No sooner was the flowery crown

Plac'd on her head, than sleep came down,
Gently as nights of summer fall,
Upon the lids of NOURMAHAL;
And, suddenly, a tuneful breeze,
As full of small, rich harmonies
As ever wind, that o'er the tents
Of AZAB blew, was full of scents,

6

Steals on her ear and floats and swells,

Like the first air of morning creeping

Into those wreathy, Red-Sea shells,

Where Love himself, of old, lay sleeping;

6 The myrrh country.

"This idea (of deities living in shells) was not unknown to the Greeks, who represent the young Nerites, one of the Cupids, as living in shells on the shores of the Red Sea."-Wilford.

And now a Spirit form'd, 'twould seem,

Of music and of light, so fair,

So brilliantly his features beam,

And such a sound is in the air

Of sweetness, when he waves his wings,
Hovers around her, and thus sings:

8

From CHINDARA's warbling fount I come,
Call'd by that moonlight garland's spell;
From CHINDARA's fount, my fairy home,
Where in music, morn and night, I dwell.
Where lutes in the air are heard about,

And voices are singing the whole day long,
And every sigh the heart breathes out

Is turn'd, as it leaves the lips, to song!
Hither I come

From my fairy home,

And if there's a magic in Music's strain,
I swear by the breath

Of that moonlight wreath,

Thy Lover shall sigh at thy feet again.

8" A fabulous fountain, where instruments are said to be constantly playing."- Richardson.