Or at morn, when the magic of daylight awakes A new wonder each minute, as slowly it breaks, Hills, cupolas, fountains, call'd forth every one Out of darkness, as if but just born of the Sun. When the Spirit of Fragrance is up with the day, From his Haram of night-flowers stealing away; And the wind, full of wantonness, woos like a lover The young aspen-trees1, till they tremble all over. When the East is as warm as the light of first hopes, And Day, with his banner of radiance unfurl'd, Shines in through the mountainous portal that opes,

Sublime, from that Valley of bliss to the world!

"Twas when the hour of evening came
Upon the Lake, serene and cool,
When Day had hid his sultry flame
Behind the palms of BARAMOULE, 5
When maids began to lift their heads,
Refresh'd from their embroider'd beds,
Where they had slept the sun away,
And wak'd to moonlight and to play.

1 "The little isles in the Lake of Cachemire are set with arbours and large-leaved aspen-trees, slender and tall."— Bernier.

2" The Tuckt Suliman, the name bestowed by the Mahommetans on this hill, forms one side of a grand portal to the Lake."- Forster.

3" The Feast of Roses continues the whole time of their remaining in bloom."- See Pietro de la Valle.

All were abroad- the busiest hive
On BELA's hills is less alive,
When saffron-beds are full in flow'r,
Than look'd the Valley in that hour.
A thousand restless torches play'd
Through every grove and island shade;
A thousand sparkling lamps were set
On every dome and minaret;
And fields and pathways, far and near,
Were lighted by a blaze so clear,
That you could see, in wand'ring round,
The smallest rose-leaf on the ground.
Yet did the maids and matrons leave
Their veils at home, that brilliant eve;
And there were glancing eyes about,
And cheeks, that would not dare shine out
In open day, but thought they might
Look lovely then, because 'twas night.
And all were free, and wandering,

And all exclaim'd to all they met,
That never did the summer bring
So gay a Feast of Roses yet;
The moon had never shed a light

So clear as that which bless'd them there; The roses ne'er shone half so bright,

Nor they themselves look'd half so fair,

And what a wilderness of flow'rs!
It seem'd as though from all the bow'rs
And fairest fields of all the year,
The mingled spoil were scatter'd here.
The Lake, too, like a garden breathes,
With the rich buds that o'er it lie, -
As if a shower of fairy wreaths
Had fall'n upon it from the sky!
And then the sounds of joy, the beat
Of tabors and of dancing feet;-
The minaret-crier's chaunt of glee
Sung from his lighted gallery, 7
And answer'd by a ziraleet

From neighbouring Haram, wild and sweet ;

The merry laughter, echoing

From gardens, where the silken swing 8
Wafts some delighted girl above

The top leaves of the orange-grove;

moirs of Jehan-Guire, where there is an account of the beds of saffron-flowers about Cashmere.

7" It is the custom among the women to employ the Maazeen to chaunt from the gallery of the nearest minaret, which on that occasion is illuminated, and the women assembled at the house respond at intervals with a ziraleet or joyous chorus."— Russel.

8" The swing is a favourite pastime in the East, as pro

5 Bernier.

sultry climates."- Richardson.

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 2

In Fairy-land, whose streets and tow'rs
Are made of gems and light and flow'rs!
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 for ever.

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; 3.
Loose not a tie that round him clings,
Nor ever let him use his wings;
For ev'n 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 ! +

In the Malay language the same word signifies women and flowers.

2 The capital of Shadukiam. See note 2, p. 356.

3 See the representation of the Eastern Cupid, pinioned closely round with wreaths of flowers, in Picart's Cérémonies Religieuses.

4"Among the birds of Tonquin is a species of goldfinch, which sings so melodiously that it is called the Celestial Bird. Its wings, when it is perched, appear variegated with beautiful

colours, but when it flies they lose all their splendour.” . Grosier.

5" As these birds on the Bosphorus are never known to rest, they are called by the French les âmes damnées.'"'— Dalloway.

6" You may place a hundred handfuls of fragrant herbs and flowers before the nightingale, yet he wishes not, in his constant heart, for more than the sweet breath of his beloved rose."- Jami.

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 bow'r,
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 flow'r 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!

1 "He is said to have found the great Mantra, spell or talisman, through which he ruled over the elements and spirits of all denominations."- Wilford.

2 "The gold jewels of Jinnie, which are called by the Arabs El Herrez, from the supposed charm they contain."Jackson.

3" A demon, supposed to haunt woods, &c. in a human shape."- - Richardson.

4 The name of Jehan-Guire before his accession to the throne.

Cried NOURMAHAL impatiently, —
"Oh! twine that wreath for me to-night."
Then, rapidly, with foot as light
As the young musk-roe's, out she flew,
To cull each shining leaf that grew
Beneath the moonlight's hallowing beams,
For this enchanted Wreath of Dreams.
Anemones and Seas of Gold, 5

And new-blown lilies of the river,
And those sweet flow'rets, that unfold
Their buds on CAMADEVA's quiver; 6
The tube-rose, with her silv'ry light,
That in the Gardens of Malay
Is call'd the Mistress of the Night, 7
So like a bride, scented and bright,

7 "The Malayans style the tube-rose (Polianthes tuberosa) Sandal Malam, or the Mistress of the Night."- Pennant. 8 The people of the Batta country in Sumatra (of which Zamara is one of the ancient names), "when not engaged in war, lead an idle, inactive life, passing the day in playing on a kind of flute, crowned with garlands of flowers, among which the globe-amaranthus, a native of the country, mostly

9 The largest and richest sort (of the Jambu, or rose

That blesses heaven's inhabitants

With fruits of immortality, Down to the basil tuft, that waves, Its fragrant blossom over graves,

And to the humble rosemary,
Whose sweets so thanklessly are shed
To scent the desert 2 and the dead :-
All in that garden bloom, and all
Are gather'd by young NOURMAHAL,
Who heaps her baskets with the flow'rs

And leaves, till they can hold no more;
Then to NAMOUNA flies, and show'rs

Upon her lap the shining store.

With what delight the' 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
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,
The' 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 flow'ret's bell,
Where they hide their wings by day.

Then hasten we, maid,

To twine our braid,

To-morrow the dreams and flow'rs will fade.

The image of love, that nightly flies
To visit the bashful maid,

Tibet apply the same word to a celestial tree, bearing ambrosial fruit."-Sir W. Jones.

"The women in Egypt go, at least two days in the week, to pray and weep at the sepulchres of the dead; and the custom then is to throw upon the tombs a sort of herb which the Arabs call rihan, and which is our sweet basil. — Maillet, Lett. 10.

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

Even the oil of this plant must be of a golden colour. It is called Haschischat ed dab.”

Father Jerome Dandini, however, asserts that the teeth of the goats at Mount Libanus are of a silver colour; and adds, "this confirms to me that which I observed in Candia: to wit, that the animals that live on Mount Ida eat a certain herb, which renders their teeth of a golden colour; which, acording to my judgment, cannot otherwise proceed than from the

4 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.

Niebuhr thinks this may be the herb which the Eastern alchymists look to as a means of making gold. "Most of

Libanus.

5 The myrrh country.

6" 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.