THE LIGHT OF THE HARAM. WHO has not heard of the vale of CASHMERE, With its roses the brightest that earth ever gave,a O! to see it at sunset,-when warm o'er the Lake And each hallows the hour by some rites of its own. Here the music of prayer from a minaret swells, Here the Magian his urn, full of perfume, is swinging, a «The rose of Kashmire, for its brilliancy and delicacy of odour, has long been proverbial in the East."-Forster. 209 And here, at the altar, a zone of sweet bells Round the waist of some fair Indian dancer is ringing. Or to see it by moonlight,-when mellowly shines The light o'er its palaces, gardens, and shrines; When the waterfalls gleam, like a quick fall of stars, And the nightingale's hymn from the Isle of Chenars Is broken by laughs and light echoes of feet From the cool shining walks where the young people meet. Or at morn, when the magic of daylight awakes b C Sublime, from that Valley of bliss to the world! a «Tied round her waist the zone of bells, that sounded with ravishing melody."-Song of Jayadeva. b«The little isles in the Lake of Cachemire are set with arbours and largeleaved aspen-trees, slender and tall.”—Bernier. "The Tuckt Suliman, the name bestowed by the Mahometans on this hill, forms one side of a grand portal to the Lake."-Forster. But never yet, by night or day, With quicker spread each heart uncloses, The Valley holds its Feast of Roses; a The Floweret of a hundred leaves,b "Twas when the hour of evening came C Behind the palms of BARAMOULE, Refreshed, from their embroidered beds, a «The Feast of Roses continues the whole time of their remaining in bloom."-See Pietro de la Valle. b❝Gul sad berk, the Rose of a hundred leaves. I believe a particular species." Ouseley. c Bernier. Where they had slept the sun away, And fields and pathways, far and near, Were lighted by a blaze so clear, could see, in wandering round, That you So gay a Feast of Roses yet; a A place mentioned in the Toozek Jehangeery, or Memoirs of Jehanguire, where there is an account of the beds of saffron-flowers about Cashmere. The moon had never shed a light So clear as that which blessed them there; Nor they themselves looked half so fair. And what a wilderness of flowers! It seemed as though from all the bowers As if a shower of fairy wreaths Had fallen upon it from the sky! Of tabors and of dancing feet; The minaret-crier's chant of glee Sung from his lighted gallery,a And answered by a ziraleet From neighbouring Haram, wild and sweet ;— The merry laughter, echoing From gardens, where the silken swing b a. "It is the custom among the women to employ the Maazeen to chant 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."-Russell. b 66 The swing is a favourite pastime in the East, as promoting a circulation of air, extremely refreshing in those sultry climates."-Richardson. "The swings are adorned with festoons. This pastime is accompanied |