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Not such the pageant now, though not less proud;
Yon warrior youth, advancing from the crowd,
With silver bow, with belt of broidered crape,
And fur-bound bonnet of Bucharian shape,"
So fiercely beautiful in form and eye,
Like war's wild planet in a summer sky;
That youth to day,—a proselyte, worth hordes
Of cooler spirits and less practised swords,—
Is come to join, all bravery and belief,

The creed and standard of the heaven-sent Chief.

Though few his years, the West already knows
Young Azim's fame ;-beyond th' Olympian snows,
Ere manhood darkened o'er his downy cheek,
O'erwhelmed in fight and captive to the Greek,
He lingered there, till peace dissolved his chains ;-
O, who could, even in bondage, tread the plains
Of glorious GREECE, nor feel his spirit rise
Kindling within him? who, with heart and eyes,
Could walk where Liberty had been, nor see
The shining footprints of her Deity,
Nor feel those godlike breathings in the air,
Which mutely told her spirit had been there?

a «The inhabitants of Bucharia wear a round cloth bonnet, shaped much after the Polish fashion, having a large fur border. They tie their kaftans about the middle with a girdle of a kind of silk crape, several times round the body."— Account of Independent Tartary, in Pinkerton's Collection.

b In the war of the Caliph Mahadi against the Emperor Irene, for an account of which vide Gibbon, vol. x.

Not he, that youthful warrior,—no, too well
For his soul's quiet worked the awakening spell;
And now, returning to his own dear land,

Full of those dreams of good that, vainly grand,
Haunt the young heart,―proud views of human-kind,
Of men to Gods exalted and refined,-

False views, like that horizon's fair deceit,

Where earth and heaven but seem, alas, to meet!—

Soon as he heard an Arm Divine was raised
To right the nations, and beheld, emblazed

On the white flag MOKANNA's host unfurled,
Those words of sunshine, "Freedom to the World,"
At once his faith, his sword, his soul obeyed
Th' inspiring summons; every chosen blade
That fought beneath that banner's sacred text
Seemed doubly edged, for this world and the next ·
And ne'er did Faith with her smooth bandage bind
Eyes more devoutly willing to be blind,

In virtue's cause ;-never was soul inspired

With livelier trust in what it most desired,
Than his, th' enthusiast there, who kneeling, pale
With pious awe, before that Silver Veil,
Believes the form, to which he bends his knee,
Some pure, redeeming angel, sent to free

This fettered world from every bond and stain,
And bring its primal glories back again!

Low as young Azıм knelt, that motley crowd
Of all earth's nations sunk the knee and bowed,
With shouts of "ALLA!" echoing long and loud;
While high in air, above the Prophet's head,
Hundreds of banners, to the sunbeam spread,
Waved, like the wings of the white birds that fan
The flying throne of star-taught Soliman."

Then thus he spoke :-" Stranger, though new the frame
"Thy soul inhabits now, I've tracked its flame
"For many an age,' in every chance and change
"Of that existence, through whose varied range,—
"As through a torch-race, where, from hand to hand,
"The flying youths transmit their shining brand,—
"From frame to frame the unextinguished soul
"Rapidly passes, till it reach the goal!

"Nor think 'tis only the gross Spirits, warmed "With duskier fire and for earth's medium formed,

a This wonderful Throne was called The Star of the Genii. For a full description of it, see the Fragment, translated by Captain Franklin, from a Persian MS. entitled "The History of Jerusalem," Oriental Collections, vol. i. p. 235.— When Soliman travelled, the Eastern writers say, "He had a carpet of green silk on which his throne was placed, being of a prodigious length and breadth, and' sufficient for all his forces to stand upon, the men placing themselves on his right hand, and the spirits on his left; and that when all were in order, the wind, at his command, took up the carpet, and transported it, with all that were upon it, wherever he pleased; the army of birds at the same time flying over their heads, and forming a kind of canopy to shade them from the sun."—Sale's Koran, vol. ii. p. 214, note.

The transmigration of souls was one of his doctrines. Vide D'Herbelot.

"That run this course;-Beings, the most divine, "Thus deign through dark mortality to shine.

"Such was the Essence that in ADAM dwelt,

"To which all Heaven, except the Proud One, knelt :a "Such the refined Intelligence that glowed

d

"In MOUSSA's frame,-and, thence descending, flowed
"Through many a Prophet's breast; —in Issa shone,
"And in MOHAMMED burned; till, hastening on,
"(As a bright river, that from fall to fall

"In many a maze descending, bright through all,
"Finds some fair region where, each labyrinth past,
"In one full lake of light it rests at last,)
"That Holy Spirit, settling calm and free
"From lapse or shadow, centres all in me!"

Again, throughout th' assembly, at these words, Thousands of voices rung: the warriors' swords Were pointed up to heaven: a sudden wind

In th' open banners played, and from behind

a" And when we said unto the angels, Worship Adam, they all worshipped him except Eblis, (Lucifer,) who refused.” The Koran, chap. ii.

b Moses.

This is according to D'Herbelot's account of the doctrines of Mokanna :-"Sa doctrine étoit, que Dieu avoit pris une forme et figure humaine, depuis qu'il eut commandé aux Anges d'adorer Adam, le premier des hommes. Qu'après la mort d'Adam, Dieu étoit apparu sous la figure de plusieurs Prophètes, et autres grands hommes qu'il avoit choises, jusqu'à ce qu'il prit celle d'Abu Moslem, Prince de Khorassan, lequel professoit l'erreur de la Tenassukhiah ou Metempsychose; et qu'après la mort de ce Prince, la Divinité étoit passee, et descendue en sa personne.".

d Jesus.

Those Persian hangings, that but ill could screen
The Haram's loveliness, white hands were seen
Waving embroidered scarves, whose motion gave
A perfume forth-like those the Houris wave
When beckoning to their bowers th' immortal Brave.

“But these,” pursued the Chief, "are truths sublime, "That claim a holier mood and calmer time

"Than earth allows us now ;-this sword must first

"The darkling prison-house of Mankind burst,

"Ere Peace can visit them, or Truth let in
"Her wakening daylight on a world of sin.
"But then,-celestial warriors, then, when all
"Earth's shrines and thrones before our banner fall;
"When the glad Slave shall at these feet lay down
"His broken chain, the tyrant Lord his crown,
"The Priest his book, the Conqueror his wreath,
"And from the lips of Truth one mighty breath
"Shall, like a whirlwind, scatter in its breeze
"That whole dark pile of human mockeries:-
"Then shall the reign of mind commence on earth,
"And starting fresh as from a second birth,
"Man, in the sunshine of the world's new spring,
"Shall walk transparent, like some holy thing!
"Then, too, your Prophet from his angel brow
"Shall cast the Veil that hides its splendours now,

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