While some, for war's more terrible attacks,
Wield the huge mace, and ponderous battle-axe;
And, as they wave aloft in morning's beam
The milk-white plumage of their helms, they seem
Like a chenar-tree grovel when winter throws
O'er all its tufted heads his feathering snows.

Between the porphyry pillars, that uphold The rich moresque-work of the roof of gold, Aloft the harem's curtain'd galleries rise, Where, through the silken network, glancing eyes, From time to time, like sudden gleams that glow Through autumn clouds, shine o'er the pomp be

low. What impious tongue, ye blushing saints, would

dare To hint that aught but Heaven hath placed you

there? Or that the loves of this light world could bind, In their gross chain, your Prophet's soaring mind? No-wrongful thought! -- commission'd from above To people Eden's bowers with shapes of love (Creatures so bright, that the same lips and eyes They wear on earth will serve in Paradise), There to recline among heaven's native maids, And crown th' elect with bliss that never fades

1 The oriental plane. “The chenar is a delightful tree; its bole is of a fine white and smooth bark; and its foliage, which grows in a tuft at the summit, is of a bright green." — Morier's Travels.

Well hath the Prophet-Chief his bidding done;
And every beauteous race beneath the sun,
From those who kneel at Brahma's burning founts,
To the fresh nymphs bounding o'er Yemen's

mounts;
From Persia's eyes of full and fawn-like ray,
To the small, half-shut glances of Kathay; 2
And Georgia's bloom, and Azab's darker smiles,
And the gold ringlets of the Western Isles;
All, all are there; each land its flower hath given,
To form that fair young Nursery for Heaven!

But why this pageant now? this arm d array? What triumph crowds the rich divan to-day With turban'd heads, of every hue and race, Bowing before that veil'd and awful face, Like tulip-beds 3 of different shape and dyes. Bending beneath th' invisible west-wind's sighs! What new-made mystery now, for Faith to sign, And blood to seal, as genuine and divine? — What dazzling mimicry of God's own power Hath the bold Prophet plann'd to grace this hour? Not such the pageant now, though not less proud, Yon warrior youth, advancing from the crowd, With silver bow, with belt of broider'd crape,

1 The burning fountains of Brahma, near Chittagong, esteemed as holy. - Turner.

2 China. 3 Like tulip-beds, etc. — “The name of tulip is said to be

, of Turkish extraction, and given to the flower on account of its resembling a turban.” — Beckmann's History of Inventions.

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 darken'd o'er his downy cheek, O'erwhelm'd in fight, and captive to the Greek,2 He linger'd there, till peace dissolved his chains; — Oh! who could, e'en 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 hath been, nor see The shining footprints of her Deity, Nor feel those god-like breathings in the air, Which mutely told her spirit had been there? Not he, that youthful warrior, — no, too well For his soul's quiet work'd th' awakening spell! And now, returning to his own dear land,

1 And fur-bound bonnet of Bucharian shape. -" 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." — Independent Tartary, in Pinkerton's Col.

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

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 unfurl d, Those words of sunshine, “Freedom to the World,” At once his faith, his sword, his soul obey'd Th’inspiring summons: every chosen blade, That fought beneath that banner's sacred text, Seem'd 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 fetter'd world from every bond and stain, And bring its primal glories back again!

Low as young Azim knelt, that motley crowd Of all earth's nations sunk the knee and bow'd, 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!1
Then thus he spoke : -"

“Stranger, though new the
frame
Thy soul inhabits now, I've track'd 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 th' unextinguish'd soul
Rapidly passes, till it reach the goal!
“Nor think 'tis only the gross spirits, warm'd
With duskier fire and for earth's medium form'd,
That runs 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? 3

1 The flying throne of star-taught Solomon. · This wonderful throne was called the "Star of the Genii.” When Solomon 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.

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

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