No, no, 'tis fix'd-let good or ill betide, Hast thou forgot thy oath?" At this dread word, The maid, whose spirit his rude taunts had stirr'd Through all its depths, and rous'd an anger there, That burst and lighten'd ev'n through her despair, Shrunk back, as if a blight were in the breath That spoke that word, and stagger'd, pale as death. "Yes, my sworn bride, let others seek in bowers As victims, love them; as the sea-dog doats Or as the Nile-bird loves the slime that gives That rank and venomous food on which she lives!* And, now thou see'st my soul's angelic hue, 'Tis time these features were uncurtain'd too;— * Circum easdem ripas (Nili, viz.) ales est Ibis. Ea serpentium populatur ova, gratissimamque ex his escam nidis sais refert.-Solinus. This brow, whose light-O, rare celestial light!- He raised his Veil-the Maid turn'd slowly round, Look'd at him-shriek'd-and sunk upon the ground! On their arrival, next night, at the place of encampment, they were surprised and delighted to find the groves all round illuminated; some artists of Yamtcheou having been sent on previously for the purpose. On each side of the green alley, which led to the Royal Pavilion, artificial sceneries of bamboo-work were erected, representing arches, minarets, and towers, from which hung thousands of silken lanterns, painted by the most delicate pencils of Canton. -Nothing could be more beautiful than the leaves of the mango-trees and acacias, shining in the light of the bamboo scenery, which shed a lustre round as soft as that of the nights of Peristan. LALLA ROOKH, however, who was too much occupied by the sad story of ZELICA and her lover to give a thought to anything else, except, perhaps, him who related it, hurried on through this scene of splendour to her pavilion, greatly to the mortification of the poor artists of Yamtcheou, and was followed with equal rapidity by the Great Chamberlain, cursing, as he went, that ancient Mandarin, whose parental anxiety in lighting up the shores of the lake, where his beloved daughter had wandered and been lost, was the origin of these fantastic Chinese illuminations. Without a moment's delay young FERAMORZ was introduced ; and FADLADEEN, who could never make up his mind as to the merits of a poet till he knew the religious sect to which he belonged, was about to ask him whether he was a Shia or a Sooni, when LALLA ROOKH impatiently clapped her hands for silence, and the youth, being seated upon the musnud near her, proceeded : PREPARE thy soul, young AZIM!-thou hast brav'd The bands of Greece, still mighty though enslav'd; Hast fac'd her phalanx, arm'd with all its fame, Her Macedonian pikes and globes of flame; All this hast fronted, with firm heart and brow, But a more perilous trial waits thee now, Woman's bright eyes a dazzling host of eyes, From every land where woman smiles or sighs; Of every hue, as Love may chance to raise His black or azure banner in their blaze; And each sweet mode of warfare, from the flash That lightens boldly through the shadowy lash, To the sly, stealing splendours, almost hid, Like swords half sheath'd, beneath the downcast lid. Such, Azım, is the lovely, luminous host Now led against thee; and, let conquerors boast Their fields of fame, he who in virtue arms A young, warm spirit against beauty's charms, Who feels her brightness, yet defies her thrall, Is the best, bravest conqueror of them all. Now, through the Haram chambers, moving lights And busy shapes proclaim the toilet's rites; |