Could walk where Liberty had been, nor see
The shining foot-prints 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 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
The' 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, the' 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.1

Then thus he spoke:

the frame

2

"Stranger, though new

"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, "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 : 3 "Such the refined Intelligence that glowed

4

"In MOUSSA's frame, and, thence descending,

flowed

1 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.

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

3 "And when we said unto the angels, Worship Adam, they all worshipped him except Eblis, (Lucifer,) who refused.”. The Koran, chap. ii 4 Moses.

"Thro' many a Prophet's breast; 1-in Issa2 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 the' assembly, at these words, Thousands of voices rung: the warriors' swords Were pointed up to heaven: a sudden wind In the' open banners played, and from behind 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 the' 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;

1 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 choisis, jusqu'à ce qu'il prit celle d'Abu Moslem, Prince de Khorassan, lequel professoit l'erreur de la Tenassukhiah ou Metempschychose; et qu'après la mort de ce Prince, la Divinité étoit passée, et descendue en sa personne

2 Jesus.

"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 splendors now, "And gladdened Earth shall, thro' her wide expanse, "Bask in the glories of this countenance!

"For thee, young warrior, welcome!-thou hast yet "Some tasks to learn, some frailties to forget, "Ere the white war-plume o'er thy brow can wave;-"But, once my own, mine all till in the grave!"

The pomp is at an end the crowds are gone Each ear and heart still haunted by the tone Of that deep voice, which thrilled like ALLA's own! The Young all dazzled by the plumes and lances, The glittering throne, and Haram's half-caught glances; The Old deep pondering on the promised reign Of peace and truth; and all the female train Ready to risk their eyes, could they but gaze A moment on that brow's miraculous blaze!

But there was one, among the chosen maids, Who blushed behind the gallery's silken shades,

One, to whose soul the pageant of to-day

Has been like death!-you saw her pale dismay,
Ye wondering sisterhood, and heard the burst
Of exclamation from her lips, when first
She saw that youth, too well, too dearly known,
Silently kneeling at the Prophet's throne.

Ah ZELICA! there was a time, when bliss Shone o'er thy heart from every look of his; When but to see him, hear him, breathe the air In which he dwelt, was thy soul's fondest prayer; When round him hung such a perpetual spell, Whate'er he did, none ever did so well. Too happy days! when, if he touched a flower Or gem of thine, 'twas sacred from that hour; When thou didst study him till every tone And gesture and dear look became thy own, Thy voice like his, the changes of his face In thine reflected with still lovelier grace, Like echo, sending back sweet music, fraught With twice the' aërial sweetness it had brought! Yet now he comes, - brighter than even he E'er beamed before, but, ah! not bright for thee: dread, unlooked for, like a visitant

No

From the' other world, he comes as if to haunt
Thy guilty soul with dreams of lost delight,
Long lost to all but memory's aching sight; -
Sad dreams! as when the Spirit of our Youth
Returns in sleep, sparkling with all the truth
And innocence once ours, and leads us back,
In mournful mockery, o'er the shining track
Of our young life, and points out every ray
Of hope and peace we've lost upon the way!