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MERE!

The minaret-cryer's chaunt of glee

Now here, and now there, giving warmth as it flies Sung from his lighted gallery,'

From the lips to the cheeks, from the cheek to the And answer'd by a ziraleet

eyes, From neighbouring Haram, wild and sweet ;- Now melting in mist and now breaking in gleams, The merry laughter, echoing

Like the glimpses a saint hath of Heav'n in his dreams! From gardens, where the silken swing

When pensive it seem'd as if that very grace, Wafts some delighted girl above

That charm of all others, was born with her face; The top leaves of the orange grove;

And when angry,-for e'en in the tranquillest climes Or, from those infant groups at play

Light breezes will ruffle the blossoms sometimesAmong the tents” that line the way,

The short passing anger but seem'd to awaken Flinging, unaw'd by slave or mother,

New beauty, like flowers that are sweetest when Handfuls of roses at each other !

shaken.

If tenderness touch'd her, the dark of her eye And the sounds from the Lake,-the low whisp'ring At once took a darker, a heavenlier dye, boats,

From the depth of whose shadow, like holy revealings As they shoot through the moonlight;—the dipping From innermost shrines, came the light of her feelings. of oars,

Then her mirth-oh! 'twas sportive as ever took wing And the wild, airy warbling that every where floats, From the heart with a burst, like a wild-bird in Spring: Through the groves, round the islands, as if all the Mum'd by a wit that would fascinate sages, shores

Yet playful as Peris just loos’d from their cages.' Like those of Kathay utter'd music, and gave While her laugh, full of life, without any controul An answer in song to the kiss of each wave !3

But the sweet one of gracefulness, rung from her soul; But the gentlest of all are those sounds, full of feeling, And where it most sparkled no glance could discover, That soft from the lute of some lover are stealing,— In lip, cheek, or eyes, for she brighten'd all over,Some lover, who knows all the heart-touching power Like any fair lake that the breeze is upon, Of a lute and a sigh in this magical hour.

When it breaks into dimples and laughs in the sun. Oh! best, of delights, as it every where is,

Such, such were the peerless enchantments that gave To be near the lov'd One,—what a rapture is his

NOURMAHAL the proud Lord of the East, for her slave; Who in moonlight and music thus sweetly may glide And though bright was his Haram,-a living parterre O'er the Lake of CASHMERE, with that One by his side! of the flowers? of this planet—though treasures were If Woman can make the worst wilderness dear,

there, Think, think what a heav'n she must make of Cash- For which Soliman's self might have given all the

store So felt the magnificent Son of ACBAR,

That the navy from Ophir e'er wing'd to his shore, When from power and pomp and the trophies of war

Yet dim before her were the smiles of them all, He flew to that Valley, forgetting them all

And the Light of his Haram was young NOURMAHAL!
With the Light of the Haram, his young NOURMAHAL. But where is she now, this night of joy,
When free and uncrown'd as the Conqueror rov'd

When bliss is every heart's employ?-
By the banks of that Lake, with his only belov'd, When all around her is so bright,
He saw, in the wreaths she would playfully snatch So like the visions of a trance,
From the hedges, a glory his crown could not match,

That one might think, who came by chance
And preferr'd in his heart the least ringlet that curl'd Into the vale this happy night,
Down her exquisite neck to the throne of the world!

He saw the City of Delight
There 's a beauty, for ever unchangingly bright,

In fairy-land, whose streets and towers Like the long, sunny lapse of a summer-day's light,

Are made of gems and light and flowers !

Where is the lov'd Sultana ? where,
Shining on, shining on, by no shadow made tender,
Till Love falls asleep in its sameness of splendour.

When mirth brings out the young and fair,

Does she, the fairest, hide her brow,
This was not the beauty-oh! nothing like this,
That to young NOURMAHAL gave such magic of bliss;

In melancholy stillness now?
But that loveliness, ever in motion, which plays

Alas-how light a cause may move Like the light upon Autumn's soft shadowy days, Dissensions between hearts that love!

Hearts that the world in vain had tried; 1 “It is the custom among the women to employ the

And sorrow but more closely tied; Maazeen to chaunt from the gallery of the nearest minaret, That stood the storm, when waves were rough, which on that occasion is illuminated, and the women as

Yet in a sunny hour fall off, sembled at the house respond at intervals with a ziraleet or joyous chorus."-Russell.

Like ships that have gone down at sea, 2 " At the keeping of the Feast of Roses we beheld an When heav'n was all tranquillity! infinite number of lents pitched, with such a crowd of men, women, boys and girls, with music, dances,” etc. etc.Herbert.

1“ In the wars of the Dives with the Peris, whenever the 3“ An old commentator of the Chou-King says, the an- former took the latter prisoners, they shut them up in iron cients having remarked that a current of water made some cages, and hung them on the highest trees. Here they were of the stones near its banks send forth a sound, they detached visited by their

companions, who brought them the choicest some of them, and being charmed with the delightful sound odours."- Richardson. they emitted, constructed King or musical instruments of 2 In the Malay language the same word signifies women them."--Grosier.

and flowers. 4 Jehanguire was the son of the Great Acbar.

3 The capital of Shadukiam. See note, p. 54

a

À something, light as air—a look,

| In vain the Valley's smiling throng A word unkind, or wrongly taken

Worship him, as he moves along;
Oh! love, that tempests never shook,

He heeds them not-one smile of hers
A breath, a touch like this bath shaken. Is worth a world of worshippers ;
And ruder words will soon rush in

They but the Star's adorers are,
To spread the breach that words begin :

She is the Heav'n that lights the Star!
And eyes forget the gentle ray
They wore in courtship's smiling day;

Hence is it too, that NOURMAHAL,
And voices lose the tone that shed

Amid the luxuries of this hour, A tenderness round all they said;

Far from the joyous festival, Till fast declining, one by one,

Sits in her own sequester'd bower, The sweetnesses of love are gone,

With no one near, to soothe or aid, And hearts, so lately mingled, seem

But that inspir'd and wond'rous maid, Like broken clouds,-or like the stream,

NAMOUNA, the Enchantress ;-one, That smiling left the mountain's brow,

O'er whom his race the golden sun As though its waters ne'er could sever, For unremember'd years has run, Yet, ere it reach the plain below,

Yet never saw her blooming brow Breaks into floods, that part for ever.

Younger or fairer than 'tis now.

Nay, rather, as the west wind's sigh Oh you, that have the charge of Love,

Freshens the flower it passes by, Keep him in rosy bondage bound,

Time's wing but seem'd, in stealing o'er, As in the fields of Bliss above

To leave her lovelier than before. He sits, with flowrets fetter'd round ;'

Yet on her smiles a sadness hung, Loose not a tie that round him clings,

And when, as oft, she spoke or sung Nor ever let him use his wings;

Of other worlds, there came a light For ev'n an hour, a minute's flight

From her dark eyes so strangely bright, Will rob the plumes of half their light.

That all believ'd nor man nor earth Like that celestial bird, --whose nest

Were conscious of NAMOUNA's birth! Is found beneath far Eastern skies,

All spells and talismans she knew, Whose wings; though radiant when at rest,

From the great Mantra,' which around Lose all their glory when he flies !?

The Air's sublimer Spirits drew,
Some difference, of this dangerous kind,

To the gold gems” of Afric, bound
By which, though light, the links that bind
The fondest hearts may soon be riven;

Upon the wandering Arab's arm,
Some shadow in love's summer heaven,

To keep him from the Siltim'g3 harm.

And she had pledg’d her powerful art, Which, though a fleecy speck at first,

Pledg'd it with all the zeal and heart May yet in awful thunder burst ;

Of one who knew, though high her sphere,
Such cloud it is, that now hangs over

What 'twas to lose a love so dear,
The heart of the Imperial Lover,
And far hath banish'd from his sight

To find some spell that should recall

Her Selim's6 smile to NOURMAHAL!
His NOURMAHAL, his Haram's Light!
Hence is it, on this happy night,
When Pleasure through the fields and groves

'Twas midnight—through the lattice, wreath'd Has let loose all her world of loves,

With woodbine, many a perfume breath'd And every heart has found its own,

From plants that wake when others sleep,

From timid jasmine buds, that keep He wanders, joyless and alone,

Their odour to themselves all day, And weary as that bird of Thrace,

But, when the sun-light dies away, Whose pinion knows no resting-place."

Let the delicious secret out In vain the loveliest cheeks and eyes

To every breeze that roams about;This Eden of the earth supplies

When thus NAMOUNA:-“ 'Tis the hour Come crowding round-the cheeks are pale,

That scatters spells on herb and flower, The eyes are dim—though rich the spot

And garlands might be gather'd now, With every flower this earth has got,

That, twin'd around the sleeper's brow, What is it to the nightingale,

Would make him dream of such delights, If there his darling rose is not ?4

Such miracles and dazzling sights, 1 See the representation of the Eastern Capid pinioned closely round with wreaths of flowers, in Picart's Cérémonies constant heart, for more than the sweet breath of his beReligieuses.

ved rose."- mi 2" Among the birds of Tonquin is a species of goldfinch, 1 "He is said to have found the great Mantra, spell or which sings so melodiously that it is called the Celestial Bird talisman, through which he ruled over the elements and Its wings, when it is perched, appear variegated with beau- spirits of all denominations."-Wilford. tiful colours, but when it flies they lose all their splendour."- 2"The gold jewels of Jinnie, which are called by the Grosier.

Arabs El Herrez, from the supposed charm they contain." 3“ As these birds on the Bosphorus are never known to Jackson. rest, they are called by the French · les ames damnées.”- 3“ A demon, supposed to haunt woods, &c. in human Dalloway.

shape."- Richardson. 4“ You may place a hundred handfuls of fragrant herbs 4" The name of Jehanguire before his accession to the and flowers before the nightingale, yet he wishes not, in his/ throne.

As Genii of the Sun behold,
At evening, from their tents of gold
Upon the horizon-where they play
Till twilight comes, and, ray by ray,
Their sunny mansions melt away!
Now, too, a chaplet might be wreath'd
Of buds o'er which the moon has breath'd,
Which worn by her, whose love has stray'd,
Might bring some Peri from the skies,
Some sprite, whose very soul is made

Of flowrets' breaths, and lovers' sighs,
And who might tell-

"For me, for me,"

Cried NOURMAHAL impatiently,-
"Oh! twine that wreath for me to-night."
Then rapidly, with foot as light

As the young musk-roe's, out she flew
To cull each shining leaf that grew
Beneath the moonlight's hallowing beams
For this enchanted Wreath of Dreams.
Anemones and Seas of Gold,'

And new-blown lilies of the river,
And those sweet flowrets, that unfold
Their buds on CAMEDEVA's quiver ;2
The tube-rose, with her silvery light,
That in the Gardens of MALAY
Is call'd the Mistress of the Night,3
So like a bride, scented and bright,

She comes out when the sun's away.-
Amaranths, such as crown the maids
That wander through ZAMARA's shades ;^-
And the white moon-flower, as it shows
On SERENDIB's high crags to those
Who near the isle at evening sail,
Scenting her clove-trees in the gale ;-
In short, all flowrets and all plants,
From the divine Amrita tree,"
That blesses heaven's inhabitants
With fruits of immortality,
Down to the basil tuft, that waves
Its fragrant blossom over graves,

And to the humble rosemary,
Whose sweets so thanklessly are shed
To scent the desert-and the dead,-
All in that garden bloom, and all
Are gather'd by young NOURMAHAL,

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4 The people of the Batta country in Sumatra (of which Zamara is one of the ancient names) "when not engaged in war, lead an idle, inactive life, passing the day in playing on a kind of flute, crowned with garlands of flowers, among which the globe-amaranthus, a native of the country, mostly prevails."-Marsden.

5"The largest and richest sort (of the Jambu or roseapple) is called Amrita or immortal, and the mythologists of Tibet apply the same word to a celestial tree, bearing ambrosial fruit."-Sir W. Jones.

6 Sweet-basil, called Rayhan in Persia, and generally found in church-yards.

7" In the Great Desert are found many stalks of lavender and rosemary."-Asiat. Res.

Who heaps her baskets with the flowers
And leaves, till they can hold no more,
Then to NAMOUNA flies, and showers
Upon her lap the shining store.
With what delight th' Enchantress views
So many buds, bath'd with the dews
And beams of that bless'd hour!-her glance
Spoke something, past all mortal pleasures,
As, in a kind of holy trance,

She hung above those fragrant treasures,
Bending to drink their balmy airs,
As if she mix'd her soul with theirs.
And 'twas, indeed, the perfume shed
From flow'rs and scented flame that fed
Her charmed life-for none had e'er
Beheld her taste of mortal fare,
Nor ever in aught earthly dip,
But the morn's dew, her roseate lip.
Fill'd with the cool, inspiring smell,
Th' Enchantress now begins her spell,
Thus singing, as she winds and weaves
In mystic form the glittering leaves :-

I know where the winged visions dwell
That around the night-bed play;

I know each herb and flowret's bell,
Where they hide their wings by day.
Then hasten we, maid,

To twine our braid,

To-morrow the dreams and flowers will fade.

The image of love, that nightly flies
To visit the bashful maid,
Steals from the jasmine flower, that sighs
Its soul, like her, in the shade.
The hope, in dreams, of a happier hour
That alights on misery's brow,
Springs out of the silvery almond-flower,
That blooms on a leafless bough,'
Then hasten we, maid,

To twine our braid,

To-morrow the dreams and flowers will fade.

The visions that oft to worldly eyes

The glitter of mines unfold,
Inhabit the mountain-herb,2 that dyes
The tooth of the fawn like gold.

The phantom shapes-oh touch not them-
That appal the murderer's sight,

Lurk in the fleshy mandrake's stem,
That shrieks, when torn at night!

Then hasten we, maid,

To twine our braid,

To-morrow the dreams and flowers will fade.

The dream of the injur'd, patient mind,
That smiles at the wrongs of men,

Is found in the bruis'd and wounded rind
Of the cinnamon, sweetest then!
Then hasten we, maid,

To twine our braid,

To-morrow the dreams and flowers will fade.

1"The almond-tree, with white flowers, blossoms on the bare branches."-Hasselquist.

2 An herb on Mount Libanus, which is said to communicate a yellow golden hue to the teeth of the goats and other animals that graze upon it.

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From CHINDARA's warbling fount I come, Call'd by that moonlight garland's spell; From CHINDARA's fount, my fairy home,

Where in music, morn and night, I dwell; Where lutes in the air are heard about,

And voices are singing the whole day long, And every sigh the heart breathes out

Is turn'd, as it leaves the lips, to song!
Hither I come

From my fairy home,

And if there's a magic in Music's strain,
I swear by the breath

Of that moonlight wreath,

Thy Lover shall sigh at thy feet again.

For mine is the lay that lightly floats,
And mine are murmuring, dying notes,
That fall as soft as snow on the sea,
And melt in the heart as instantly!
And the passionate strain that, deeply going,
Refines the bosom it trembles through,
As the musk-wind, over the water blowing,
Ruffles the wave, but sweetens it too!

Mine is the charm, whose mystic sway
The Spirits of past Delight obey:
Let but the tuneful talisman sound,
And they come, like Genii, hovering round.
And mine is the gentle song, that bears
From soul to soul, the wishes of love,
As a bird, that wafts through genial airs
The cinnamon seed from grove to grove.4
'Tis I that mingle in one sweet measure
The past, the present, and future of pleasure;
When Memory links the tone that is gone
With the blissful tone that's still in the ear;

1 The myrrh country.

2"This idea (of deities living in shells, was not unknown to the Greeks, who represent the young Nerites, one of the Cupids, as living in shells on the shores of the Red Sea." Wilford.

3 A fabulous fountain, where instruments are said to be constantly playing."-Richardson.

4The Pompadour pigeon is the species, which, by carrying the fruit of the cinnamon to different places, is a great disseminator of this valuable tree."-See Brown's Illustr. Tab. 19.

L

And Hope from a heavenly note flies on,

To a note more heavenly still that is near! The warrior's heart, when touch'd by me, Can as downy soft and as yielding be,

As his own white plume, that high amid death Through the field has shone-yet moves with a breath.

And, oh, how the eyes of beauty glisten,

When Music has reach'd her inward soul,
Like th' silent stars, that wink and listen
While Heav'n's eternal melodies roll!
So, hither I come,

From my fairy home,
And if there's a magic in Music's strain,
I swear by the breath

Of that moonlight wreath,
Thy lover shall sigh at thy feet again.

"Tis dawn-at least that earlier dawn,
Whose glimpses are again withdrawn,1
As if the morn had wak'd, and then
Shut close her lids of light again.
And NOURMAHAL is up, and trying

The wonders of her lute, whose strings-
Oh bliss!-now murmur like the sighing

From that ambrosial Spirit's wings!
And then, her voice-'tis more than human-
Never, till now, had it been given

To lips of any mortal woman

To utter notes so fresh from heaven; Sweet as the breath of angel sighs,

When angel sighs are most divine."Oh! let it last till 'night," she cries, "And he is more than ever mine." And hourly she renews the lay,

So fearful lest its heavenly sweetness Should, ere the evening, fade away,

For things so heavenly have such fleetness!
But, far from fading, it but grows

Richer, diviner as it flows;
Till rapt she dwells on every string,
And pours again each sound along,
Like Echo, lost and languishing

In love with her own wondrous song.
|That evening, (trusting that his soul
Might be from haunting love releas'd
By mirth, by music, and the bowl)

Th' Imperial SELIM held a Feast
In his magnificent Shalimar;
In whose Saloons, when the first star
Of evening o'er the waters trembled,
The Valley's loveliest all assembled;
All the bright creatures that, like dreams,
Glide through its foliage, and drink beams
Of beauty from its founts and streams,2
And all those wandering minstrel-maids,
Who leave-how can they leave?-the shades
Of that dear Valley, and are found

1" They have two mornings, the Soobhi Kazim, and the Soobhi Sadig, the false and the real day-break."-Waring 2"The waters of Cachemir are the more renowned fron its being supposed that the Cachemirians are indebted fo. their beauty to them."-Ali Yezdi.

Singing in gardens of the South1
Those songs, that ne'er so sweetly sound
As from a young Cashmerian's mouth;
There too the Haram's inmates smile;→→
Maids from the West, with sun-bright hair,
And from the Garden of the NILE,

Delicate as the roses there;2
Daughters of Love from CYPRUS' rocks,
With Paphian diamonds in their locks ;"
Light Peri forms, such as there are
On the gold meads of CANDAHAR ;a
And they, before whose sleepy eyes,

In their own bright Kathaian bowers,
Sparkle such rainbow butterflies,"

That they might fancy the rich flowers,
That round them in the sun lay sighing,
Had been by magic all set flying!

Every thing young, every thing fair
From East and West is blushing there.
Except-except-oh NOURMAHAL !
Thou loveliest, dearest of them all,
The one, whose smile shone out alone,
Amidst a world the only one!
Whose light, among so many lights,
Was like that star, on starry nights,
The seaman singles from the sky,
To steer his bark for ever by !

Thou wert not there-so SELIM thought,

And every thing seem'd drear without thee: But ah! thou wert, thou wert-and brought Thy charm of song all fresh about thee. Mingling unnotic'd with a band Of lutanists from many a land, And veil'd by such a mask as shades The features of young Arab maids,—" A mask that leaves but one eye free, To do its best in witchery,She rov'd, with beating heart, around,

And waited, trembling, for the minute, When she might try if still the sound

Of her lov'd lute had magic in it.

The board was spread with fruits and wine; With grapes of gold, like those that shine On CASBIN's hills ;'-pomegranates full

1 "From him I received the following little Gazzel, or Love Song, the notes of which he committed to paper from the voice of one of those singing girls of Cachmere, who wander from that delightful valley over the various parts of India."-Persian Miscellanies.

2 "The roses of the Jinan Nile, or Garden of the Nile, (attached to the Emperor of Morocco's palace) are unequalled, and mattresses are made of their leaves for men of rank to recline upon."-Jackson.

3 "On the side of a mountain near Paphos there is a cavern which produces the most beautiful rock crystal. On account of its brilliancy it has been called the Paphian diamond."-Mariti.

4 There is a part of Candahar, called Peria or Fairy Land."-Thevenot. In some of those countries to the North of Indin vegetable gold is supposed to be produced.

Of melting sweetness, and the pears
And sunniest apples that CAUBUL
In all its thousand gardens2 bears.
Plantains, the golden and the green,
MALAYA's nectar'd mangusteen ;3
Prunes of BOKARA, and sweet nuts

From the far groves of SAMARKAND,
And BASRA dates, and apricots,
Seed of the Sun,4 from IRAN's land;-
With rich conserve of Visna cherries,"
Of Orange flowers, and of those berries
That, wild and fresh, the young gazelles
Feed on in ERAC's rocky dells.
All these in richest vases smile,

In baskets of pure sandal-wood,
And urns of porcelain from that isle
Sunk underneath the Indian flood,
Whence oft the lucky diver brings
Vases to grace the halls of kings.
Wines too, of every clime and hue,
Around their liquid lustre threw ;
Amber Rosolli,8-the bright dew

From vineyards of the Green-Sea gushing ;*
And SHIRAZ wine, that richly ran

As if that jewel, large and rare,
The ruby, for which CUBLAI-CHAN
Offer'd a city's wealth,10 was blushing

Melted within the goblets there!

And amply SELIM quaffs of each,
And seems resolv'd the floods shall reach
His inward heart-shedding around

A genial deluge, as they run,

That soon shall leave no spot undrown'd,
For Love to rest his wings upon.

He little knew how well the boy
Can float upon a goblet's streams,
Lighting them with his smile of joy ;—
As bards have seen him, in their dreams,
Down the blue GANGES laughing glide
Upon a rosy lotus wreath,''
Catching new lustre from the tide

That with his image shone beneath.

1 "The fruits exported from Caubul are apples, pears, pomegranates, etc."-Elphinstone.

2 "We sat down under a tree, listened to the birds, and talked with the son of our Mehmaunder about our country and Caubul, of which he gave an enchanting account: that city and its 100,000 gardens, etc."—ld.

3 "The Mangusteen, the most delicate fruit in the world; the pride of the Malay Islands."-Marsden.

4"A delicious kind of apricot, called by the Persians tokm-ed-shems, signifying sun's seed."-Description of Persia.

5"Sweetmeats in a crystal cup, consisting of rose-leaves in conserve, with lemon or Visna cherry, orange flowers, etc."-Russel.

6 "Antelopes cropping the fresh berries of Erac."-The Moallakat, a poem of Tarafa.

7 Mauri-ga-Sima, an island near Formosa, supposed to have been sunk in the sea for the crimes of its inhabitants. The vessels which the fishermen and divers bring up from 5 "These are the butterflies, which are called in the Chi-it are sold at an immense price in China and Japan.-See nese language Flying Leaves. Some of them have such shining colours, and are so variegated, that they may be called flying flowers; and indeed they are always produced in the finest flower-gardens."-Dunn.

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Kempfer.

8 Persian Tales.

9 The white wine of Kishma.

10 "The King of Zeilan is said to have the very finest ruby that was ever seen, Kublai-Kahn sent and offered the value of a city for it, but the King answered he would not give it for the treasure of the world."-Marco Polo.

11 The Indians feign that Cupid was first seen_floating down the Ganges on the Nymphæa Nelumbo.-See PenInant.

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