Those lanterns, countless as the winged lights
That spangle INDIA's fields on showery nights,*
Far as their formidable gleams they shed,
The mighty tents of the beleaguerer spread,
Glimmering along the' horizon's dusky line,
And thence in nearer circles, till they shine
Among the founts and groves, o'er which the town
In all its arm'd magnificence looks down.

Yet, fearless, from his lofty battlements
MOKANNA Views that multitude of tents;
Nay, smiles to think that, though entoil'd, beset,
Not less than myriads dare to front him yet;
That friendless, throneless, he thus stands at bay,
Ev'n thus a match for myriads such as they.

'Oh, for a sweep of that dark Angel's wing,

"Who brush'd the thousands of the' Assyrian King † "To darkness in a moment, that I might

"People Hell's chambers with yon host to-night!

"But, come what may, let who will grasp the throne,

Caliph or Prophet, Man alike shall groan;

"Let who will torture him, Priest Caliph King-
"Alike this loathsome world of his shall ring
"With victims' shrieks and howlings of the slave,
"Sounds, that shall glad me ev'n within my grave!"
Thus, to himself— but to the scanty train

Still left around him, a far different strain:

* Carreri mentions the fire-flies in India during the rainy season. See his Travels.

+ Sennacherib, called by the Orientals King of Moussal. D'Herbelot

"Glorious Defenders of the sacred Crown

"I bear from Heav'n whose light nor blood shall drown "Nor shadow of earth eclipse; before whose gems

"The paly pomp of this world's diadems,

"The crown of GERASHID, the pillar'd throne
"Of PARVIZ*, and the heron crest that shone,†
"Magnificent, o'er ALI's beauteous eyes,

"Fade like the stars when morn is in the skies:

-

"Warriors, rejoice the port to which we've pass'd "O'er Destiny's dark wave, beams out at last!

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'Victory's our own - 't is written in that Book

Upon whose leaves none but the angels look, "That ISLAM's Sceptre shall beneath the power

Of her great foe fall broken in that hour, "When the moon's mighty orb, before all eyes, "From NEKSHEB's Holy Well portentously shall rise! "Now turn and see!"

They turn'd, and, as he spoke,

A sudden splendour all around them broke,

* Chosroes, For the description of his Throne or Palace, see Gibbon and D'Herbelot.

There were said to be under this Throne or Palace of Khosrou Parvis a hundred vaults filled with "treasures so immense that some Mahometan writers tell us, their Prophet, to encourage his disciples, carried them to a rock, which at his command opened, and gave them a prospect through it of the treasures of Khosrou." Universal History.

t "The crown of Gerashid is cloudy and tarnished before the heron tuft of thy turban." — From one of the elegies or songs in praise of Ali, written in characters of gold round the gallery of Abbas's tomb. See Chardin.

"The beauty of Ali's eyes was so remarkable, that whenever the Persians would describe any thing as very lovely, they say it is Ayn Hali, or the Eyes of Ali."-CHARDIN.

And they beheld an orb, ample and bright,
Rise from the Holy Well*, and cast its light
Round the rich city and the plain for miles,†
Flinging such radiance o'er the gilded tiles
Of many a dome and fair-roof'd minaret

As autumn suns shed round them when they set.
Instant from all who saw the' illusive sign
A murmur broke "Miraculous! divine!"
The Gheber bow'd, thinking his idol star
Had wak'd, and burst impatient through the bar
Of mindight, to inflame him to the war;
While he of MOUSSA's creed saw, in that ray,
The glorious Light which, in his freedom's day,
Had rested on the Arkt, and now again
Shone out to bless the breaking of his chain.

"To victory!" is at once the cry of allNor stands MOKANNA loitering at that call. But instant the huge gates are flung aside, And forth, like a diminutive mountain-tide

* We are not told more of this trick of the Impostor, than that it was "une machine, qu'il disoit être la Lune." According to Richardson, the miracle is perpetuated in Nekscheb. -"Nakshab, the name of a city in Transoxiana, where they say there is a well, in which the appearance of the moon is to be seen night and day."

"Il amusa pendant deux inois le peuple de la ville de Nekhscheb, en faisant sortir toutes les nuits du fond d'un puits un corps lumineux semblable à la Lune, qui portoit sa lumière jusqu'à la distance de plusieurs milles." — D'HERBELOT. Hence he was called Sazendéhmah, or the Moon maker.

The Shecinab, called Sakînat in the Koran. See Sale's Note, chap. ii.

Into the boundless sea, they speed their course
Right on into the MOSLEM's mighty force.

The watchmen of the camp, who, in their rounds,
Had paus'd, and ev'n forgot the punctual sounds
Of the small drum with which they count the night,*
To gaze upon that supernatural light,

Now sink beneath an unexpected arm,

And in a death groan give their last alarm.

"On for the lamps, that light yon lofty screen, †

"Nor blunt your blades with massacre so mean;

"There rests the CALIPH

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May now achieve mankind's deliverance."

Desperate the die—such as they only cast,
Who venture for a world, and stake their last.
But Fate's no longer with him blade for blade
Springs up to meet them thro' the glimmering shade,
And, as the clash is heard, new legions soon

Pour to the spot, like bees of KAUZEROON ‡

To the shrill timbrel's summons,

- till, at length,

The mighty camp swarms out in all its strength,

* The parts of the night are made known as well by instruments of music, as by the rounds of the watchmen with cries and small drums. See Burder's Oriental Customs, vol. i. p. 119.

†The Serrapurda, high screens of red cloth, stiffened with cane, used to enclose a considerable space round the royal tents. Notes on the Bahardanush. The tents of Princes were generally illuminated. Norden tells us that the tent of the Bey of Girge was distinguished from the other tents by forty lanterns being suspended before it. See Harmer's Observations on Job.

"From the groves of orange trees at Kauzeroon the bees cull a celebrated honey." -MORIER's Travels.

And back to NEKSHEB's gates, covering the plain
With random slaughter, drives the' adventurous train;
Among the last of whom the Silver Veil

Is seen glittering at times, like the white sail
Of some toss'd vessel, on a stormy night,
Catching the tempest's momentary light!

And hath not this brought the proud spirit low?
Nor dash'd his brow, nor check'd his daring? No.
Though half the wretches, whom at night he led
To thrones and victory, lie disgrac'd and dead,
Yet morning hears him with unshrinking crest,
Still vaunt of thrones, and victory to the rest;
And they believe him!— oh, the lover may
Distrust that look which steals his soul away;

The babe may cease to think that it can play
With Heaven's rainbow; alchymists may doubt
The shining gold their crucible gives out;
But Faith, fanatic Faith, once wedded fast
To some dear falsehood, hugs it to the last.

And well the' Impostor knew all lures and arts,
That LUCIFER e'er taught to tangle hearts;
Nor, mid these last bold workings of his plot
Against men's souls, is ZELICA forgot.

Ill-fated ZELICA! had reason been

Awake through half the horrors thou hast seen,

Thou never could'st have borne it-Death had come

At once, and taken thy wrung spirit home.

But 't was not so

a torpor, a suspense

Of thought, almost of life, came o'er the intense