Eager they listen - while each accent darts Of fiend-like mockery that bids hell rejoice. never hath this earth Seen mourning half so mournful as their mirth. In ghastly transport wav'd it o'er his head! a fearful pause 'T was more than midnight now Who, while his quivering lip the summons gave, Compass'd him round, and, ere he could repeat A presage All round seem'd tranquil even the foe had ceas'd, As if aware of that demoniac feast, His fiery bolts; and though the heavens look'd red, "T was but some distant conflagration's spread. But hark-she stops- she listens dreadful tone! "T is her Tormentor's laugh-and now, a groan, A long death-groan comes with it: can this be The place of mirth, the bower of revelry? She enters Holy ALLA, what a sight Was there before her! By the glimmering light With their swoll'n heads sunk blackening on their breasts, Or looking pale to Heav'n with glassy glare, As if they sought but saw no mercy there; As if they felt, though poison rack'd them through, Of their false Chief, who on the battle-plain 4 Would have met death with transport by his side, Dreadful it was to see the ghastly stare, Upon that mocking Fiend, whose Veil, now rais'd, Not the long promis'd light, the brow, whose beaming But features horribler that Hell e'er trac'd On its own brood; no Demon of the Waste,* No church-yard Ghole, caught lingering in the light The' Impostor now, in grinning mockery, shows: *"The Afghauns believe each of the numerous solitudes and deserts of their country to be inhabited by a lonely demon, whom they call the Ghoolee Beeabau, or Spirit of the Waste. They often illustrate the wildness of any sequestered tribe, by saying, they are wild as the Demon of the Waste." - ELPHINSTONE'S Caubul. "My greetings through, the' uncourteous souls are fled. "Farewell, sweet spirits! not in vain ye die, "If EBLIS loves you half so well as I. 66 Nay come bride! - 't is well take thou thy seat; no shuddering didst thou never meet "The Dead before? — they grac'd our wedding, sweet; "And these, my guests to-night, have brimm'd so true "Their parting cups, that thou shalt pledge one too. "But - how is this? - all empty? all drunk up? "Hot lips have been before thee in the cup, "Young bride - yet stay-one precious drop remains, "Enough to warm a gentle Priestess' veins; 66 Here, drink - and should thy lover's conquering arms "Speed hither, ere thy lip lose all its charms, "Give him but half this venom in thy kiss, "And I'll forgive my haughty rival's bliss! 66 For, me I too must die- but not like these “Vile, rankling things, to fester in the breeze; "To have this brow in ruffian triumph shown, "With all death's grimness added to its own, "And rot to dust beneath the taunting eyes "Of slaves, exclaiming. There his Godship lies!' "No-cursed race - since first my soul drew breath, "They've been my dupes, and shall be ev'n in death. "Thou see'st yon cistern in the shade — 't is fill'd "With burning drugs, for this last hour distill'd:* "Il donna du poison dans le vin à tous ses gens, et se jetta lui-même ensuite dans une cuve pleine de drogues brûlantes et consumantes, afin qu'il ne restât rien "There will I plunge me, in that liquid flame "So shall my votaries, wheresoe'er they rave, "Proclaim that Heav'n took back the Saint it gave; "That I've but vanish'd from this earth awhile, "To come again, with bright, unshrouded smile! "So shall they build me altars in their zeal, "Where knaves shall minister and fools shall kneel; "Where Faith may mutter o'er her mystic spell, "Written in blood and Bigotry may swell "The sail he spreads for Heav'n with blasts from hell! "So shall my banner, through long ages, be “The rallying sign of fraud and anarchy; "Kings yet unborn shall rue MOKANNA's name, And, though I die, my spirit, still the same, "Shall walk abroad in all the stormy strife, "And guilt, and blood, that were its bliss in life. "No trace of me shall greet them, when they come, "In one bold plunge, commences Deity!" He sprung and sunk, as the last words were said Quick clos'd the burning waters o'er his head, de tous les membres de son corps, et que ceux qui restoient de sa secte puissent croire qu'il étoit monté au ciel, ce qui ne manqua pas d'arriver."— D'HERBELOT. |