And ZELICA was left

within the ring

Of those wide walls the only living thing;

The only wretched one, still curs'd with breath,
In all that frightful wilderness of death!
More like some bloodless ghost-such as, they tell,
In the Lone Cities of the Silent * dwell,
And there, unseen of all but ALLA, sit
Each by its own pale carcass, watching it.

But morn is up, and a fresh warfare stirs
Throughout the camp of the beleauguerers.
Their globes of fire (the dread artillery lent
By GREECE to conquering MAHADI) are spent;
And now the scorpion's shaft, the quarry sent
From high balistas, and the shielded throng
Of soldiers swinging the huge ram along,
All speak the' impatient Islamite's intent
To try, at length, if tower and battlement
And bastion'd wall be not less hard to win,
Less tough to break down than the hearts within.
First in impatience and in toil is he,

--

The burning AZIM oh! could he but see

The' Impostor once alive within his

grasp,

Not the gaunt lion's hug, nor boa's clasp,

Could match that gripe of vengeance, or keep pace
With the fell heartiness of Hate's embrace!

"They have all a great reverence for burial grounds, which they sometimes call by the poetical name of Cities of the Silent, and which they people with the ghosts of the departed, who set each at the head of its own grave, invisible to mortal eyes."— ELPHINSTONE.

Loud rings the ponderous ram against the walls Now shake the ramparts, now a buttress falls, But still no breach - -“Once more, one mighty swing "Of all your beams, together thundering !" There the wall shakes the shouting troops exult, "Quick, quick discharge your weightiest catapult "Right on that spot, and NEKSHEB is our own!" 'Tis done the battlements come crashing down, And the huge wall, by that stroke riv'n in two, Yawning like some old crater, rent anew, Shows the dim, desolate city smoking through. But strange! no signs of life-nought living seen Above, below - what can this stillness mean? A minute's pause suspends all hearts and eyes “In through the breach," impetuous Azıм cries; But the cool CALIPH, fearful of some wile

In this blank stillness, checks the troops awhile.
Just then, a figure, with slow step, advanc'd
Forth from the ruin'd walls, and, as there glanc'd
A sunbeam over it, all eyes could see

The well-known Silver Veil!""T is He, 'tis He,
"MOKANNA, and alone!" they shout around;
Young AZIM from his steed springs to the ground-
"Mine, Holy Caliph! mine," he cries, "the task
"To crush yon daring wretch 't is all I ask.”
Eager he darts to meet the demon foe,
Who still across wide heaps of ruin slow
And falteringly comes, till they are near;
Then, with a bound, rushes on AZIм's spear,
And, casting off the Veil in falling, shows-
Oh! 't is his ZELICA's life-blood that flows!

'I meant not, AZIM," soothingly she said,

As on his trembling arm she lean'd her head, And, looking in his face, saw anguish there Beyond all wounds the quivering flesh can bear "I meant not thou shouldst have the pain of this:"Though death, with thee thus tasted, is a bliss "Thou wouldst not rob me of, didst thou but know, "How oft I've pray'd to God I might die so! "But the Fiend's venom was too scant and slow; "To linger on were maddening- and I thought "If once that Veil nay, look not on it — caught "The eyes of your fierce soldiery, I should be "Sruck by a thousand death-darts instantly. "But this is sweeter - oh! believe me, yes

"I would not change this sad, but dear caress,
"This death within thy arms I would not give
"For the most smiling life the happiest live!
"All, that stood dark and drear before the eye
"Of my stray'd soul, is passing swiftly by;
"A light comes o'er me from those looks of love,
"Like the first dawn of mercy from above;

"And if thy lips but tell me I'm forgiven,

66

Angels will echo the blest words in Heaven!

"But live, my Azım; oh! to call thee mine

"Thus once again! my Azıм· dream divine!

"Live, if thou ever lov'dst me, if to meet

Thy ZELICA hereafter would be sweet,

"Oh, live to pray for her · to bend the knee

Morning and night before that Deity,

"To whom pure lips and hearts without a stain,

"As thine are, Azım, never breath'd in vain,

"And

may take

that He may pardon her, pray "Compassion on her soul for thy dear sake, "And, nought remembering but her love to thee, "Make her all thine, all His, eternally!

"Go to those happy fields where first we twin'd "Our youthful hearts together-every wind

"That meets thee there, fresh from the well-known

flowers,

"Will bring the sweetness of those innocent hours
"Back to thy soul, and thou may'st feel again
"For thy poor ZELICA as thou didst then.
"So shall thy orisons, like dew that flies
"To Heav'n upon the morning's sunshine, rise
"With all love's earliest ardour to the skies!

"And should they but, alas, my senses fail

"Oh for one minute! — should thy prayers prevail"If pardon'd souls may, from that World of Bliss, "Reveal their joy to those they love in this

"I'll come to thee in some sweet dream—and tell

"Oh Heav'n-I die

Time fléeted

- years on years had pass'd away,
And few of those who, on that mournful day,
Had stood, with pity in their eyes, to see
The maiden's death, and the youth's agony,

Were living still

when, by a rustic grave,

Beside the swift Aмoo's transparent wave,

An aged man, who had grown aged there

By that lone grave, morning and night in prayer,

For the last time knelt down- and, though the shade

Of death hung darkening over him, there play'd

A gleam of rapture on his eye and cheek,

That brighten'd even Death - like the last streak

Of intense glory on the horizon's brim,

When night o'er all the rest hangs chill and dim.
His soul had seen a Vision, while he slept

She, for whose spirit he had pray'd and wept
So many years, had come to him, all drest

In angel smiles, and told him she was blest!

For this the old man breath'd his thanks, and died.

And there, upon the banks of that lov'd tide,
He and his ZELICA sleep side by side.