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 thrill'd 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 blush'd 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 wandering 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 touch'd 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 th' aerial sweetness it had brought ! Yet now he comes, brighter than even he
but, ah! not bright for thee: No, — dread, unlook'd for, like a visitant
From th' 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!
Once happy pair! — in proud Bokhara's groves, Who had not heard of their first youthful loves? Born by that ancient flood, which from its spring In the Dark Mountains swiftly wandering, Enrich'd by every pilgrim brook that shines With relics from Bucharia's ruby mines, And, lending to the Caspian half its strength, In the cold Lake of Eagles sinks at length, -- There, on the banks of that bright river born, The flowers, that hung above its wave at morn, Bless'd not the waters, as they murmur'd by, With holier scent and lustre, than the sigh And virgin glance of first affection cast Upon their youth's smooth current, as it pass'd! But war disturb'd this vision: far away From her fond eyes, summon'd to join th' array Of Persia's warriors on the hills of Thrace, The youth exchanged his sylvan dwelling-place For the rude tent and war-field's deathful clash; His Zelica's sweet glances for the flash Of Grecian wild-fire, and Love's gentle chains For bleeding bondage on Byzantium's plains.
Month after month, in widowhood of soul Drooping, the maiden saw two summers roll Their suns away, but, ah! how cold and dim Even summer suns, when not beheld with him!
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