They gave their horsetails (') to the wind,
And mustering in Sophia's plain
Their tents were pitch'd, their post assign'd;
To one, alas! assign'd in vain!
What need of words? the deadly bowl,
By Giaffir's order drugg'd and given,
With venom subtle as his soul,

Dismiss'd Abdallah's hence to heaven.
Reclined and feverish in the bath,

He, when the hunter's sport was up,
But little deem'd a brother's wrath

To quench his thirst had such a cup :
The bowl a bribed attendant bore;

He drank one draught, (3) nor needed more!
If thou my tale, Zuleika, doubt,

Call Haroun - he can tell it out.

XV.

"The deed once done, and Paswan's feud
In part suppress'd, though ne'er subdued,
Abdallah's Pachalick was gain'd:

Thou know'st not what in our Divan
Can wealth procure for worse than man
Abdallah's honours were obtain'd
By him a brother's murder stain'd;
'Tis true, the purchase nearly drain'd
His ill got treasure, soon replaced.

Would'st question whence? Survey the waste
And ask the squalid peasant how
His gains repay his broiling brow! -
Why me the stern usurper spared,
Why thus with me his palace shared,
I know not. Shame, regret, remorse,
And little fear from infant's force;
Besides, adoption as a son

By him whom Heaven accorded none,
Or some unknown cabal, caprice,
Preserved me thus ;· but not in peace:

He cannot curb his haughty mood,

Nor I forgive a father's blood.

(1) "Horsetail," the standard of a Pacha.

(2) Giaffir, Pacha of Argyro Castro, or Scutari, I am not sure which, was actually taken off by the Albanian Ali, in the manner described in the text. Ali Pacha, while I was in the country, married the daughter of his victim, some years after the event had taken place at a bath in Sophia, or Adrianople. The poison was mixed in the cup of coffee, which is presented before the sherbet by the bath-keeper, after dressing.

XVI.

"Within thy father's house are foes;
Not all who break his bread are true:
To these should I my birth disclose,
His days, his very hours were few:
They only want a heart to lead,
A hand to point them to the deed.
But Haroun only knows or knew

This tale, whose close is almost nigh:
He in Abdallah's palace grew,

And held that post in his Serai

Which holds he here - he saw him die:
But what could single slavery do?
Avenge his lord? alas! too late;
Or save his son from such a fate?

He chose the last, and when elate
With foes subdued, or friends betray'd,
Proud Giaffir in high triumph sate,
He led me helpless to his gate,

And not in vain it seems essay'd
To save the life for which he pray'd.
The knowledge of my birth secured
From all and each, but most from me;
Thus Giaffir's safety was ensured.
Removed he too from Roumelie

To this our Asiatic side,

Far from our seats by Danube's tide,
With none but Haroun, who retains
Such knowledge-and that Nubian feels
A tyrant's secrets are but chains,
From which the captive gladly steals,
And this and more to me reveals :
Such still to guilt just Alla sends -
Slaves, tools, accomplices-no friends!

XVII.

"All this, Zuleika, harshly sounds;
But harsher still my tale must be :
Howe'er my tongue thy softness wounds,
Yet I must prove all truth to thee.
I saw thee start this garb to see,
Yet is it one I oft have worn,

And long must wear: this Galiongée,
To whom thy plighted vow is sworn,

Is leader of those pirate hordes,

Whose laws and lives are on their swords;

To hear whose desolating tale

Would make thy waning cheek more pale;
Those arms thou see'st my band have brougla
The hands that wield are not remote ;

This cup too for the rugged knaves

Is fill'd

once quaff'd, they ne'er repine:

Our prophet might forgive the slaves;

They 're only infidels in wine.

XVIII.

"What could I be? Proscribed at home,

And taunted to a wish to roam ;

And listless left for Giaffir's fear
Denied the courser and the spear
Though oft- Oh, Mahomet! how oft!·
In full Divan the despot scoff'd,
As if my weak unwilling hand
Refused the bridle or the brand:
He ever went to war alone,

And pent me here untried-unknown;
To Haroun's care with women left,
By hope unblest, of fame bereft,

While thou whose softness long endear'd,
Though it unmann'd me, still had cheer'd –
To Brusa's walls for safety sent,
Awaited'st there the field's event.
Haroun, who saw my spirit pining

Beneath inaction's sluggish yoke,
His captive, though with dread resigning,
My thraldom for a season broke,
On promise to return before

The day when Giaffir's charge was o'er.
'Tis vain my tongue cannot impart
My almost drunkenness of heart,
When first this liberated eye

Survey'd Earth, Ocean, Sun, and Sky
As if my spirit pierced them through,
And all their inmost wonders knew!

One word alone can paint to thee

That more than feeling- I was Free!
E'en for thy presence ceased to pine;
The World-nay, Heaven itself was mine!

XIX.

The shallop of a trusty Moor

Convey'd me from this idle shore;

VOL. III.-X

I long'd to see the isles that gem
Old Ocean's purple diadem:

I sought by turns, and saw them all; (')
But when and where I join'd the crew,
With whom I'm pledged to rise or fall,
When all that we design to do

Is done, 't will then be time more nieet
To tell thee, when the tale 's complete.

XX.

may

;

"'Tis true, they are a lawless brood,
But rough in form, nor mild in mood;
And every creed, and every race,
With them hath found
find a place :
But open speech, and ready hand,
Obedience to their chief's command
A soul for every enterprise,
That never sees with Terror's eyes;
Friendship for each, and faith to all,
And vengeance vow'd for those who fall,
Have made them fitting instruments
For more than ev'n my own intents.
And some and I have studied all
Distinguish'd from the vulgar rank,
But chiefly to my council call

The wisdom of the cautious Frank -
And some to higher thoughts aspire,

The last of Lambro's (2) patriots there
Anticipated freedom share;

And oft around the cavern fire
On visionary schemes debate,

To snatch the Rayahs (3) from their fate.
So let them ease their hearts with prate
Of equal rights, which man ne'er knew;
I have a love for freedom too.

Ay! let me like the ocean-Patriarch (^) roam,
Or only know on land the Tartar's home! (")

(1) The Turkish notions of almost all islands are confined to the Archipelago, the sea alluded to.

(2) Lambro Canzani, a Greck, famous for his efforts, in 1789-90, for the independence of his country; abandoned by the Russians, he became a pirate, and the Archipelago was the scene of his enterprises. He is said to be still alive at Peters. burg. Ho and Riga are the two most celebrated of the Greek revolutionists.

(3) "Rayahs,”—all who pay the capitation tax, called the "Haratch."

(4) The first of voyages is one of the few with which the Mussulmans profess much acquaintance.

(5) The wandering life of the Arabs, Tartars, and Turkomans will be found wed

My tent on shore, my galley on the sea,
Are more than cities and Serais to me:
Borne by my steed, or wafted by my sail,
Across the desert, or before the gale,

Bound where thou wilt, my barb! or glide, my brow!
But be the star that guides the wanderer, Thou!
Thou, my Zuleika, share and bless my bark;
The Dove of peace and promise to mine ark!
Or, since that hope denied in worlds of strife,
Be thou the rainbow to the storms of life!
The evening beam that smiles the clouds away,
And tints to-morrow with prophetic ray!

Blest- as the Muezzin's strain from Mecca's wall
To pilgrims pure and prostrate at his call;
Soft-as the melody of youthful days,

That steals the trembling tear of speechless praise;
Dear—as his native song to Exile's ears,

Shall sound each tone thy long-loved voice endears.
For thee in those bright isles is built a bower
Blooming as Aden (1) in its earliest hour.

A thousand swords, with Selim's heart and hand,
Wait wave - defend ― destroy ·

-

at thy command!
Girt by my band, Zuleika at my side,

The spoil of nations shall bedeck my bride.
The Haram's languid years of listless ease
Are well resign'd for cares for joys like these:
Not blind to fate, I see, where'er I rove,
Unnumber'd perils but one only love!
Yet well my toils shall that fond breast repay,
Though fortune frown, or falser friends betray..
How dear the dream in darkest hours of ill,
Should all be changed, to find thee faithful still!
Be but thy soul, like Selim's, firmly shown;
To thee be Selim's tender as thine own;
To soothe each sorrow, share in each delight,
Blend every thought, do all — but disunite!
Once free, 'tis mine our horde again to guide ;
Friends to each other, foes to aught beside:
Yet there we follow but the bent assign'd
By fatal Nature to man's warring kind :

detailed in any book of Eastern travels. That it possesses a charm peculiar to itself, cannot be denied. A young French renegado confessed to Chateaubriand, that he never found himself alone, galloping in the desert, without a sensation approaching to rapture, which was indescribable.

(1)" Jannat al Aden," the perpetual abode, the Mussu man Paradise.