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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;

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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 th' Assyrian King"

"To darkness in a moment, that I might

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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;

7 Carreri mentions the fire-flies in India during the rainy season. -v. his Travels.

8 Sennacherib, called by the orientals King of Moussal.—D'Herbelot.

"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: "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, '

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

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

1 "The crown of Gerashid is cloudy and tarnished before the heron tuft of thy turban." — From one of the elegies or songs inpraise of Ali, written in characters of gold round the gallery of Abbas's tomb.- v. Chardin.

2 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.

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

66 Victory's our own 'tis 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,
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 imaret,

As autumn suns shed round them when they set!
Instant from all who saw the' illusive sign

A murmur broke

"Miraculous! divine!"

3 "Ilamusa pendant deux mois le peuple de la ville de Nekhscheb en faisant sortir toutes les nuits du fonds 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 Sazendéh mah, or the Moon-maker.

The Gheber bow'd, thinking his idol Star
Had wak'd, and burst impatient through the bar
Of midnight, 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 Ark, and now again.

Shone out to bless the breaking of his chain!

"To victory!" is at once the cry of all
Nor stands MOKANNA loitering at that call;
But instant the huge gates are flung aside,
And forth, like a diminutive mountain-tide
Into the boundless sea, they speed their course
Right on into the MOSLEM's mighty force.

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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,

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4 The Shechinah, called Sakînat in the Koran. - v. Sale's Note, chap. ii.

5 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. v. Burder's Oriental Customs, vol. i. p. 119.

Now sink beneath an unexpected arm,

And in a death-groan give their last alarm.
“On for the lamps, that light yon lofty screen,

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"Nor blunt your blades with massacre so mean; "There rests the CALIPH -speed — one lucky lance

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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 through 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,

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The mighty camp swarms out in all its strength,
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

6 The Serrapurda, high screens of red cloth, stiffened with cane, used to inclose a considerable space round the royal tents. on the Bahardanush.

Notes

7 "From the groves of orange trees at Kauzeroon the bees cull a celebrated honey." · Morier's Travels.

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