The minaret-cryer's chaunt of glee

Sung from his lighted gallery,'

And answer'd by a ziraleet

From neighbouring Haram, wild and sweet;

The merry laughter, echoing

From gardens, where the silken swing

Wafts some delighted girl above

The top leaves of the orange grove;
Or, from those infant groups at play
Among the tents' that line the way,
Flinging, unaw'd by slave or mother,
Handfuls of roses at each other!

And the sounds from the Lake, the low whisp'ring in

boats,

As they shoot through the moonlight; - the dipping

of oars,

And the wild, airy warbling that every where floats,

Through the groves, round the islands, as if all the shores

9 "It is the custom among the women to employ the Maazeen to chaunt from the gallery of the nearest minaret, which on that occasion is illuminated, and the women assembled at the house respond at intervals with a ziraleet or joyous chorus.". Russell.

"At. the keeping of the Feast of Roses we beheld an infinite number of tents pitched, with such a crowd of men, women, boys and girls, with music, dances," &c. &c. - Herbert.

Like those of KATHAY utter'd music, and gave
An answer in song to the kiss of each wave! 2

But the gentlest of all are those sounds, full of feeling,
That soft from the lute of some lover are stealing,—
Some lover, who knows all the heart-touching power
Of a lute and a sigh in this magical hour.

Oh! best of delights as it every where is

To be near the lov'd One, - what a rapture is his,

Who in moonlight and music thus sweetly may glide O'er the Lake of CASHMERE, with that One by his side! If Woman can make the worst wilderness dear,

Think, think what a Heav'n she must make of CASHMERE!

So felt the magnificent Son of Acbar, 3

When from power and pomp and the trophies of war
He flew to that Valley, forgetting them all
With the Light of the Haram, his young NOURMAHAL.
When free and uncrown'd as the Conqueror rov'd
By the banks of that Lake, with his only belov'd,

2 “An old commentator of the Chou-King says, the ancients having remarked that a current of water made some of the stones near its banks send forth a sound, they detached some of them, and being charmed with the delightful sound they emitted, constructed King or musical instruments of them.". Grosier.

3 Jehanguire was the son of the Great Acbar.

He saw, in the wreaths she would playfully snatch From the hedges, a glory his crown could not match, And preferr'd in his heart the least ringlet that curl❜d Down her exquisite neck to the throne of the world!

There's a beauty, for ever unchangingly bright,
Like the long, sunny lapse of a summer day's light,
Shining on, shining on, by no shadow made tender,
Till Love falls asleep in its sameness of splendour.
This was not the beauty-oh! nothing like this,
That to young NOURMAHAL gave such magic of bliss;
But that loveliness, ever in motion, which plays
Like the light upon autumn's soft shadowy days,
Now here and now there, giving warmth as it flies
From the lips to the cheek, from the cheek to the eyes,
Now melting in mist and now breaking in gleams,
Like the glimpses a saint hath of Heav'n in his dreams!
When pensive, it seem'd as if that very grace,
That charm of all others, was born with her face;
And when angry,- for ev'n in the tranquillest climes
Light breezes will ruffle the blossoms sometimes -
The short, passing anger but seem'd to awaken

New beauty, like flow'rs that are sweetest when shaken.

If tenderness touch'd her, the dark of her eye

At once took a darker, a heavenlier dye,

From the depth of whose shadow, like holy revealings From innermost shrines, came the light of her feelings! Then her mirth-oh! 'twas sportive as ever took wing From the heart with a burst, like the wild-bird in spring;Illum'd by a wit that would fascinate sages,

4

Yet playful as Peris just loos'd from their cages. +
While her laugh, full of life, without any controul
But the sweet one of gracefulness, rung from her soul;
And where it most sparkled no glance could discover,
In lip, cheek or eyes, for she brighten'd all over,
Like any fair lake that the breeze is upon,
When it breaks into dimples and laughs in the sun.
Such, such were the peerless enchantments, that gave
NOURMAHAL the proud Lord of the East for her slave;
And though bright was his Haram,—a living parterre
Of the flow'rs' of this planet-though treasures were there,
For which SOLIMAN's self might have giv'n all the store
That the navy from OPHIR e'er wing'd to his shore,

4 In the wars of the Dives with the Peris, whenever the former took the latter prisoners, "they shut them up in iron cages, and hung them on the highest trees. Here they were visited by their companions, who brought them the choicest odours."— Richardson.

5 In the Malay language the same word signifies women and flowers.

Yet dim before her were the smiles of them all,
And the Light of his Haram was young NOURMAHAL!

But where is she now, this night of joy,
When bliss is every heart's employ? -
When all around her is so bright,

So like the visions of a trance,

That one might think, who came by chance

Into the vale this happy night,

He saw that City of Delight"

In Fairy-land, whose streets and towers
Are made of gems and light and flowers! —
Where is the lov'd Sultana? where,

When mirth brings out the young and fair,
Does she, the fairest, hide her brow,

In melancholy stillness now?

Alas -how light a cause may move

Dissension between hearts that love!

Hearts that the world in vain had tried,

And sorrow but more closely tied;

That stood the storm, when waves were rough,

Yet in a sunny hour fall off,

6 The capital of Shadukiam. v. note, p. 160.