Down the blue vault the PERI flies,

And, lighted earthward by a glance
That just then broke from morning's eyes,
Hung hovering o'er our world's expanse.

But whither shall the Spirit go

To find this gift for heav'n?·

"I know

8

"The wealth," she cries, " of every urn,
"In which unnumber'd rubies burn,
"Beneath the pillars of CHILMINAR; —
"I know where the Isles of Perfume are
"Many a fathom down in the sea,
"To the south of sun-bright ARABY; 9-
"I know too where the Genii hid

"The jewell'd cup of their King JAMSHID, '
"With Life's elixir sparkling high -

"But gifts like these are not for the sky.

8 The Forty Pillars; so the Persians call the ruins of Persepolis. It is imagined by them that this palace and the edifices at Balbec were built by Genii, for the purpose of hiding in their subterraneous caverns immense treasures, which still remain there. - D'Herbelot, Volney.

9 The Isles of Panchaia.

"The cup of Jamshid, discovered, they say, when digging for the foundations of Persepolis." - Richardson.

"Where was there ever a gem that shone

"Like the steps of ALLA's wonderful Throne? "And the Drops of Life-oh! what would they be "In the boundless Deep of Eternity?"

While thus she mus'd, her pinions fann'd

The air of that sweet Indian land,
Whose air is balm; whose ocean spreads
O'er coral rocks and amber beds;
Whose mountains, pregnant by the beam
Of the warm sun, with diamonds teem;
Whose rivulets are like rich brides,
Lovely, with gold beneath their tides;
Whose sandal groves and bowers of spice
Might be a Peri's Paradise!

But crimson now her rivers ran

With human blood the smell of death

Came reeking from those spicy bowers,
And man, the sacrifice of man,

Mingled his taint with every breath
Upwafted from the innocent flowers!
Land of the Sun! what foot invades
Thy Pagods and thy pillar'd shades -

Thy cavern shrines, and Idol stones,

Thy Monarchs and their thousand Thrones?

'Tis He of Gazna”.
7 fierce in wrath

He comes, and INDIA's diadems

Lie scatter'd in his ruinous path.

His blood-hounds he adorns with gems,

Torn from the violated necks

8

Of many a young and lov'd Sultana; —
Maidens, within their pure Zenana,
Priests in the very fane he slaughters,

And choaks up with the glittering wrecks
Of golden shrines the sacred waters!

Downward the PERI turns her gaze,
And, through the war-field's bloody haze
Beholds a youthful warrior stand,

Alone, beside his native river,

-

7 Mahmood of Gazna, or Ghizni, who conquered India in the beginning of the 11th century. - v. his History in Dow and Sir J Malcolm.

8 "It is reported that the hunting equipage of the Sultan Mahmoud was so magnificent, that he kept 400 grey-hounds and bloodhounds, each of which wore a collar set with jewels, and a covering edged with gold and pearls.” - Universal History, vol. iii.

The red blade broken in his hand

And the last arrow in his quiver.

"Live," said the Conqueror, "live to share
The trophies and the crowns I bear !"
Silent that youthful warrior stood
Silent he pointed to the flood

All crimson with his country's blood,
Then sent his last remaining dart,
For answer, to the' Invader's heart.

False flew the shaft, though pointed well;
The Tyrant liv'd, the Hero fell! -

Yet mark'd the PERI where he lay,

And, when the rush of war was past,

Swiftly descending on a ray

Of morning light, she caught the lastLast glorious drop his heart had shed,

Before its free-born spirit fled!

"Be this," she cried, as she wing'd her flight,

66

66

My welcome gift at the Gates of Light.

Though foul are the drops that oft distil

"On the field of warfare, blood like this,

"For Liberty shed, so holy is,

"It would not stain the purest rill,

"That sparkles among the Bowers of Bliss! "Oh! if there be, on this earthly sphere,

"A boon, an offering Heaven holds dear,

" "Tis the last libation Liberty draws

"From the heart that bleeds and breaks in her cause !"

"Sweet," said the Angel, as she gave

The gift into his radiant hand,

"Sweet is our welcome of the Brave

"Who die thus for their native Land. ·

"Than ev❜n this drop the boon must be,

"That opes the Gates of Heav'n for thee!"

Her first fond hope of Eden blighted,

Now among AFRIC'S Lunar Mountains,

Far to the South, the PERI lighted;

And sleek'd her plumage at the fountains

Of that Egyptian tide, whose birth

Is hidden from the sons of earth,

"The Mountains of the Moon, or the Montes Lunæ of antiquity, at the foot of which the Nile is supposed to arise." Bruce.