Along its chords, and so entwine Its sound with theirs, that knew not whether The voice or lute was most divine, So wond'rously they went together: There's a bliss beyond all that the minstrel has told, Whole ages of heartless and wandering bliss; "Twas not the air, twas not the words, Some minutes rapt, as in a trance, After the fairy sounds were o'er, Too inly touch'd for utterance, Now motion'd with his hand for more: Fly to the desert, fly with me, Our Arab tents are rude for thee; Our rocks are rough, but smiling there Our sands are bare, but down their slope The silvery-footed antelope As gracefully and gaily springs As o'er the marble courts of kings. Then come-thy Arab maid will be Oh! there are looks and tones that dart As if the very lips and eyes So come thy every glance and tone, Then fly with me-if thou hast known A gem away that thou hast sworn Come, if the love thou hast for me But if for me thou dost forsake Then, fare thee well-I'd rather make There was a pathos in this lay, That, ev'n without enchantment's art, With every chord fresh from the touch Of Music's spirit-'twas too much! *The hudhud, or lapwing, is supposed to have the power of discovering water under ground. Starting, he dash'd away the cup, As if 'twere fix'd by magic thereAnd naming her, so long unnam❜d, So long unseen, wildly exclaim'd, "Oh NoURMAHAL! oh NOURMAHAL! "Hadst thou but sung this witching strain, "I could forget-forgive thee all, "And never leave those eyes again." The mask is off-the charm is wrought- 66 FADLADEEN, at the conclusion of this light rhapsody, took occasion to sum up his opinion of the young Cashmerian's poetry, of which he trusted they had that evening heard the last. Having recapitulated the epithets, "frivolous,"— inharmonious"—" nonsensical," he proceeded to say that, viewing it in the most favourable light, it resembled one of those Maldivian boats to which the princess had alluded in the relation of her dream,a slight, gilded thing, sent adrift without rudder or ballast, and with nothing but vapid sweets and faded flowers on board. The profusion, indeed, of flowers and birds which this poet had ready on all occasions, not to mention dews, gems, &c.—was a most oppressive kind of opulence to his hearers; and had the unlucky effect of giving to his style all the glitter of the flower-garden without its method, and all the flutter of the aviary without its song. In addition to this he chose his subjects badly, and was always most inspired by the worst part of them. The charms of paganism, the merits of rebellion: These were the themes honoured with his particular enthusiasm; and, in the poem just recited, one of his most palatable passages was in praise of that beverage of the unfaithful, wine; "being, perhaps," said he, relaxing into a smile, as conscious of his own character in the haram on this point, "one of those bards whose fancy owes all its illumination to the grape, like that painted porcelain, so curious and so rare, whose images are only |