At night the stripling to the hall return'd;
With other fires his alter'd bofom burn'd.
O to his wifer foul how low, how mean,
Seem'd all he e'er had heard, had felt, had seen!
He view'd the stars, he view'd the crystal skies,
And blefs'd the power all-good, all-great, all-wife;
How lowly now appear'd the purple robe,
The rubied fceptre, and the ivory globe!
How dim the rays that gild the brittle earth!
How vile the brood of Folly, and of Mirth!
When the third morning, clad in mantle gray,
Brought in her rofy car the feventieth day,
A band of flaves, who rufh'd with furious found,
In chains of steel the willing captive bound;
From his young head the diadem they tore,
And caft his pearly bracelets on the floor;
They rent his robe that bore the rofe's hue,
And o'er his breaft a hairy mantle threw ;
Then dragg'd him to the damp and dreary cave,
Drench'd' by the gloomy fea's refounding wave.
Meanwhile the voices of a numerous croud
Pierc'd the dun air, as thunder breaks a cloud:
The nymphs another hapless youth had found,
And then were leading o'er the guilty ground:
They hail'd him king (alas, how fhort his reign!)
And with fresh chaplets ftrow'd the fatal plain.
The happy exile, monarch now no more,
Was roving flowly o'er the lonely fhore;
At laft the fire's expected voice he knew,
And tow'rd the found with hafty rapture flew,
The promis'd pinnace juft afloat he found,
And the glad fage his fetter'd hands unbound;
But when he faw the foaming billows rave,
And dragons rolling o'er the fiery wave,
He ftopp'd his guardian caught his lingering hand,
And gently led him o'er the rocky ftrand;
Spon as he touch'd the bark, the ocean finil'd,
The dragons vanish'd, and the waves were mild.
For many an hour with vigorous arms they row'd,
While not a ftar one friendly sparkle show'd;
At length a glimmering brightnefs they behold,
Like a thin cloud which morning dyes with gold:
To that they fteer; and now, rejoic'd, they view
A fhore begirt with cliffs of radiant hue,
They land a train, in fhining mantles clad,
Hail their approach, and bid the youth be glad;
They led him o'er the lea with easy pace,
And floated as they went with heavenly grace,
A golden fountain soon appear'd in fight,
That o'er the border caft a funny light.
The fage, impatient, fcoop'd the lucid wave
In a rich vafe, which to the youth he gave;
He drank and straight a bright celeftial beam
Before his eyes display'd a dazzling gleam;
Myriads of airy shapes around him gaz'd;
Some prais'd his wifdom, fome his courage prais'd;
Then o'er his limbs a ftarry robe they spread,
And plac'd a crown of diamonds on his head.
His aged guide was gone, and in his place Stood a fair cherub flush'd with rofy grace; Who, fmiling, fpake: "Here ever wilt thou reft, "Admir'd, belov'd, our brother and our gueft; So all fhall end, whom vice can charm no more "With the gay follies of that perilous fhore. "See yon immortal towers their gates unfold, "With rubies flaming, and no earthly gold!
"There joys, before unknown, thy steps invite;
"Blifs without care, and morn without a night.
"But now farewel! my duty calls me hence;
"Some injur'd mortal afks my juft defence.
"To yon pernicious island I repair,
"Swift as a ftar." He fpeaks, and melts in air.
The youth o'er walks of jafper takes his flight; And bounds and blazes in eternal light.
WEET maid, if thou would'ft charm my fight,
And bid these arms thy neck infold;
That rofy cheek, that lily hand,
Would give thy poet more delight
Than all Bocara's vaunted gold,
Than all the gems of Samarcand.
GAZE L.
GHER an Turki Shirazi
Be khali hinduish bakhshem
Samarcand u Bokharara.
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