The swoln veins glowing deep, and with a groan
On his broad shoulder fell her face reclined.
But ah she knew not whom that roseate face
Cool'd with its breath ambrosial; for she stood
High on the bank, and often swept and broke
His chaplets mingled with her loosen'd hair.

The Gods will prosper thee, and Tamar prove
How Nymphs the torments that they cause as-
suage.

Promise me this! indeed I think thou hast,
But 'tis so pleasing, promise it once more."
"Once more I promise," cried the gladdened

king,

"By my right hand and by myself I swear, And ocean's Gods and heaven's Gods I adjure, Thou shalt be Tamar's, Tamar shall be thine.'

Then she, regarding him long fixt, replied: "I have thy promise, take thou my advice. Gebir, this land of Egypt is a land

Whether while Tamar tarried came desire, And she grown languid loos'd the wings of love, Which she before held proudly at her will, And nought but Tamar in her soul, and nought Where Tamar was that seem'd or fear'd deceit, To fraud she yielded what no force had gain'dOr whether Jove in pity to mankind, When from his crystal fount the visual orbs He fill'd with piercing ether and endued With somewhat of omnipotence, ordain'd That never two fair forms at once torment The human heart and draw it different ways, And thus in prowess like a god the chief Subdued her strength nor soften'd at her charmsThe nymph divine, the magic mistress, fail'd. Recovering, stil half resting on the turf, She look'd up wildly, and could now descry The kingly brow, arched lofty for command. "Traitor!" said she, undaunted, tho' amaze Threw o'er her varying cheek the air of fear, "Thinkest thot thus that with impunity Thou hast forsooth deceived me? dar'st thou Around each base rub thrice the black'ning blood,

deem

Those eyes not hateful that have seen me fall?
O heaven! soon may they close on my disgrace.
Merciless man, what! for one sheep estranged
Hast thou thrown into dungeons and of day
Amerst thy shepherd? hast thou, while the iron
Pierc'd thro' his tender limbs into his soul,
By threats, by tortures, torn out that offense,
And heard him (O could I) avow his love?
Say, hast thou? cruel, hateful! . . ah my fears!
I feel them true! speak, tell me, are they true?"
She blending thus entreaty with reproach
Bent forward, as tho' falling on her knee
Whence she had hardly risen, and at this pause
Shed from her large dark eyes a shower of tears.
Th' Iberian King her sorrow thus consoled.
'Weep no more, heavenly damsel, weep no

46

more:

Neither by force withheld, or choice estranged
Thy Tamar lives, and only lives for thee.
Happy, thrice happy, you! 'tis me alone
Whom heaven and earth and ocean with one hate
Conspire on, and throughout each path pursue.
Whether in waves beneath or skies above
Thou hast thy habitation, 'tis from heaven,
From heaven alone, such power, such charms,
descend.

Then oh discover whence that ruin comes
Each night upon our city, whence are heard
Those yells of rapture round our fallen walls:
In our affliction can the Gods delight,
Or meet oblation for the Nymphs are tears?"
He spake, and indignation sank in woe.
Which she perceiving, pride refresht her heart
Hope wreath'd her mouth with smiles, and she
exclamed:

Of incantation, demons rule these waves;
These are against thee, these thy works destroy.
Where thou hast built thy palace, and hast left
The seven pillars to remain in front,
Sacrifice there, and all these rites observe.
Go, but go early, ere the gladsome Hours
Strew saffron in the path of rising Morn,
Ere the bee buzzing o'er flowers fresh disclosed
Examine where he may the best alight
Nor scatter off the bloom, ere cold-lipt herds
Crop the pale herbage round each other's bed,
Lead seven bulls well pastur'd and well form'd,
Their neck unblemisht and their horns unring'd,
And at each pillar sacrifice thou one.

And burn the curling shavings of the hoof;
And of the forehead locks thou also burn:
The yellow galls, with equal care preserv'd,
Pour at the seventh statue from the north."
He listen'd, and on her his eyes intent
Perceiv'd her not, and she had disappear'd..
So deep he ponder'd her important words.

And now had morn aris'n and he perform'd
Almost the whole enjoined him: he had reacht
The seventh statue, poured the yellow galls,
The forelock from his left he had releast
And burnt the curling shavings of the hoof
Moisten'd with myrrh; when suddenly a flame
Spired from the fragrant smoke, nor sooner spired
Down sank the brazen fabric at his feet.
He started back, gazed, nor could aught but gaze,
And cold dread stiffen'd up his hair flower-twined;
Then with a long and tacit step, one arm
Behind, and every finger wide outspred,
He look'd and totter'd on a black abyss.
He thought he sometimes heard a distant voice
Breathe thro' the cavern's mouth, and further on
Faint murmurs now, now hollow groans reply.
Therefor suspended he his crook above,
Dropt it, and heard it rolling step by step:
He enter'd, and a mingled sound arose
Like one (when shaken from some temple's roof
By zealous hand, they and their fretted nest)
Of birds that wintering watch in Memnon's tomb,
And tell the halcyons when spring first returns.

THIRD BOOK.

O FOR the spirit of that matchless man
Whom Nature led throughout her whole domain
While he embodied breath'd etherial air!

Tho' panting in the play-hour of my youth
I drank of Avon too, a dangerous draught.

That rous'd within the feverish thirst of song,
Yet never may I trespass o'er the stream
Of jealous Acheron, nor alive descend
The silent and unsearchable abodes
Of Erebus and Night, nor unchastised
Lead up long-absent heroes into day.
When on the pausing theater of earth
Eve's shadowy curtain falls, can any man
Bring back the far-off intercepted hills,
Grasp the round rock-built turret, or arrest

Rose from a river rolling in its bed,

Not rapid, that would rouse the wretched souls,
Nor calmly, that might lull them to repose;
But with dull weary lapses it upheaved
Billows of bale, heard low, yet heard afar.
For when hell's iron portals let out night,
Often men start and shiver at the sound,
And lie so silent on the restless couch
They hear their own hearts beat. Now Gebit
breath'd

The glittering spires that pierce the brow of Another air, another sky beheld:

Heav'n ?

Rather can any with outstripping voice
The parting Sun's gigantic strides recall?
Twice sounded Gebir! twice.th' Iberian king
Thought it the strong vibration of the brain
That struck upon his ear; but now descried
A form, a man, come nearer: as he came
His unshorn hair grown soft in these abodes
Waved back, and scatter'd thin and hoary light.
Living, men called him Aroar, but no more
In celebration or recording verse

His name is heard, no more by Arnon's side
The well-wall'd city which he rear'd remains.
Gebir was now undaunted, for the brave
When they no longer doubt no longer fear,
And would have spoken, but the shade began.
"Brave son of Hesperus! no mortal hand
Has led thee hither, nor without the Gods
Penetrate thy firm feet the vast profound.
Thou knowest not that here thy fathers lie,
The race of Sidad; their's was loud acclame
When living, but their pleasure was in war;
Triumphs and hatred followed: I myself
Bore, men imagin'd, no inglorious part:
The Gods thought otherwise, by whose decree
Depriv'd of life, and more, of death depriv'd,
I stil hear shrieking thro' the moonless night
Their discontented and deserted shades.
Observe these horrid walls, this rueful waste!
Here some refresh the vigour of the mind
With contemplation and cold penitence:
Nor wonder while thou hearest that the soul
Thus purified hereafter may ascend
Surmounting all obstruction, nor ascribe
The sentence to indulgence; each extreme
Has tortures for ambition; to dissolve
In everlasting languour, to resist
Its impulse, but in vain: to be enclosed
Within a limit, and that limit fire;
Sever'd from happiness, from eminence,
And flying, but hell bars us, from ourselves.

Yet rather all these torments most endure

Than solitary pain and sad remorse

Twilight broods here, lull'd by no nightingale
Nor waken'd by the shrill lark dewy-winged,
But glowing with one sullen sunless heat.
Beneath his foot nor sprouted flower nor herb
Nor chirpt a grasshopper; above his head
Phlegethon form'd a firy firmament;
Part were sulphurous clouds involving, part
Shining like solid ribs of molten brass;
For the fierce element which else aspires
Higher and higher and lessens to the sky,
Below, Earth's adamantine arch rebuft.

66

Gebir, tho' now such languour held his limbs,
Scarce aught admir'd he, yet he this admir'd;
And thus addrest him then the conscious guide.
Beyond that river lie the happy fields;
From them fly gentle breezes, which when drawn
Against yon crescent convex, but unite
Stronger with what they could not overcome.
Thus they that scatter freshness thro' the groves
And meadows of the fortunate, and fill
With liquid light the marble bowl of Earth,
And give her blooming health and spritely force,
Their fire no more diluted, nor its darts
Blunted by passing thro' thick myrtle bowers,
Neither from odours rising half dissolved,
Point forward Phlegethon's eternal flame.
And this horizon is the spacious bow
Whence each ray reaches to the world above."

The hero pausing, Gebir then besought
What region held his ancestors, what clouds,
What waters, or what Gods, from his embrace.
Aroar then sudden, as tho' rous'd, renew'd.

Come thou, if ardour urges thee and force
Suffices. . mark me, Gebir, I unfold

No fable to allure thee. . on! behold
Thy ancestors!" and lo! with horrid gasp
The panting flame above his head recoil'd,
And thunder thro' his heart and life blood throb'd.
Such sound could human organs once conceive,
Cold, speechless, palsied, not the soothing voice
Of friendship or almost of Diety

Could raise the wretched mortal from the dust;
Beyond man's home condition they! with eyes

And tow'ring thoughts on their own breast o'er- Intent, and voice desponding, and unheard

turn'd

And piercing to the heart: such penitence,
Such contemplation theirs! thy ancestors
Bear up againt them, nor will they submit
To conquering Time the asperities of Fate:
Yet could they but revisit earth once more,
How gladly would they poverty embrace,
How labour, even for their deadliest foe!
It little now avails them to have rais'd
Beyond the Syrian regions, and beyond
Phenicia, trophies, tributes, colonies:
Follow thou me .. mark what it all avails."
Him Gebir followed, and a roar confused

By Aroar, tho' he tarried at his side,
"They know me not," cried Gebir, "O my sires
Ye know me not! they answer not, nor hear.

How distant are they stil! what sad extent
Of desolation inust we overcome!
Aroar, what wretch that nearest us? what wretch
Is that with eyebrows white, and slanting brow?
Listen! him yonder who bound down supine,
Shrinks yelling from that sword there engine-
hung;

He too among my ancestors?"

"O King! Iberia bore him, but the breed accurst

Thus while he question'd, all his strength dis- The liquid pearl, or twined the nodding crown, solv'd

"My promise, O Charoba, I perform.
Proclame to gods and men a festival
Throughout the land, and bid the strangers eat;
Their anger thus we haply may disarm."

"O Dalica," the grateful queen replied,
"Nurse of my childhood, soother of my cares,
Preventer of my wishes, of my thoughts,
O pardon youth, O pardon royalty!
If hastily to Dalica I sued,

Fear might impell me, never could distrust.
Go then, for wisdom guides thee, take my name,
Issue what most imports and best beseems,
And sovranty shall sanction the decree."

And now Charoba was alone, her heart
Grew lighter; she sat down, and she arose,
She felt voluptuous tenderness, but felt
That tenderness for Dalica; she prais'd
Her kind attention, warm solicitude,
Her wisdom.. for what wisdom pleas'd like hers!
She was delighted; should she not behold
Gebir? she blusht; but she had words to speak,
She form'd them and reform'd them, with regret
That there was somewhat lost with every change;
She could replace them. . what would that
avail? ..

The veil of sea-green awning: if they found
Whom they desired, how pleasant was the breeze
If not, the frightful water forced a sigh.
Sweet airs of music ruled the rowing palms,
Now rose they glistening and aslant reclined,
Now they descended and with one consent
Plunging, seem'd swift each other to pursue,
And now to tremble wearied o'er the wave.
Beyond and in the suburbs might be seen
Crowds of all ages: here in triumph passed
Not without pomp, tho' raised with rude device,
The monarch and Charoba; there a throng
Shone out in sunny whiteness o'er the reeds.
Nor could luxuriant youth, or lapsing age
Propt by the corner of the nearest street,
With aching eyes and tottering knees intent,
Loose leathery neck and wormlike lip outstretcht,
Fix long the ken upon one form, so swift
Thro' the gay vestures fluttering on the bank,
And thro' the bright-eyed waters dancing round,
Wove they their wanton wiles and disappear'd.
Meantime, with pomp august and solemn,

borne

On four white camels tinkling plates of gold,
Heralds before and Ethiop slaves behind,

Moved from their order they have lost their Each with the signs of office in his hand, charm. Each on his brow the sacred stamp of years,

While thus she strew'd her way with softest The four ambassadors of peace procede.

words,

Others grew up before her, but appear'd
A plenteous rather than perplexing choice:
She rub'd her palms with pleasure, heav'd a sigh,
Grew calm again, and thus her thoughts re-
volv'd..

"But he descended to the tombs! the thought
Thrills me, I must avow it, with affright.
And wherefor? shews he not the more belov'd
Of heaven? or how ascends he back to day?
Then has he wrong'd me? could he want a cause
Who has an army and was bred to reign?
And yet no reasons against rights he urged,
He threaten'd not, proclamed not; I approacht,
He hasten'd on; I spake, he listen'd; wept,
He pity'd me; he lov'd me, he obey'd;
He was a conqueror, stil am I a queen.'

She thus indulged fond fancies, when the sound
Of trimbrels and of cymbals struck her ear,
And horns and howlings of wild jubilee.
She fear'd, and listen'd to confirm her fears;
One breath sufficed, and shook her refluent soul.
Smiting, with simulated smile constrain'd,
Her beauteous bosom, "O perfidious man,
O cruel foe!" she twice and thrice exclamed,
"O my companions equal-aged! my throne,
My people! O how wretched to presage
This day, how tenfold wretched to endure!"
She ceast, and instantly the palace rang
With gratulation roaring into rage..
"I'was her own people. "Health to Gebir! health
To our compatriot subjects! to our queen
Health and unfaden youth ten thousand years!"
Then went the victims forward crown'd with
flowers,

Crown'd were tame crocodiles, and boys white

robed

Guided their creaking crests across the stream.
In gilded barges went the female train,
And, hearing others ripple near, undrew

Rich carpets bear they, corn and generous wine,
The Syrian olive's cheerful gift they bear,
With stubborn goats that eye the mountain tops
Askance and riot with reluctant horn,
And steeds and stately camels in their train.
The king, who sat before his tent, descried
The dust rise redden'd from the setting sun:
Thro' all the plains below the Gadite men
Were resting from their labour: some surveyed
The spacious site ere yet obstructed. . walls
Already, soon will roofs have interposed;
Some ate their frugal viands on the steps
Contented; some, remembering home, prefer
The cot's bare rafters o'er the gilded dome,
And sing, for often sighs too end in song:
"In smiling meads how sweet the brook's re-

pose,

To the rough ocean and red restless sands!
Where are the woodland voices that increast
Along the unscen path on festal days,
When lay the dry and outcast arbutus
On the fane-step, and the first privet-flowers
Threw their white light upon the vernal shrine'
Some heedless trip along with hasty step
Whistling, and fix too soon on their abodes:
Haply and one among them with his spear
Measures the lintel, if so great its highth
As will receive him with his helm unlower'd.
But silence went throughout, e'en thoughts
were husht,

When to full view of navy and of camp
Now first expanded the bare-headed train.
Majestic, unpresuming, unappall'd,
Onward they marched, and neither to the right
Nor to the left, tho' there the city stood,
Turn'd they their sober eyes; and now they
reacht

Within a few steep paces of ascent
The lone pavilion of the Iberian king:
He saw them, he awaited them, he rose,