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 horn unring'd, And at each pillar sacrifice thou one.
Around each base rub thrice the blackening blood, 220
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 arisen and he perform'd Almost the whole enjoined him: he had reacht The seventh statue, pour'd 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 outspread, He lookt 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. Therefore 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.250
O FOR the spirit of that matchless man Whom Nature led throughout her whole domain, While he embodied breath'd ethereal 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 theatre 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
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 acclaim 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 still 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 Hath tortures for ambition; to dissolve In everlasting languor, 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, And towering thoughts on their own breast o'er turn'd
And piercing to the heart: such penitence, Such contemplation theirs! thy ancestors Bear up against 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 follow'd, and a roar confused 10 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,
The glittering spires that pierce the brow of Often men start and shiver at the sound,
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 car; but now descried
And lie so silent on the restless couch, They hear their own hearts beat. Now Gebir breath'd
Another air, another sky beheld:
20 Twilight broods here, lull'd by no nightingale Nor waken'd by the shrill lark dewy-wing'd,
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 fiery 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.
Behold the giant next him, how his feet Plunge floundering mid the marshes yellow- flower'd,
His restless head just reaching to the rocks, His bosom tossing with black weeds besmear'd, How writhes he 'twixt the continent and isle! 150 90 What tyrant with more insolence e'er claim'd Dominion? when from the heart of Usury Rose more intense the pale-flamed thirst for gold? And call'd forsooth Deliverer! False or fools Who prais'd the dull-ear'd miscreant, or who hoped
Gebir, tho' now such languor 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 100 And meadows of the fortunate, and fill With liquid light the marble bowl of Earth, And give her blooming health and sprightly 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 through his heart and life-blood throb'd.
Such sound could human organs once conceive, 120 Cold, speechless, palsied, not the soothing voice Of friendship or almost of Deity
Could raise the wretched mortal from the dust; Beyond man's home condition they! With eyes Intent, and voice desponding, and unheard 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 still! what sad extent Of desolation must 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 enginehung;
He too among my ancestors?" "O King! Iberia bore him, but the breed accurst Inclement winds blew blighting from north-east." "He was a warrior then, nor fear'd the Gods?" "Gebir! he fear'd the Demons, not the Gods, Tho' them indeed his daily face adored, And was no warrior; yet the thousand lives Squander'd as stones to exercise a sling, And the tame cruelty and cold caprice.. Oh madness of mankind! addrest, adored! O Gebir! what are men? or where are Gods?
To soothe your folly and disgrace with praise! Hearest thou not the harp's gay simpering air And merriment afar? then come, advance; And now behold him! mark the wretch accurst Who sold his people to a rival king: Self-yoked they stood two ages unredeem'd."
"O horror! what pale visage rises there! Speak, Aroar! me perhaps mine eyes deceive, Inured not, yet methinks they there descry Such crimson haze as sometimes drowns the
What is yon awful sight? why thus appears That space between the purple and the crown?" "I will relate their stories when we reach Our confines," said the guide; "for thou, O king, Differing in both from all thy countrymen, Seest not their stories and hast seen their fates. But while we tarry, lo again the flame Riseth, and murmuring hoarse, points straighter; haste,
'Tis urgent, we must hence." "Then O adieu!" Cried Gebir and groan'd loud: at last a tear Burst from his eyes turn'd back, and he exclaimed: "Am I deluded? O ye powers of hell! Suffer me.. O my fathers! am I torn.." He spake, and would have spoken more, but flames
Enwrapt him round and round intense; he turn'd 180 And stood held breathless in a ghost's embrace. "Gebir! my son! desert me not! I heard Thy calling voice, nor fate withheld me more: One moment yet remains; enough to know Soon will my torments, soon will thine, expire. O that I e'er exacted such a vow!
When dipping in the victim's blood thy hand, First thou withdrew'st it, looking in my face Wondering; but when the priest my will ex- plain'd,
In vain?" Then sternly said the guide: "In vain! | Wherefore should wretched mortals thus believe, Sayst thou? what wouldst thou more? alas, O Or wherefore should they hesitate to die?”
None come for pastime here! but is it nought To turn thy feet from evil? is it nought Of pleasure to that shade if they are turn'd? For this thou camest hither: he who dares To penetrate this darkness, nor regards The dangers of the way, shall reascend In glory, nor the gates of hell retard
Thus while he question'd, all his strength
Within him, thunder shook his troubled brain, He started, and the cavern's mouth survey'd Near, and beyond his people; he arose,
210 And bent toward them his bewilder'd way.
So permeated by heaven, no trace remains Graven on earth: here Justice is supreme; Compassion can be but where passions are. Here are discover'd those who tortured Law To silence or to speech, as pleas'd themselves; Here also those who boasted of their zeal And lov'd their country for the spoils it gave. Hundreds, whose glitt'ring merchandise the lyre Dazzled vain wretches drunk with flattery, And wafted them in softest airs to Heaven, Doom'd to be still deceiv'd, here still attune The wonted strings and fondly woo applause: Their wish half granted, they retain their own, But madden at the mockery of the shades. Upon the river's other side there grow Deep olive groves; there other ghosts abide, Blest indeed they, but not supremely blest. We can not see beyond, we can not see Aught but our opposite; and here are fates How opposite to ours! here some observ'd Religious rites, some hospitality:
THE king's lone road, his visit, his return, Were not unknown to Dalica, nor long The wondrous tale from royal ears delay'd. When the young queen had heard who taught the rites,
Her mind was shaken, and what first she askt Was, whether the sea-maids were very fair, And was it true that even gods were moved By female charms beneath the waves profound, And join'd to them in marriage, and had sons. Who knows but Gebir sprang then from the Gods!! He that could pity, he that could obey, Flatter'd both female youth and princely pride, The same ascending from amid the shades Show'd Power in frightful attitude: the queen Marks the surpassing prodigy, and strives To shake off terror in her crowded court, And wonders why she trembles, nor suspects How Fear and Love assume each other's form, By birth and secret compact how allied. Vainly (to conscious virgins I appeal) Vainly with crouching tigers, prowling wolves, Rocks, precipices, waves, storms, thunderbolts, All his immense inheritance, would Fear The simplest heart, should Love refuse, assail : Consent, the maiden's pillowed ear imbibes Constancy, honour, truth, fidelity,
Beauty and ardent lips and longing arms; Then fades in glimmering distance half the scene, Then her heart quails and flutters and would fly: 'Tis her beloved! not to her! ye Powers! What doubting maid exacts the vow? behold Above the myrtles his protesting hand! Such ebbs of doubt and swells of jealousy Toss the fond bosom in its hour of sleep And float around the eyelids and sink thro'. Lo! mirror of delight in cloudless days,
Strangers, who from the good old men retired, Closed the gate gently, lest from generous use Shutting and opening of its own accord, It shake unsettled slumbers off their couch: Some stopt revenge athirst for slaughter, some 250 Lo! thy reflection: 'twas when I exclaim'd, Sow'd the slow olive for a race unborn. These had no wishes, therefore none are crown'd: But theirs are tufted banks, theirs umbrage, theirs Enough of sunshine to enjoy the shade, And breeze enough to lull them to repose."
Then Gebir cried: "Illustrious host, proceed. Bring me among the wonders of a realm Admired by all, but like a tale admired. We take our children from their cradled sleep, And on their fancy from our own impress Ethereal forms and adulating fates; But, ere departing for such scenes ourselves, We seize the hand, we hang upon the neck, Our beds cling heavy round us with our tears, Agony strives with agony. Just Gods!
With kisses hurried as if each foresaw Their end, and reckon'd on our broken bonds, And could at such a price such loss endure, "O what to faithful lovers met at morn, What half so pleasant as imparted fears!" Looking recumbent how Love's column rose Marmoreal, trophied round with golden hair, How in the valley of one lip unseen
He slumber'd, one his unstrung bow imprest. Sweet wilderness of soul-entangling charms! Led back by Memory, and each blissful maze Retracing, me with magic power detain Those dimpled cheeks, those temples violet- tinged,
Those lips of nectar and those eyes of heaven!
While tumult sweeps them ample room for play;
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 her's! 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 70 That there was somewhat lost with every change; She could replace them; what would that
Every-where questions answer'd ere begun, Every-where crowds, for every-where alarm. Thus winter gone, nor spring (tho' near) arriv'd, Urged slanting onward by the bickering breeze That issues from beneath Aurora's car, Shudder the sombrous waves; at every beam More vivid, more by every breath impell'd, Higher and higher up the fretted rocks Their turbulent refulgence they display. Madness, which like the spiral element The more it seizes on the fiercer burns, Harried them blindly forward, and involved In flame the senses and in gloom the soul. Determin'd to protect the country's gods, And asking their protection, they adjure Each other to stand forward, and insist With zeal, and trample under foot the slow; And disregardful of the Sympathies Divine, those Sympathies whose delicate hand Touching the very eyeball of the heart, Awakens it, not wounds it nor inflames, Blind wretches! they with desperate embrace Hang on the pillar till the temple fall. Oft the grave judge alarms religious wealth And rouses anger under gentle words. Woe to the wiser few who dare to cry "People! these men are not your enemies, Inquire their errand, and resist when wrong'd." 90 Together childhood, priesthood, womanhood, The scribes and elders of the land, exclaim "Seek they not hidden treasure in the tombs ? Raising the ruins, levelling the dust, Who can declare whose ashes they disturb! Build they not fairer cities than our own, Extravagant enormous apertures
For light, and portals larger, open courts Where all ascending all are unconfin'd, And wider streets in purer air than ours? Temples quite plain with equal architraves They build, nor bearing gods like ours imbost. O profanation! O our ancestors!"
Tho' all the vulgar hate a foreign face, It more offends weak eyes and homely age, Dalica most, who thus her aim pursued. "My promise, O Charoba, I perform. Proclaim to gods and men a festival
* Antonius was afraid of poison: Cleopatra, to prove the injustice of his suspicions, and the ease with which a poison might be administered, shook it from her crown of flowers into his goblet: before he had raised it to his lipe, she told him, and established his confidence.
Moved from their order they have lost their charm. While thus she strew'd her way with softest words, Others grew up before her, but appear'd A plenteous rather than perplexing choice: She rubb'd her palms with pleasure, heav'd a sigh, Grew calm again, and thus her thoughts revolv'd. "But he descended to the tombs! the thought Thrills me, I must avow it, with affright. And wherefore? shows he not the more belov'd Of heav'n? 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, proclaim'd 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, still am I a queen." She thus indulged fond fancies, when the sound Of timbrels and of cymbals struck her ear, And horns and howlings of wild jubilee. She fear'd, and listened 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 exclaim'd, "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; "Twas her own people. "Health to Gebir! health To our compatriot subjects! to our queen Health and unfaded youth ten thousand years!" Then went the victims forward crown'd with flowers,
Crown'd were tame crocodiles, and boys whiterobed
Guided their creaking crests across the stream. In gilded barges went the female train, And, hearing others ripple near, undrew The veil of sea-green awning: if they found
Whom they desired, how pleasant was the breeze! 170 He saw them, he awaited them, he rose,
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 past Not without pomp, tho' rais'd 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.190 Meantime, with pomp august and solemn, borne On four white camels tinkling plates of gold, Heralds before and Ethiop slaves behind, Each with the sign of office in his hand, Each on his brow the sacred stamp of years, The four ambassadors of peace proceed. Rich carpets bear they, corn and generous wine, The Syrian olive's cheerful gift they bear, With stubborn goats that eye the mountain-top 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 repose To the rough ocean and red restless sands!' Where are the woodland voices that increast Along the unseen 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 marcht, and neither to the right Nor to the left, tho' there the city stood, Turn'd they their sober eyes; and now they
Within a few steep paces of ascent
The lone pavilion of the Iberian king:
Glowing with pleasure and with palms refresht, Now pointed at by Wisdom or by Wealth, Bereft of beauty, bare of ornament, Stood in the wilderness of woe, Masar. Ere far advancing, all appear'd a plain, Treacherous and fearful mountains, far advanced. Her glory so gone down, at human step The fierce hyena frighted from the walls Bristled his rising back, his teeth unsheathed, Drew the long growl and with slow foot retired. Yet were remaining some of ancient race, And ancient arts were now their sole delight. With Time's first sickle they had markt the hour
When at their incantation would the Moon Start back, and shuddering shed blue blasted
The rifted rays they gather'd, and immerst In potent portion of that wondrous wave, Which, hearing rescued Israel, stood erect, And led her armies thro' his crystal gates.
Hither (none shared her way, her counsel none} Hied the Masarian Dalica: 'twas night, And the still breeze fell languid on the waste. She, tired with journey long and ardent thoughts, Stopt; and before the city she descried A female form emerge above the sands: Intent she fixt her eyes, and on herself Relying, with fresh vigour bent her way; 210 Nor disappear'd the woman; but exclaim'd, (One hand retaining tight her folded vest) 'Stranger! who loathest life, there lies Masar. Begone, nor tarry longer, or ere morn The cormorant in his solitary haunt Of insulated rock or sounding cove
Stands on thy bleached bones and screams for
My lips can scatter them o'er every sea
Under the rising and the setting sun,
So shrivel'd in one breath as all the sands We tread on, could not in a hundred years. Wretched who die nor raise their sepulchre ! Therefore begone." But Dalica unaw'd, (Tho' in her wither'd but still firm right-hand, Held up with imprecations hoarse and deep, Glimmer'd her brazen sickle, and enclosed Within its figured curve the fading moon) Spake thus aloud. "By yon bright orb of Heaven In that most sacred moment when her beam (Guided first thither by the forked shaft,) Strikes thro' the crevice of Arishtah's tower
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