The night hath closed on Helle's stream, That moon, which shone on his high theme: But conscious shepherds bless it still. Their flocks are grazing on the mound Of him who felt the Dardan's arrow: That mighty heap of gather'd ground Which Ammon's son ran proudly round, (1) By nations raised, by monarchs crown'd, Is now a lone and nameless barrow! Late, late to-night will Dian cheer May shape the course of straggling skiff; Are gather'd in that gorgeous room: spot; and, not foreseeing a speedy conclusion to the con. troversy, amused myself with swimming across it in the mean time; and probably may again, before the point is settled. Indeed, the question as to the truth of "the tale of Troy divine" still continues, much of it resting upon the talismanic word "anupos:" probably Homer had the same notion of distance that a coquette has of time; and when he talks of boundless, means half a mile; as the latter, by a like figure, when she says eternal attachment, simply specifies three weeks. (1) Before his Persian invasion, and crowned the altar with laurel, etc. He was afterwards imitated by Caracalla in his race. It is believed that the last also poisoned a friend, named Festus, for the sake of new Patroclan games. I have seen the sheep feeding on the tombs of Æsietes and Antilochus: the first is in the centre of the plain. (2) When rubbed, the amber is susceptible of a perfume, which is slight, but not disagreeable.-[On discovering that, in some of the early copies, the all-important monosyllable "not" had been omitted, Lord Byron wrote to Mr. Murray, "There is a diabolical mistake, which must be corrected; What doth she hence, and on so rude a night? VI. Wrapt in the darkest sable vest, Which none save noblest Moslem wear, To guard from winds of heaven the breast As heaven itself to Selim dear, With cautious steps the thicket threading, And starting oft, as through the glade The gust its hollow moanings made, Till on the smoother pathway treading, More free her timid bosom beat, The maid pursued her silent guide; And though her terror urged retreat, How could she quit her Selim's side? How teach her tender lips to chide? VII. They reach'd at length a grotto, hewn VIII. Since last she visited the spot Some change seem'd wrought within the grot. But in a nook within the cell There arms were piled, not such as wield it is the omission of 'not' before disagreeable, in the note on the amber rosary. This is really horrible, and nearly as bad as the stumble of mine at the threshold-I mean the misnomer of Bride. Pray do not let a copy go without the 'not' it is nonsense, and worse than nonsense. I wish the printer was saddled with a vampire."-L. E.} (3) The belief in amulets engraved on gems, or enclosed in gold boxes, containing scraps from the Koran, worn round the neck, wrist, or arm, is still universal in the East. The Koorsee (throne) verse in the second cap. of the Koras describes the attributes of the Most High, and is engraved in this manner, and worn by the pious, as the most esteemed and sublime of all sentences. (4) "Comboloio"-a Turkish rosary. The MSS., particularly those of the Persians, are richly adorned and illaminated. The Greek females are kept in utter ignorance: but many of the Turkish girls are highly accomplished. though not actually qualified for a Christian coterie. Perhaps some of our own "blues" might not be the worse for bleaching. A cup too on the board was set IX. His robe of pride was thrown aside, His brow no high-crown'd turban bore, But in its stead a shawl of red, Wreathed lightly round, his temples wore: With silvery scales were sheathed and bound. In him was some young Galiongée. (1) "I said I was not what I seem'd; And now thou see'st my words were true: I have a tale thou hast not dream'd, If sooth-its truth must others rue. My story now 't were vain to hide, XI. Oh! not my brother!-yet unsay-- To mourn-I dare not curse-the day (2) Oh! thou wilt love me now no more! *__(1) "Galiongée”—or Galiongí, a sailor, that is, a Turkish sailor; the Greeks navigate, the Turks work the guns. Their dress is picturesque; and I have seen the Capitan Pacha more than once wearing it as a kind of incog. Their legs however, are generally naked. The buskins described in the text as sheathed behind with silver are those of an Arnaout robber, who was my host (he had quitted the profession) at his Pyrgo, near Gastouni in the Morea; they were plated in scales one over the other, like the back of un armadillo. -P.E. Originally,-"To curse, if I could curse, the day." 3) The characters on all Turkish scimitars contain sometimes the name of the place of their manufacture, but more generally a text from the Koran, in letters of gold. Amongst those in my possession is one with a blade of singular construction; it is very broad, and the edge notched into serpentine curves like the ripple of water, or the wavering of dame. I asked the Armenian who sold it, what possible use sach a figure could add: he said, in Italian, that he did not know; but the Massulmans had an idea that those of this forza gave a severer wound; and liked it because it was "piu My sinking heart foreboded ill; But know me all I was before, Thy sister-friend-Zuleika still. For whom thou wert contemn'd, reviled. XII. "My slave, Zuleika!-nay, I'm thine: Although thy sire's my deadliest foe. That Selim late was deem'd to thee; Is boiling; but for thy dear sake Though here I must no more remain. XIII. "How first their strife to rancour grew, If love or envy made them foes, feroce." I did not much admire the reason, but bought it for its peculiarity. (4) It is to be observed, that every allusion to any thing or personage in the Old Testament, such as the Ark, or Cain, is equally the privilege of Mussulman and Jew: indeed, the former profess to be much better acquainted with the lives, true and fabulous, of the patriarchs, than is warranted by our own sacred writ; and, not content with Adam, they have a biography of pre-Adamites. Solomon is the monarch of all necromancy, and Moses a prophet inferior only to Christ and Mahomet. Zuleika is the Persian name of Potiphar's wife; and her amour with Joseph constitutes one of the finest poems in their language. It is, therefore, no violation of costume to put the names of Cain, or Noah, into the mouth of a Moslem.-[Some doubt having been expressed by Mr. Murray, as to the propriety of put. ting the name of Cain into the mouth of a Mussulman, Lord Byron sent him the preceding note-"for the benefit of the ignorant." "I don't care one lump of sugar," he says, "for my poetry; but for my costume, and my correctness on those points, I will combat lustily.”—L. E.] It matters little if I knew; In fiery spirits, slights, though few Whate'er beside it makes, hath made me free. XIV. "When Paswan, after years of strife, Their tents were pitch'd, their post assign'd; By Giaffir's order drugg'd and given, Dismiss'd Abdallah's hence to heaven. Reclined and feverish in the bath, He, when the hunters' sport was up, But little deem'd a brother's wrath To quench his thirst had such a cup: He drank one draught (3) nor needed more! XV. "The deed once done, and Paswan's feud By him a brother's murder stain'd; Wouldst question whence? Survey the waste, By him whom Heaven accorded none, "Within thy father's house are foes; Not all who break his bread are true: (1) Paswan Oglou, the rebel of Widin; who, for the last years of his life, set the whole power of the Porte at defiance. (2) "Horse-tail," the standard of a pacha. (3) Giaffir, Pacha of Argyro Castro, or Scutari, I am not sure which, was actually taken off by the Albanian Ali, in the manner described in the text. Ali Pacha, while I was To these should I my birth disclose, His days, his very hours were few: This tale, whose close is almost nigh: He in Abdallah's palace grew, And held that post in his serai Which holds he here-he saw him die: But what could single slavery do? Avenge his lord? alas! too late; Or save his son from such a fate? He chose the last, and when elate With foes subdued, or friends betray'd, Proud Giaffir in high triumph sate, He led me helpless to his gate, And not in vain it seems essay'd To save the life for which he pray'd. The knowledge of my birth secured Removed he too from Roumelie Far from our seats by Danube's tide, A tyrant's secrets are but chains, XVII. "All this, Zuleika, harshly sounds; But harsher still my tale must be: And long must wear: this Galiongée, Whose laws and lives are on their swords; To hear whose desolating tale Would make thy waning cheek more pale: Is fill'd-once quaff'd, they ne'er repine: XVIII. "What could I be? Proscribed at home, in the country, married the daughter of his victim, some years after the event had taken place at a bath in Sophia, or Adrianople. The poison was mixed in the cup of coffee. which is presented before the sherbet, by the bath-keeper, after dressing. He ever went to war alone, And pent me here untried-unknown; While thou-whose softness long endear'd, Beneath inaction's sluggish yoke, The day when Giaffir's charge was o'er. (1) The Turkish notions of almost all islands are confined to the Archipelago, the sea alluded to. Lambro Canzani, a Greek, famous for his efforts, in 1789-90, for the independence of his country. Abandoned by the Russians, he became a pirate, and the Archipelago was the scene of his enterprises. He is said to be still alive at Petersburg. He and Riga are the two most celebrated of the Greek revolutionists. (3) Rayahs, "-all who pay the capitation-tax, called the "Haratch." (4) The first of voyages is one of the few with which the Massulmans profess much acquaintance. 5) The wandering life of the Arabs, Tartars, and Turkomans, will be found well detailed in any book of Eastern travels. That it possesses a charm peculiar to itself, canSot be denied. A young French renegado confessed to Chateaubriand, that he never found himself alone, galloping the desert, without a sensation approaching to rapture, which was indescribable. (6) "The longest, as well as most splendid, of those pasages, with which the perusal of his own strains, during revision, inspired him, was that rich flow of eloquent feeling which follows the couplet. Thou, my Zuleika, share and less my bark,' etc.-a strain of poetry, which for energy d tenderness of thought, for music of versification, and selectness of diction, has throughout the greater portion of but few rivals in either ancient or modern song." Moore.-L. E. And every creed, and every race, With them hath found-may find-a place: That never sees with Terror's eyes; Distinguish'd from the vulgar rank, The wisdom of the cautious Frank- The last of Lambro's (2) patriots there And oft around the cavern fire On visionary schemes debate, To snatch the Rayahs (3) from their fate. So let them ease their hearts with prate Of equal rights, which man ne'er knew; I have a love for freedom too. Ay! let me like the ocean-Patriarch (4) roam, Or only know on land the Tartar's home! (5) My tent on shore, my galley on the sea, Are more than cities and serais to me: Borne by my steed, or wafted by my sail, Across the desert, or before the gale, Bound where thou wilt, my barb! or glide, my prow! That steals the trembling tear of speechless praise; Or And gilds to-morrow's hope with heavenly ray. I wish you would ask Mr. Gifford which of them is best; or, rather, not worst."-L. E. "It is therefore probable that, after all, the merit of the choice may have belonged to Mr. Gifford." Moore.-P. E.. (8) The six lines beginning "Blest as the muezzin's strain," etc. were among the additions made to the poem, and, when despatched to the printer for insertion, the first couplet was originally as follows: "Soft as the Mecca muezzin's strains invite, Him who hath journey'd far to join the rite." In a few hours after, another scrap was sent off, containing the lines thus: "Blest as the muczzin's strain from Mecca's dome, Which welcomes Faith to view her Prophet's tomb;" with the following note to Mr. Murray:-"Look out in the Encyclopedia, article Mecca, whether it is there or at le dina the Prophet is entombed. If at Medina, the first lines of my alteration must run:- Blest as the call which from Medina's dome Dear as his native song to exile's ears, A thousand swords, with Selim's heart and hand, Yet well my toils shall that fond breast repay, Immediately after succeeded another note:-"Did you look ont? Is it Medina or Mecca that contains the Holy Sepulchre? Don't make me blaspheme by your negligence. I blush, as a good Mussulman, to have confused the point." After all these various changes, the couplet in question ultimately assumed its present form.-P. E. (1) Jannat al Aden," the perpetual abode, the Mussulman paradise. (2) "You wanted some reflections; and I send you, per Selim, eighteen lines in decent couplets, of a pensive, if not an ethical, tendency. One more revise-positively the last, if decently done at any rate, the penultimate. Mr. Can. But hence ye thoughts that rise in Horror's shape! "His head and faith from doubt and death No deed they've done, nor deed shall do, I form the plan, decree the spoil, But yet, though thou art plighted mine, XXII. Zuleika, mute and motionless, Far, wide, through every thicket spread, |