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He call'd on Alla-but the word
Arose unheeded, or unheard.

Thou Paynim fool! could Leila's prayer
Be pass'd, and thine accorded there?
I watch'd my time, I leagued with these,
The traitor in his turn to seize ;

My wrath is wreak'd, the deed is done,
And now I go-but go alone."

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The browzing camels' bells are tinkling: His mother look'd from her lattice highShe saw the dews of eve besprinkling The pasture green beneath her

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eye,

She saw the planets faintly twinkling: "T is twilight-sure his train is nigh."

She could not rest in the garden-bower,

But gazed through the grate of his steepest tower :

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Why comes he not? his steeds are fleet,

Nor shrink they from the summer heat:

Why sends not the bridegroom his promised gift?

Is his heart more cold, or his barb less swift?

Oh, false reproach! yon Tartar now

Has gain'd our nearest mountain's brow,
And warily the steep descends,

And now within the valley bends;

And he bears the gift at his saddle-bow-
How could I deem his courser slow?
Right well my largess shall repay
His welcome speed, and weary way."
The Tartar lighted at the gate,
But scarce upheld his fainting weight :
His swarthy visage spake distress,
But this might be from weariness;

His garb with sanguine spots was dyed,
But these might be from his courser's side;
He drew the token from his vest-

Angel of Death! 't is Hassan's cloven crest!
His calpac31 rent—his caftan red—
"Lady, a fearful bride thy son hath wed;
Me, not from mercy, did they spare,
But this empurpled pledge to bear.
Peace to the brave! whose blood is spilt:
Woe to the Giaour! for his the guilt."

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Whereon can now be scarcely read
The Koran verse that mourns the dead,
Point out the spot where Hassan fell
A victim in that lonely dell.
There sleeps as true an Osmanlie
As e'er at Mecca bent the knee;
As ever scorn'd forbidden wine,
Or pray'd with face towards the shrine,
In orisons resumed anew

At solemn sound of " Alla Hu!" 33
Yet died he by a stranger's hand,
And stranger in his native land;
Yet died he as in arms he stood,
And unavenged, at least in blood.
But him the maids of paradise

Impatient to their halls invite,
And the dark heaven of Houris' eyes

On him shall glance for ever bright:
They come their kerchiefs green they wave,34
And welcome with a kiss the brave!
Who falls in battle 'gainst a Giaour
Is worthiest an immortal bower.

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But thou, false infidel! shalt writhe
Beneath avenging Monkir's 55 scythe;
And from its torment 'scape alone
To wander round lost Eblis'56 throne;
And fire unquench'd, unquenchable,
Around, within, thy heart shall dwell;
Nor ear can hear nor tongue can tell
The tortures of that inward hell!
But first, on earth as vampire 37 sent,
Thy corse shall from its tomb be rent:
Then ghastly haunt thy native place,
And suck the blood of all thy race:
There from thy daughter, sister, wife,
At midnight drain the stream of life;
Yet loathe the banquet which perforce
Must feed thy livid living corse:
Thy victims ere they yet expire
Shall know the demon for their sire,
As cursing thee, thou cursing them,
Thy flowers are wither'd on the stem.
But one that for thy crime must fall,
The youngest, most beloved of all,
Shall bless thee with a father's name-
That word shall wrap thy heart in flame!

Yet must thou end thy task, and mark
Her cheek's last tinge, her eye's last spark,
And the last glassy glance must view
Which freezes o'er its lifeless blue;
Then with unhallow'd hand shalt tear
The tresses of her yellow hair,
Of which in life a lock, when shorn,
Affection's fondest pledge was worn;
But now is borne away by thee,
Memorial of thine agony!

Wet with thine own best blood shall drip
Thy gnashing tooth and haggard lip;
Then, stalking to thy sullen grave,
Go-and with Gouls and Afrits rave;
Till these in horror shrink away
From spectre more accursed than they!

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"How name ye yon lone Caloyer?

His features I have scann'd before
In mine own land: 't is many a year,
Since, dashing by the lonely shore,
I saw him urge as fleet a steed
As ever served a horseman's need.
But once I saw that face, yet then
It was so mark'd with inward pain,
I could not pass it by again;
It breathes the same dark spirit now,
As death were stamp'd upon his brow."

""T is twice three years at summer tide

Since first among our freres he came; And here it soothes him to abide

For some dark deed he will not name. But never at our vesper prayer, Nor e'er before confession chair Kneels he, nor recks he when arise Incense or anthem to the skies, But broods within his cell alone, His faith and race alike unknown. The sea from Paynim land he crost, And here ascended from the coast; Yet seems he not of Othman race, But only Christian in his face : I'd judge him some stray renegade, Repentant of the change he made, Save that he shuns our holy shrine, Nor tastes the sacred bread and wine. Great largess to these walls he brought, And thus our abbot's favour bought:

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But, were I prior, not a day

Should brook such stranger's further stay;
Or, pent within our penance cell,
Should doom him there for aye to dwell.
Much in his visions mutters he

Of maiden whelm'd beneath the sea;
Of sabres clashing, foemen flying,
Wrongs avenged, and Moslem dying.
On cliff he hath been known to stand,
And rave as to some bloody hand
Fresh sever'd from its parent limb,
Invisible to all but him,

Which beckons onward to his grave,
And lures to leap into the wave."

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Dark and unearthly is the scowl
That glares beneath his dusky cowl :
The flash of that dilating eye
Reveals too much of times gone by;
Though varying, indistinct its hue,
Oft will his glance the gazer rue,
For in it lurks that nameless spell
Which speaks, itself unspeakable,
A spirit yet unquell'd and high,
That claims and keeps ascendancy,
And like the bird whose pinions quake,
But cannot fly the gazing snake,

Will others quail beneath his look,

Nor 'scape the glance they scarce can brook. From him the half-affrighted friar

When met alone would fain retire,

As if that eye and bitter smile

Transferr'd to others fear and guile :

Not oft to smile descendeth he,
And, when he doth, 't is sad to see
That he but mocks at misery.

How that pale lip will curl and quiver!
Then fix once more as if for ever;
As if his sorrow or disdain
Forbade him e'er to smile again.
Well were it so such ghastly mirth
From joyaunce ne'er derived its birth.
But sadder still it were to trace
What once were feelings in that face:
Time hath not yet the features fix'd,
But brighter traits with evil mix'd;

And there are hues not always faded,
Which speak a mind not all degraded,
Even by the crimes through which it waded :
The common crowd but see the gloom
Of wayward deeds, and fitting doom;
The close observer can espy

A noble soul, and lineage high:
Alas! though both bestow'd in vain,

Which grief could change, and guilt could stain,
It was no vulgar tenement

To which such lofty gifts were lent,
And still with little less than dread
On such the sight is riveted.
The roofless cot, decay'd and rent,
Will scarce delay the passer-by;
The tower by war or tempest bent,
While yet may frown one battlement,

Demands and daunts the stranger's eye;

Each ivied arch, and pillar lone,
Pleads haughtily for glories gone.

"His floating robe around him folding,
Slow sweeps he through the column'd aisle ;
With dread beheld, with gloom beholding
The rites that sanctify the pile.

But when the anthem shakes the choir,
And kneel the monks, his steps retire:
By yonder lone and wavering torch
His aspect glares within the porch;
There will he pause till all is done---
And hear the prayer, but utter none.
See-by the half-illumined wall
His hood fly back, his dark hair fall,
That pale brow wildly wreathing round,
As if the Gorgon there had bound
The sablest of the serpent-braid
That o'er her fearful forehead stray'd:
For he declines the convent oath,
And leaves those locks unhallow'd growth,
But wears our garb in all beside;
And not from piety, but pride,
Gives wealth to walls that never heard
Of his one holy vow nor word.
Lo!-mark ye, as the harmony
Peals louder praises to the sky,
That livid cheek, that stony air
Of mix'd defiance and despair!
Saint Francis, keep him from the shrine !
Else may we dread the wrath divine

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