Save what the father must not say Who shrived him on his dying day: of the victims uttered a cry, or showed a symptom of terror at so sudden a "wrench from all we know, from all we love." The fate of Phrosine, the fairest of this sacrifice, is the subject of many a Romaic and Arnaout ditty. The story in the text is one told of a young Venetian many years ago, and now nearly forgotten. I heard it by accident recited by one of the coffee-house story-tellers who abound in the Levant, and sing or recite their narratives. The additions and interpolations by the translator will be easily distinguished from the rest, by the want of Eastern imagery; and I regret that my memory has retained so few fragments of the original. For the contents of some of the notes I am indebted partly to D'Herbelot, and partly to that most Eastern, This broken tale was all we knew and, as Mr. Weber justly entitles it, "sublime tale," the Caliph The Bride of Abydos; A TURKISH TALE. (1). "Had we never loved so kindly, Had we never loved so blindly, Never met or never parted, We had ne'er been broken-hearted."- Burns TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LORD HOLLAND, This Tale is Inscribed, WITH EVERY SENTIMENT OF REGARD, AND RESPECT, BY HIS GRATEFULLY OBLIGED AND SINCERE FRIEND, BYRON. CANTO I. 1. KNOW ye the land where the cypress and myrtle (2) Are emblems of deeds that are done in their clime, Where the rage of the vulture, the love of the turtle, Now melt into sorrow, now madden to crime? Know ye the land of the cedar and vine, Where the light wings of Zephyr, oppress'd with perfume, Wax faint o'er the gardens of gul (3) in her bloom; In colour though varied, in beauty may vie, Where the flowers ever blossom, the beams ever Where the virgins are soft as the roses they twine, shine; (1) The Bride of Abydos was published in the beginning of December, 1813. The mood of mind in which it was struck off is thus stated by Lord Byron, in a letter to Mr. Gifford :-"You have been good enough to look at a thing of mine in MS.-a Turkish story-and I should feel gratified if you would do it the same favour in its probationary state of printing. It was written, I cannot say for amusement, nor obliged by hunger and request of friends,' but in a state of mind, from circumstances which occasionally occur tous youth,' that rendered it necessary for me to apply my mind to something, any thing, but reality; and under this not very brilliant inspiration it was composed. Send it either to the flames, or A hundred hawkers' load, It deserves no better than the first, as the work of a week, and scribbled 'stans pede in uno' (by the by, the only foot I have to And all, save the spirit of man, is divine? stand on); and I promise never to trouble you again under forty cantos, and a voyage between each.”—E. "Murray tells me that Croker asked him 'why the thing is called the Bride of Abydos?' It is an awkward question, being unanswerable: she is not a bride; only about to be one. I don't wonder at his finding out the bull; but the detection is too late to do any good. I was a great fool to have made it, and am ashamed of not being an Irishman." B. Diary, Dec. 6, 1813. (2) To the Bride of Abydos, Lord Byron made many additions during its progress through the press, amounting to about two hundred lines; and, as in the case of the Giaour, the passages so added will be seen to be some of the most splendid in the whole poem. These opening lines, which are among the new insertions, are supposed to have been suggested by a song of Goethe's"Kennst du das land wo die citronen blühn.”—E. (3) "Gul," the rose. 'Tis the clime of the East; 't is the land of the sunCan he smile on such deeds as his children have done?(1) Oh! wild as the accents of lovers' farewell Are the hearts which they bear, and the tales which they tell. II. Begirt with many a gallant slave, Deep thought was in his aged eye; Not oft betrays to standers by The mind within, well skill'd to hide All but unconquerable pride, His pensive cheek and pondering brow Did more than he was wont avow. III. "Let the chamber be clear'd."-The train disap pear'd "Now call me the chief of the haram guard." With Giaffir is none but his only son, And the Nubian awaiting the sire's award. First lowly rendering reverence meet; That-let the old and weary sleep- The fairest scenes of land and deep, To thoughts with which my heart beat high (1) "Souls made of fire, and children of the Sun, With whom revenge is virtue." Young's Revenge. Were irksome for whate'er my mood, I on Zuleika's slumber broke, And, as thou knowest that for me Soon turns the haram's grating key, Before the guardian slaves awoke We to the cypress groves had flown, And made earth, main, and heaven our own! There linger'd we, beguiled too long With Mejnoun's tale, or Sadi's song; (2) Till I, who heard the deep tambour (3, Beat thy divan's approaching hour, To thee, and to my duty true, Warn'd by the sound, to greet thee flew : But there Zuleika wanders yetNay, father, rage not-nor forget That none can pierce that secret bower But those who watch the women's tower." IV. "Son of a slave !"-the Pacha said- Vain were a father's hope to see Thou, when thine arm should bend the bow, Thou see'st yon bow-it hath a string!" V. No sound from Selim's lip was heard, Thus held his thoughts their dark career; (2) Mejnoun and Leila, the Romeo and Juliet of the East. Sadi, the moral poet of Persia. (3) Tambour, Turkish drum, which sounds at sunrise, noon, and twilight. And glances even of more than ire And started; for within his eye He read how much his wrath had done; "Come hither, boy-what, no reply? That eye return'd him glance for glance, And proudly to his sire's was raised, Till Giaffir's quail'd and shrunk askanceAnd why—he felt, but durst not tell. "Much 1 misdoubt this wayward boy Will one day work me more annoy: I never loved him from his birth, And-but his arm is little worth, And scarcely in the chase could cope With timid fawn or antelope, Far less would venture into strife Where man contends for fame and lifeI would not trust that look or tone: No-nor the blood so near my own. That blood-he hath not heard-no moreI'll watch him closer than before. He is an Arab (1) to my sight, Or Christian crouching in the fightBut hark!-I hear Zuleika's voice; Like houris' hymn it meets mine ear: She is the offspring of my choice; Oh! more than even her mother dear, Sweet as the desert fountain's wave Such to my longing sight art thou; Who blest thy birth, and bless thee now." VI. Fair as the first that fell of womankind, When on that dread yet lovely serpent smiling, Whose image then was stamp'd upon her mindBut once beguiled-and ever more beguiling; Dazzling, as that, oh! too transcendent vision To sorrow's phantom-peopled slumber given, When heart meets heart again in dreams Elysian, And paints the lost on earth revived in heaven; Soft, as the memory of buried love; Pure, as the prayer which Childhood wafts above; Her graceful arms in meekness bending His heart, though stern, could ever feel; VII. "Zuleika! child of gentleness! (1) The Turks abhor the Arabs (who return the compliment a After all, this is rather to be felt than described; still I think there bundred-fold) even more than they hate the Christians. (2) These twelve fine lines were added in the course of printing. -E. are some who will understand it, at least they would have done had they beheld the countenance whose speaking harmony suggested the idea; for this passage is not drawn from imagination (3) This expression has met with objections. I will not refer but memory, that mirror which Affliction dashes to the earth, to" Him who hath not masten bis soul," but merely request the and, looking down upon the fragments, only beholds the reflection reader to recollect, for ten seconds, the features of the woman multiplied!-["This morning, a very pretty billet from the Staël. whom he believes to be the most beautiful; and, if he then does She has been pleased to be pleased with my slight eulogy in the not comprehend fully what is feebly expressed in the above line, note annexed to the Bride. This is to be accounted for in several I shall be sorry for us both. For an eloquent passage in the latest ways:-firstly, all women like all or any praise; secondly, this work of the first female writer of this, perhaps of any, age, on was unexpected, because I have never courted her; and, the analogy (and the immediate comparison excited by that ana-thirdly, as Scrub says, those who have been all their lives regularly logy) between "painting and music," see vol. iii. cap. 10. De l'Al- praised, by regular critics, like a little variety, and are glad lemagne. And is not this connection still stronger with the when any one goes out of his way to say a civil thing; and, original than the copy? with the colouring of nature than of art? | fourthly, she is a very good-natured creature, which is the best We Moslem reck not much of blood; But yet the line of Carasman (1) Unchanged, unchangeable hath stood First of the bold Timariot bands That won and well can keep their lands. Enough that he who comes to woo Is kinsman of the Bey Oglou : His years need scarce a thought employ; I would not have thee wed a boy. And thou shalt have a noble dower: And his and my united power Will laugh to scorn the death-firman, Which others tremble but to scan, And teach the messenger (2) what fate The bearer of such boon may wait. And now thou know'st thy father's will; All that thy sex hath need to know: 'T was mine to teach obedience stillThe way to love thy lord may show." VIII. In silence bow'd the virgin's head; And red to pale, as through her ears So bright the tear in Beauty's eye, Thrice clapp'd his hands, and call'd his steed,(3) And mounting featly for the mead, To witness many an active deed With sabre keen, or blunt jerreed. reason, after all, and perhaps the only one." B. Diary, Dec. 7, 1813. (1) Carasman Oglou, or Kara Osman Oglou, is the principal landholder in Turkey; he governs Magnesia: those who, by a kind of feudal tenure, possess land on condition of service, are called Timariots: they serve as Spahis, according to the extent of territory, and bring a certain number into the field, generally cavalry. (2) When a pacha is sufficiently strong to resist, the single messenger, who is always the first bearer of the order for his death, is strangled instead, and sometimes five or six, one after the other, on the same errand, by command of the refractory patient; if, on the contrary, he is weak or loyal, he bows, kisses the sultan's respectable signature, and is bowstrung with great complacency. In 1810, several of these presents were exhibited in the niche of the Seraglio gate; among others, the head of the Pacha of Bagdat, a brave young man, cut off by treachery, after a desperate resistance. (3) Clapping of the hands calls the servants. The Turks hate a superfluous expenditure of voice, and they have no bells. The Kislar only and his Moors His head was leant upon his hand, His eye look'd o'er the dark blue water Mix in the game of mimic slaughter, No word from Selim's bosom broke; And sprinkled all its odours o'er The pictured roof (10) and marble floor: As if that breast were marble too. (4) "Chibouque," the Turkish pipe, of which the amber mouthpiece, and sometimes the ball which contains the leaf, is adorned with precious stones, if in possession of the wealthier orders. (5) "Maugrabee," Moorish mercenaries. (6) "Delis," bravos who form the forlorn hope of the cavalry, and always begin the action. (7) A twisted fold of felt is used for scimitar practice by the Turks, and few but Mussulman arms can cut through it at a single stroke: sometimes a tough turban is used for the same purpose. The jerreed is a game of blunt javelins, animated and graceful. (8) "Ollahs," Alla il Allah, the "Lelies," as the Spanish poets call them, the sound is Ollah; a cry of which the Turks, for a silent people, are somewhat profuse, particularly during the jerreed, or in the chase, but mostly in battle. Their animation in the field, and gravity in the chamber, with their pipes and comboloios, form an amusing contrast. (9) "Atar-gul," ottar of roses. The Persian is the finest. (10) The ceiling and wainscots, or rather walls, of the Mussulman apartments, are generally painted, in great houses, with O gentle Selim, this from thee!" She saw in curious order set The fairest flowers of eastern land"He loved them once; may touch them yet, If offer'd by Zuleika's hand." The childish thought was hardly breathed And though his note is somewhat sad, "What! not receive my foolish flower? And know'st thou not who loves thee best! Since words of mine, and songs must fail, Ah! deem I right? the Pacha's plan- XII. He lived-he breathed-he moved-he felt! He raised the maid from where she knelt; His trance was gone—his keen eye shone With thoughts that long in darkness dwelt; With thoughts that burn-in rays that melt. As the stream late conceal'd By the fringe of its willows, When it rushes reveal'd In the light of its billows; As the bolt bursts on high From the black cloud that bound it, Through the long lashes round it. Now thou art mine, for ever mine, With life to keep, and scarce with life resign; I know the wretch who dares demand mallem," etc. if Mr. Fox was mistaken. jone eternal and highly coloured view of Constantinople, wherein a conjecture on the point, though a little inclined to the "errare the principal feature is a noble contempt of perspective; below, arms, scimitars, etc. are in general fancifully and not inelegantly disposed. (1) It has been much doubted whether the notes of this "Lover of the rose" are sad or merry; and Mr. Fox's remarks the subject have provoked some learned controversy as to the opinions of the ancients on the subject. I dare not venture (2) "Azrael," the angel of death. (3) The treasures of the pre-adamite Sultans. See D'Herbelot, article Istakar. (4) "Musselim," a governor, the next in rank after a pacha; a waywode is the third; and then come the agas. (8) "Egripo," the Negropont. According to the proverb, the |