PARADISE AND THE PERI. ONE morn a Peri at the gate Of life within, like music flowing, 'Mid flowers that never shall fade or fall; Though sunny the lake of cool Cashmere, And sweetly the founts of that valley fall; How the waters of Heaven outshine them all As the universe spreads its flaming wall; The glorious Angel, who was keeping From Eden's fountain, when it lies "Numerous small islands emerge from the Lake of Cashmere." †The Altan Kol or Golden River of Tibet has abundance of gold in its sands.-Pinkerton. On the blue flow'r, which-Bramins say- The gift that is most dear to Heaven! Rapidly as comets run To th' embraces of the sun :- And, lighted earthward by a glance To find this gift for Heav'n?" I know I know where the Isles of Perfume are But gifts like these are not for the sky. Where was there ever a gem that shone Like the steps of Alla's wonderful throne? And the drops of life-oh! what would they be In the boundless deep of eternity ?" While thus she mus'd, her pinions fann'd The air of that sweet Indian land, "The Mohammedans suppose that falling stars are the firebrands wherewith the good angels drive away the bad when they approach too near the empyreum or verge of the Heavens." "The Forty Pillars; so the Persians call the ruins of Persepolis It is imagined by them that this palace and the edifices at Balbec were built by Genii, for the purpose of hiding in their subterraneous caverns immense treasures, which still remain there." The Isles of Panchaia. "The cup of Jamshid, discovered, they say, when digging for the foundations of Persepolis." Tis written in the Book of Fate. The Peri yet may be forgiven Who brings to this eternal gate Whose air is balm; whose ocean spreads Whose mountains, pregnant by the beam But crimson now her rivers ran With human blood-the smell of death Mingled his taint with every breath He comes, and India's diadems His blood-hounds he adorns with gems, Of many a young and lov'd Sultana;t Alone, beside his native river,- And the last arrow in his quiver. All crimson with his country's blood, Mahmood of Gazna, or Ghizni, who conquered India in the beginning of the eleventh century.' "It is reported that the hunting equipage of the Sultan Mahmoud was so magnificent that he kept four hundred greyhounds and bloodhounds, each of which wore a collar set with jewels, and a covering edgeu with gold and pearls" |