PERKINS LIBRARY Duke University Kare Book* ■ -■■■ ■ J h Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2012 with funding from ^ Duke University Libraries http://archive.org/details/brideofabydostur05byro THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS. A TURKISH TALE. BY LORD BYRON. 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. EIGHTH EDITION. LONDON: Printed by Thomas Davison, Whitefriars K FOR JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE-STREET. 1314. B 996 BR. Afi3 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, THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS CANTO I. I. Know ye the land where the cypress and myrtle 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 flowers ever blossom, the beams ever shine, Where the light wings of Zephyr, oppressed with perfume, Wax faint o'er the gardens of Gul * in her bloom ; Where the citron and olive are fairest of fruit, And the voice of the nightingale never is mute ; 10 Where the tints of the earth, and the hues of the sky, In colour though varied, in beauty may vie, And the purple of Ocean is deepest in die ; Where the virgins are soft as the roses they twine, And all, save the spirit of man, is divine— B t THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS. 'Tis the clime of the east — 'tis the land of the Sun — Can he smile on such deeds as his children have done? 2 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, 20 Apparelled as becomes the brave, Awaiting each his Lord's behest To guide his steps, or guard his rest, Old Giaffir sate in his Divan, Deep thought was in his aged eye ; And though the face of Mussulman Not oft betrays to standers by The mind within, well skill'd to hide All but unconquerable pride, His pensive cheek and pondering brow 30 Did more than he was wont avow. III. " Let the chamber be cleared" — the train disappeared — " Now call me the chief of the Haram guard — ** With Giaffir is none but his only son, And the Nubian awaiting the aire's award. THE PRIDE OF ABYDOS. % " Haroun — when all the crowd that wait " Are passed beyond the outer gate, " (Woe to the head whose eye beheld " My child Zuleika's face unveiled !) " Hence, lead my daughter from her tower — 40 " Her fate is fixed this very hour ; * Yet not to her repeat my thought — " By me alone be duty taught ! " " Pacha ! to hear is to obey.—" No more must slave to despot say — Then to the tower had ta'en his way, But here young Selim silence brake, First lowly rendering reverence meet ; And downcast looked, and gently spake, Still standing at the Pacha's feet. — £0 For son of Moslem must expire, Ere dare to sit before his sire ! a Father ! — for fear that thou should'st chide " My sister, or her sable guide — " Know — for the fault, if fault there be, 0 " He, when the hunter's sport was up, " But little deemed a brother's wrath " To quench his thirst had such a cup. " The bowl a bribed attendant bore, " He drank one draught 33 — nor needed more! " If thou my tale, Zuleika, doubt — " Call Haroun — he can tell it out. XV. " The deed once done — and Paswan's feud " In part suppressed — though ne'er subdued—^ 38 THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS. " Abdallah's Pachalick was gained — 25© " (Thou know'st not what in our Divan " Can wealth procure for worse than man) : " Abdallah's honours were obtained " By him a brother's murder stained ; " "Tis true — the purchase nearly drained " His ill got treasure — soon replaced — " Would'st question whence ? — Survey the waste — " And ask the squalid peasant how " His gains repay his broiling brow ! " Why me the stern usurper spared, 260 " Why thus with me his palace shared, " I know not. — Shame — regret — remorse — " And little fear from infant's force — " Besides — adoption as a son " By him whom Heaven accorded none: " Or some unknown cabal — caprice — '* Preserved me thus, but not in peace ; " He cannot curb his haughty mood, M Nor I forgive a father's blood. THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS. 39 XVI. " Within thy father's house are foes — ■ 270 " Not all who break his bread are true ; " To these should I my birth disclose, " His days — his very hours were few : " They only want a heart to lead, " A hand to point them to the deed. " But Haroun only knows — or knew " 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 ; 28Q " 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 betrayed — " Proud Giaffir in high triumph sate, " He led me helpless to his gate, " And not in vain it seems essayed " To save the life for which he prayed. 40 THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS " The knowledge of my birth secured WJO 11 From all and each — but most from me ; " Thus Giaffir's safety was ensured, " Removed he too from Roumelie " To this our Asiatic side, " Far from our seats by Danube's tide — ■ " With none but Haroun, who retains " Such knowledge — and that Nubian feels " A tyrant's secrets are but chains, " From which the captive gladly steals, " And this and more to me reveals. 300 " Such still to guilt just Alia sends " Slaves — tools — accomplices — no friends ! XVII. " All this, Zuleika, harshly sounds " But harsher still my tale must be, " Howe'er my tongue thy softness wounds, " Yet I must prove all truth to thee; " I saw thee start this garb to see, " Yet is it one I oft have worn, " And long must wear — this Galiongee a To whom thy plighted vow is sworn, 310 THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS. 41 " Is leader of those pirate hordes, " Whose laws and lives are on their swords ; " To hear whose desolating tale " Would make thy waning cheek more pale ; " Those arms thou see'st my band have brought, " The hands that wield are not remote ; " This cup too for the rugged knaves " Is filled — once quaffed, they ne'er repine, " Our Prophet might forgive the slaves, " They're only infidels in wine. 320 XVIII. " What could I be ? — Proscribed at home, " And taunted to a wish to roam ; " And listless left — for Giaffir's fear " Denied the courser and the spear; " Though oft— Oh, Mahomet ! how oft " In full Divan the despot scoffed, " As if my weak unwilling hand " Refused the bridle or the brand : " He ever went to war alone, " And pent me here untried — unknown — 330 4-2 THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS. " To Haroun's care with women left, " By hope unblest — of fame bereft. " While thou — whose softness long endeared, " Though it unmanned me, still had cheered— " To Brusa's walls for safety sent, " Awaited'st there the field's event ; — " Haroun, who saw my spirit pining " Beneath inaction's sluggish yoke, " His captive, though with dread resigning, " My thraldom for a season broke ; 3 46 " On promise to return before " The day when Giaffir's charge was o'er. " 'Tis vain — my tongue can not impart " My almost drunkenness of heart, " When first this liberated eye " Surveyed Earth — Ocean — Sun and Sky ! " As if my spirit pierced them through, " And all their inmost wonders knew-— " One word alone can paint to thee " That more than feeling — I was Free ! 350 " E'en for thy presence ceased to pine — * i The World — nay — Heaven itself was mine ! THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS. 43 XIX. u The shallop of a trusty Moor " Conveyed me from this idle shore ; " I longed to see the isles that gem " Old Ocean's purple diadem : i( I sought by turns, and saw them all, 34 " But when and where I joined the crew, " With whom I'm pledged to rise or fall, " When all that we design to do 360 " Is done — 'twill then be time more meet " To tell thee, when the tale's complete. XX. " 'Tis true — they are a lawless brood, " But rough in form, nor mild in mood ; a And every creed, and every race, " With them hath found — may find a place ; " But open speech, and ready hand, " Obedience to their chief's command ; " A soul for every enterprize, " That never sees with terror's eyes; 370 " Friendship for each, and faith to all, " And vengeance vow'd for those who fall ; " Have made them fitting instruments u For more than even my own intents. 44 THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS. " And some — and I have studied all " Distinguish'd from the vulgar rank, " But chiefly to my council call " The wisdom of the cautious Frank : — " And some to higher thoughts aspire, " The last of Lambro's 3S patriots there 380 " Anticipated freedom share ; " And oft around the cavern fire " On visionary schemes debate, " To snatch the Rayahs 36 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 37 roam, " Or only know on land the Tartar's home, * " My tent on shore — my galley on the sea — 390 " Are more than cities and Serais to me ; " Borne by my steed, or wafted by my sail, " Across the desart, or before the gale, ** Bound where thou wilt, my barb ! or glide my prow, " But be the star that guides the wanderer — Thou ! " Thou, my Zuleika, share and bless my bark — - * l The Dove of peace and promise to mine ark! THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS. 45 " Or since that hope denied in worlds of strife — " Be thou the rainbow to the storms of life ! " The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, 400 " And tints to-morrow with prophetic ray ! " Blest — as the Muezzin's strain from Mecca's wall " To pilgrims pure and prostrate at his call ; " Soft — as the melody of youthful days, " That steals the trembling tear of speechless praise; " Dear — as his native song to Exile's ears, " Shall sound each tone thy long-loved voice endears. " For thee in those bright isles is built a bower * Blooming as Aden " in its earliest hour. " A thousand swords — with Selim's heart and hand — 410 " Wait — wave — defend — destroy — at thy command ! " Girt by my band — Zuleika at my side — " The spoil of nations shall bedeck my bride : — " The Haram's languid years of listless ease " Are well resign'd for cares— for joys like these : " Not blind to fate — I see where'er I rove " Unnumber'd perils — but one only love ! " Yet well my toils shall that fond breast repay, " Though fortune frown, or falser friends betray. " How dear the dream ! in darkest hours of ill, 420 " Should all be changed, to find thee faithful still! 46 THE BRIDE OF" ABYDOS. " Be but thy soul, like Selim's, firmly shown — " To thee, be Selim's tender as thine own! il To soothe each sorrow — share in each delight — " Blend every thought — do all but disunite! " Once free — 'tis mine our horde again to guide — " Friends to each other, foes to aught beside: — " Yet there we follow but the bent assign'd " By fatal Nature to man's warring kind, " Mark ! where his carnage and his conquests cease — 430 " He makes a solitude — and calls it — peace! " I like the rest must use my skill or strength, K But ask no land beyond my sabre's length; — " Power sways but by division — her resource " The blest alternative of fraud or force ! " Ours be the last — in time deceit may come " When cities cage us in a social home : " There even thy soul might err — how oft the heart • f Corruption shakes — which Peril could not part! — " And woman, more than man, when death or woe 440 " Or even Disgrace would lay her lover low — " Sunk in the lap of Luxury will shame — " Away suspicion ! — not Zuleika's name! " But life is hazard at the best — and here "No more remains to win, and much to fear — THE BRIDE OF ABYDQST. « " Yes, fear ! the doubt, the dread of losing thee, " By Osman's power, and Giaffir's stern decree — " That dread shall vanish with the favouring gale, " Which Love to night hath promised to my sail — " No danger daunts the pair his smile hath blest, 450 " Their steps still roving, but their hearts at rest ; " With thee all toils are sweet — each clime hath charms, " Earth — sea alike — our world within our arms ! w Ay — let the loud winds whistle o'er the deck — " So that those arms cling closer round my neck — " The deepest murmur of this lip shall be " No sigh for safety, but a prayer for thee ! " The war of elements no fears impart " To Love, whose deadliest bane is human Art " There lie the only rocks our course can check, 460| " Here moments menace — there are years of wreck ! " But hence ye thoughts ! that rise in Horror's shape — - " This hour bestows — or ever bars escape — " Few words remain of mine my tale to close — "Of thine but one to waft us from our foes : — " Yea — foes — to me will Giaffir's hate decline ? * And is not Osman — who would part us — thine ? 4tf THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS. XXL " His head and faith from doubt and death " Returned in time my guard to save ; " Few heard — none told — that o'er the wave 470 " From isle to isle I roved the while ; " And since, though parted from my band " Too seldom now I leave the land ; " No deed they've done — nor deed shall do, " Ere I have heard and doomed it too j " I form the plan, decree the spoil, " 'Tis fit I oftener share the toil. " But now too long I've held thine ear, " Time presses — floats my bark — and here " We leave behind but hate and fear. 480 " To-morrow Osman with his train " Arrives — to-night must break thy chain ; " And would'st thou save that haughty Bey " Perchance — his life who gave thee thine — " With me this hour away — away — " But yet, though thou art plighted mine, " Would'st thou recal thy willing vow, " Appalled by truths imparted now— THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS. 49 * Here rest I — not to see thee wed, " But be that peril on my head !" XXII. Zuleika — mute and motionless, Stood like that statue of distress — When, her last hope for ever gone, The mother hardened into stone ; All in the maid that eye could see Was but a younger Niobe ! — But ere her lip, or even her eye, Essayed to speak, or look reply — < 490 Beneath the garden's wicket porch Far flashed on high a blazing torch ! Another — and another — and another — " Oh ! fly — no more — yet now my more than brother !" Far — wide through every thicket spread The fearful lights are gleaming red ; Nor these alone — for each right hand Is ready with a sheathless brand : — They part, pursue, return, and wheel With searching flambeau, shining steel ; 500 50 THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS. And last of all his sabre waving, Stern Giaffir in his fury raving, And now almost they touch the cave — Oh ! must that grot be Selim's grave ? XXIII. Dauntless he stood — " 'Tis come — soon past— " One kiss, Zuleika — 'tis my last ; " But yet my band not far from shore " May hear this signal — see the flash — " Yet now too few — the attempt were rash — "No matter— yet one effort more." 510 Forth to the cavern mouth he stepf, His pistol's echo rang on high: Zuleika started not, nor wept, Despair benumbed her breast and eye ! " They hear me not, or if they ply " Their oars, 'tis but to see me die ; " That sound hath drawn my foes more nigh. " Then forth my father's scimitar, " Thou ne'er hast seen less equal war! THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS. 51 " Farewell, Zuleika ! — Sweet! retire— 520 " Yet stay within — here linger safe, " At thee his rage will only chafe. — " Stir not — lest even to thee perchance " Some erring blade or ball should glance : " Fear'st thou for him ? — may I expire " If in this strife I seek thy sire ! — " No — though by him that poison poured — " No — though again he call me coward ! — " But tamely shall I meet their steel ? " No — as each crest save his may feel ! 530 XXIV. One bound he made, and gained the sand — Already at his feet hath sunk The foremost of the prying band — A gasping head, a quivering trunk ; Another falls — but round him close A swarming circle of his foes : From right to left his path he cleft, And almost met the meeting wave ; — His boat appears — not five oars' length — His comrades strain with desperate strength — 540 THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS. Oh ! are they yet in time to save ? His feet the foremost breakers lave ; His band are plunging in the bay, Their sabres glitter through the spray; Wet — wild — unwearied to the strand They struggle — now they touch the land ! They come — 'tis but to add to slaughter — His heart's best blood is on the water ! XXV. Escaped from shot — unharmed by steel, Or scarcely grazed it's force to feel — 550 Had Selim won — though thus beset — To where the "trand and billows met — There as his last step left the land, And the last death-blow dealt his hand — Ah ! wherefore did he turn to look For her his eye but sought in vain ? That pause — that fatal gaze he took — Hath doomed his death — or fixed his chain — Sad proof — in peril and in pain How late will Lover's hope remain! — 560 His back was to the dashing spray — Behind but close — his comrades lay — THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS. 53 When at the instant, hissed the ball, " So may the foes of Giaffir fall !" Whose voice is heard ? whose carbine rang ? Whose bullet through the night-air sang ? Too nearly — deadly aimed to err — Tis thine — Abdallah's Murderer ! The father slowly rued thy hate, The son hath found a quicker fate — 570 Fast from his breast the blood is bubbling, The whiteness of the sea-foam troubling, If aught his lips essayed to groan The rushing billows choaked the tone ! — XXVI. Morn slowly rolls the clouds away — Few trophies of the fight are there — The shouts that shook the midnight-bay Are silent — but some signs of fray That strand of strife may bear — And fragments of each shivered brand — 580 Steps stamped — and dashed into the sand The print of many a struggling hand May there be marked — nor far remote A broken torch — an oarless boat — And tangled on the weeds that heap 54 THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS. The beach where shelving to the deep— - There lies a white Capote ! 'Tis rent in twain — one dark-red stain The wave yet ripples o'er in vain — But where is he who wore ? 590 Ye ! who would o'er his relics weep Go — seek them where the surges sweep Their burthen round Sigaeum's steep And cast on Lemnos' shore : The sea-birds shriek above the prey, O'er which their hungry beaks delay — As shaken on his restless pillow, His head heaves with the heaving billow — That hand — whose motion is not life — Yet feebly seems to menace strife — 60Q Flung by the tossing tide on high, Then levelled with the wave — What recks it ? though that corse shall lie Within a living grave? The bird that tears that prostrate form Hath only robbed the meaner worm ! The only heart — the only eye — Had bled or wept to see him die, THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS. 55 Had seen those scattered limbs composed, And mourned above his turban-stone — 4 ° 610 That heart hath burst — that eye was closed — Yea — closed before his own ! XXVII. By Helle's stream there is a voice of wail ! And woman's eye is wet — man's cheek is pale — Zuleika ! last of Giaffir's race, Thy destin'd lord is come too late — He sees not — ne'er shall see thy face ! — Can he not hear The loud Wul-wulleh 4I warn his distant ear ? Thy handmaids weeping at the gate, 620 The Koran-chaunters of the hymn of fate — The silent slaves with folded arms that wait, Sighs in the hall — and shrieks upon the gale, Tell him thy tale ! ,Thou didst not view thy Selim fall ! That fearful moment when he left the cave Thy heart grew chill — He was thy hope — thy joy — thy love — thine all — 56 THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS. And that last thought on him thou could'st not save Sufficed to kill— 630 Burst forth in one wild cry — and all was still — Peace to thy broken heart — and virgin grave ! Ah ! happy ! but of life to lose the worst, That grief — though deep — though fatal — was thy first! Thrice happy ! ne'er to feel nor fear the force Of absence — shame — pride — hate — revenge — remorse ! And, oh ! that pang where more than Madness lies — The Worm that will not sleep — and never dies — Thought of the gloomy day and ghastly night, That dreads the darkness, and yet loathes the light — 640 That winds around, and tears the quivering heart — Ah! wherefore not consume it — and depart! Woe to thee, rash and unrelenting chief ! Vainly thou heap'st the dust upon thy head- Vainly the sackcloth o'er thy limbs dost spread : By that same hand Abdallah — Selim bled — Now let it tear thy beard in idle grief — Thy pride of heart— thy bride for Osman's bed — THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS. 57 She — whom thy sultan had but seen to wed — Thy Daughter's dead! 650 Hope of thine age — thy twilight's lonely beam — The Star hath set that shone on Helle's stream — What quench'd its ray ? — the blood that thou hast shed ! XXVIII. Within the place of thousand tombs That shine beneath, while dark above The sad but living cypress glooms And withers not, though branch and leaf Are stamped with an eternal grief; Like early unrequited Love! One spot exists — which ever blooms, 660 Ev'n in that deadly grove. — A single rose is shedding there It's lonely lustre, meek and pale, It looks as planted by Despair — So white — so faint — the slightest gale Might whirl the leaves on high ; And yet, though storms and blight assail, And hands more rude than wintry sky 58 THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS. May wring it from the stem — in vain — To-morrow sees it bloom again ! 670 The stalk some spirit gently rears, And waters with celestial tears. For well may maids of Helle deem That this can be no earthly flower, Which mocks the tempest's withering hour And buds unsheltered by a bower, Nor droops — though spring refuse her shower Nor woos the summer beam. — To it the livelong night there sings A bird unseen — but not remote — 680 Invisible his airy wings, But soft as harp that Houri strings His long entrancing note ! It were the Bulbul — but his throat, Though mournful, pours not such a strain ; For they who listen cannot leave The spot, but linger there and grieve As if they loved in vain ! And yet so sweet the tears they shed, 'Tis sorrow so unmixed with dread, 690 THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS. 59 They scarce can bear the morn to break That melancholy spell, And longer yet would weep and wake, He sings so wild and well ! But when the day-blush bursts from high — Expires that magic melody. And some have been who could believe, (So fondly youthful dreams deceive, Yet harsh be they that blame,) That note so piercing and profound 700 Will shape and syllable its sound Into Zuleika's name. 42 'Tis from her cypress' summit heard, That melts in air the liquid word — 'Tis from her lowly virgin earth That white rose takes its tender birth. There late was laid a marble stone, Eve saw it placed — the Morrow gone ! It was no mortal arm that bore That deep-fixed pillar to the shore ; 710 For there, as Helle's legends tell, Next morn 'twas found where Selim fell — 60 THE BRIDE OF ABYDOS. Lashed by the tumbling tide, whose wave Denied his bones a holier grave— And there by night, reclin'd, 'tis said, Is seen a ghastly turban'd head — And hence extended by the billow, 'Tis named the " Pirate- phantom's pillow !" Where first it lay — that mourning flower Hath flourished — flourisheth this hour — 720 Alone — and dewy — coldly pure and pale — As weeping Beauty's cheek at Sorrow's tale ! NOTES. Note 1, page 1, line 8. Wax faint o'er the gardens of Gul in her bloom. *« Gul," the rose. Note 2, page 2, line 2. Can he smile on such deeds as his children have done ? " Souls made of fire, and children of the Sun, " With whom Revenge is Virtue. Young's Revenge. Note 3, page 4, line 16. With Mejnouris tale, or Sadi's song. Mejnoun and Leila, the Romeo and Juliet of the East. Sadi, the moral poet of Persia. Note 4, page 4, line J 7* Till I, who heard the deep tambour. Tambour, Turkish drum, which sounds at sunrise, noon, and twilight. Note 5, page 8, line 3. He is an Arab to my sight. The Turks abhor the Arabs (who return the compliment a hundred fold) even more than they hate the Christians. 6*2 NOTES. Note 6, page Q, line IS. The mind — the Music breathing from her face. This expression has met with objections. I will not refer to " Him who hath not Music in his soul," but merely request the reader to recollect, for ten seconds, the features of the woman whom he believes to be the most beautiful ; and if he then does not comprehend fully what is feebly expressed in the above line, I shall be sorry for us both. For an eloquent passage in the latest work of the first female writer of this, perhaps, of any age, on the analogy (and the immediate comparison excited by that analogy) between " painting and music," see vol. iii. cap. 10. De L'Allemagne. And is not this connexion still stronger with the original than the copy ? With the colouring of Nature than of Art I After all, this is rather to be felt than described ; still I think there are some who will understand it, at least they would have done had they beheld the countenance whose speaking har- mony suggested the idea ; for this passage is not drawn from imagination but memory, that mirror which Affliction dashes to the earth, and looking down upon the fragments, only beholds the re- flection multiplied ! Note 7> page 10, line 20. But yet the line of Carasman. Carasman Oglou, or Kara Osman Oglou, is the principal land- holder 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 terri- tory, and bring a certain number into the field, generally cavalry. NOTES. 63 Note 8, page 11, line 11. And teach the messenger what fate. When a Pacha is sufficiently strong to resist, the single messen- ger, 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 re- spectable 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 Bag- dat, a brave young man, cut off by treachery, after a desperate resistance, Note 9, page 12, line 10. Thrice clapped his hands, and called his steed. Clapping of the hands calls the servants. The Turks hate a superfluous expenditure of voice, and they have no bells. Note 10, page 12, line 11. Resigned his gem-adorned Chibouque. Chibouque, the Turkish pipe, of which the amber mouth-piece* and sometimes the ball which contains the leaf, is adorned with precious stones, if in possession of the wealthier orders. Note 11, page 12, line 13. With Maugrabee — and Mamaluke. Maugrabee, Moorish mercenaries. 64 NOTES. Note 12, page 12, line 14. His way amid his Delis took. Deli, bravos who form the forlorn hope of the cavalry, and always begin the action. Note 13, page 13, line 6. Careering cleave the folded felt. 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. Note 14, page 13, line g. Nor heard their Ollahs wild and loud. " Ollahs," Alia il Allah, the " Leilies," as the Spanish poets call them, the sound is Ollah ; a cry of which the Turks, for a si- lent 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. Note 15, page 14, line 8. The Persian Atar-guVs perfume. " Atar-gul," ottar of roses. The Persian is the finest. Note 16, page 14, line 10. The pictured roof and marble floor. The ceiling and wainscots, or rather walls, of the Mussulman apartments are generally painted, in great houses, with one eter- NOTES. GS nal and highly coloured view of Constantinople, wherein the principal feature is a noble contempt of perspective ; below, arms, scimitars, &c. are in general fancifully and not inelegantly disposed. Note 17, page 15, line 4. A message from the Bulbul bears. It has been much doubted whether the notes of this " Lover of the rose" are sad or merry ; and Mr. Fox's remarks on the sub- ject have provoked some learned controversy as to the opinions of the ancients on the subject. I dare not venture a conjecture on the point, though a little inclined to the " errare mallem," &c. [f Mr. Fox ivas mistaken. Note IS, page 16, line 19. Even Azraelfrom his deadly quiver. '* Azrael'* — the angel of death. Note 19, page 18, line J2. Within the caves of Istakar. The treasures of the Preadamite Sultans* See D'Herbelot, article Istalar. Note 20, page 19, line 6. Holds not a Mussel 'im's control. Musselim, a governor, the next in rank after a Pacha ; a Waywode is the third ; and then come the Agas. F 66 NOTES. Note 21, page 19, line 7. Was he not bred in Egripo. Egripo — the Negropont. According to the proverb, the Turks of Egripo, the Jews of Salonica, and the Greeks of Athens, are the worst of their respective races. Note 22, page 22, line 17. Ah ! yonder see the Tchocadar. " Tchocadar" — one of the attendants who precedes a man of authority. Note 23, page 27, line 4. Thine 01m " broad Hellespont" still dashes. The wrangling about this epithet, " the broad Hellespont" or the " boundless Hellespont," whether it means one or the other, or what it means at all, has been beyond all possibility of detail. I have even heard it disputed on the spot ; and not foreseeing a speedy conclusion to the controversy, 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 " aifeipos'."" 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. NOTES. (>7 Note 24, page 27, line 15. Which Amnion's son ran proudly round. Before his Persian invasion, and crowned the altar with laurel, &c. 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 JEsietes and Antilochus ; the first is in the centre of the plain. Note 25, page 28, line 14. O'er which her fairy fingers ran. When rubbed, the amber is susceptible of a perfume, which is slight but not disagreeable. Note 26, page 28, line 17. Her mother's sainted amulet. 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 Koran 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. Note 27, page 29, line 1 . And by her Comboloio lies. " Comboloio"— a Turkish rosary. The MSS. particularly