Page:Lippincotts Monthly Magazine-20.djvu/761
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1877.]
SELIM.
757
"Thou knowest that never a friend have I cherished
Save only this one,
And now I have lost him; but, Allah il Allah!
Thy will still be done!"
Save only this one,
And now I have lost him; but, Allah il Allah!
Thy will still be done!"
Then, turning, the caliph departed, and Selim,
Like one drunk with wine,
Arose all unconscious and turned to his dwelling,
His heart's inmost shrine,
Like one drunk with wine,
Arose all unconscious and turned to his dwelling,
His heart's inmost shrine,
And followed the gleam of his lamp to the chamber
Where, sheltered and calm,
She peacefully slumbered who faithfully loved him—
That wild heart's "sweet balm."
Where, sheltered and calm,
She peacefully slumbered who faithfully loved him—
That wild heart's "sweet balm."
One arm half encircled her baby, who sturdily
Clenched his round fist,
And lay with his rosy lips parted and eager,
As though lately kissed;
Clenched his round fist,
And lay with his rosy lips parted and eager,
As though lately kissed;
While over them both her soft tresses, all fragrant,
Had rolled in their play:
How fair and how childish they looked in the
Scarce purer than they!
Had rolled in their play:
How fair and how childish they looked in the
Scarce purer than they!
One moment stood Selim, while over his being
Hell's bitterness passed:
The next, and his dagger flashed forth like the lightning,
And fell like its blast,
Hell's bitterness passed:
The next, and his dagger flashed forth like the lightning,
And fell like its blast,
And Selim was wifeless and childless! In silence
He stood by the bed
Where still lay the wife and the child in the moonlight—
Not sleeping, but dead.
He stood by the bed
Where still lay the wife and the child in the moonlight—
Not sleeping, but dead.
One moment he gazed at the faces, still peaceful,
Still tender, still fair,
Then fled to the desert, whose vastness could only
Give space to despair.
Still tender, still fair,
Then fled to the desert, whose vastness could only
Give space to despair.
But when, in the red eastern morning, the caliph
Stood sternly alone,
And watched the proud river, now mournful for ever
For all that was gone,
Stood sternly alone,
And watched the proud river, now mournful for ever
For all that was gone,
Lo! Selim knelt calmly before him: "Great caliph!
Behold now thy slave,
For Azraël, angel of death, have I conquered
And bound in the grave."
Annie Porter.
Behold now thy slave,
For Azraël, angel of death, have I conquered
And bound in the grave."
Annie Porter.