University of Virginia Library

He sat upon his ivory throne,
The mightiest among monarchs known,
Who raised Palmyra from the wild,
And Balbec's wond'rous fabrics piled,
Wisest among the sage!
Through farthest Ind, whose gifted name
First on the rolls of ancient fame,
Jew, Arab, Moslem, join to claim,
E'en to this distant age.
To him each latent cause was known,
And Nature's mysteries made his own,
Nor could a flower its incense fling,
Nor reptile creep—bird, insect, wing—
But still of each created thing,
He knew its powers to call;
E'en from Libanus' cedar tall
To humblest hyssop of the wall.
He sat upon his ivory throne,
And royal Balkis near him stand;
She who proud Nilus' wave subdued,
Until his tributary tide
Had her vast reservoirs supplied,
Whence aqueduct and fountain plied,
Refreshing all her garden's side;
She, whom the judgment trump shall raise
With Hebrew souls of Herod's days,
By bright example to condemn
That hardened race of ingrate men;
She, high in soul as rank, with mind
Enlightened beyond woman-kind,
(Though seas and deserts spread between,)
Left Araby the Blest, to find
And prove the far-famed one.
That Fair was Sheba's potent Queen,
That prince King Solomon!
She stood the monarch's throne before,
And either hand twin garlands bore,
Where Sharon's rival roses show,
The paler and the blushing hue,
The various tribes of tulips, too,
And lilies of the golden view,
With that more modest one, that grew
Beneath the valley's shelt'ring shade,
And drooped its bashful bells e'en there,
Lest they should meet the gazer's stare,
And that one blent with either skin,
Snowy without and gold within,
Who shamed that Nature ne'er supplied
A leafy covering for its side,
Is fain its naked stem to hide
Beneath the lake's encircling tide.
There the Carnation lent its share;
There blossomed the Narcissus fair;
The Almond bud breathed fragrance there,
And passing all, the rich Gulnare!
These flowers Arabia's sovereign bore,
As Judah's lord she bowed before,
And held them up to view.

“O, live forever, glorious king!
Behold, the rural wreaths I bring
In form and tint have vied;
But one its quickening substance drew
From Salem's soil, and sun, and dew;
And one, with imitation true,
I and my maidens dyed!
And now, O king, consult thine eyes,
As thou art wisest of the wise,
And tell, according to thy thought,
Which is the chaplet we have wrought,
And which is Nature's hand?
This boon thy handmaid to command
Asks humbly at thy royal hand,
Who, since she ne'er a suit preferred
But thou most graciously hast heard,
Not now must ask in vain;
And spices, richer far, and more
Than those she lately hither bore,
(Though Israel saw not such before,)
Shall be thy royal gain.”

She ceased, but still her glance confessed
The frolic feeling of her breast,
Where secret triumph, ill suppressed,
Through mimic deference shone confessed.
Ceased she, and on the ground her eye
Demurely cast, while waiting by
Stood Judah's court its monarch nigh,
Marvelling that daring dame should try
Their king's sagaciousness defy.
Awhile the monarch paused and smiled
To see his sapience half beguiled
By woman's sprightlier wile.
“And hast thou proved this curious toil,
Queen of the South! my skill to foil?
Well may thy friend admire!
And frankly to thee be it known
That by no wisdom of our own
Could any difference here be shown;
But, (as thou know'st,) thy subjects tell
That mystic call and powerful spell
Force from the spirits, at our will,
Their aid of more than mortal skill
When our behests require,
And there be tenants of the air
Who make King Solomon their care.”

With that the monarch gave command,
Within the queen had fixed her stand,
That all the palace windows wide
Be opened free on every side;
When, lo! the insect chemists there,
Whose skill compounds the sweetest fare,
Rifling from dawn to day's full prime
Through balmiest bowers of Palestine,
Nearer and louder hum,
Till to the regal presence hall,
As conscious of its owner's call,
The revellers have come!
Following the vegetable lure,
With instinct sensitive and sure,
Past the fictitious wreath they flew,
And clustered jocund round the true,
Whilst shouts th' exultant crowd, to see
Their sovereign's ingenuity,
Who thus—“Bear witness, royal Fair!
These counsellors from upper air
Thus aid me judgment to declare.”
“No more, my lord! the gums are thine.”
“Lady, their fragrance I resign;
The wreath—THY WREATH—alone be mine!”

To thee, dear girl, what need to tell
The moral thou hast proved so well?
In whom together meet,
What jointly must their powers dispense
To satisfy a sapient sense,
The useful with the sweet!