 | Romance and revery |  |
50
DESPOTISM.
Night in Stamboul is at its drowsy noon;
Like hollowed crystal beam the faint-starred skies;
Where cypresses throng black below the moon
The pale domes of the Sultan's palace rise.
Like hollowed crystal beam the faint-starred skies;
Where cypresses throng black below the moon
The pale domes of the Sultan's palace rise.
No sound this deep repose will break till dawn,
Save when the tremor of some long breeze runs
Among the oleanders on the lawn,
Where swarthy sentries loll beside their guns.
Save when the tremor of some long breeze runs
Among the oleanders on the lawn,
Where swarthy sentries loll beside their guns.
Dead still the town; close-guarded, here and there,
The massive gates loom high in silver shade;
Alike o'er mosque and mart, o'er street and square,
One silence of the sepulchre is laid.
The massive gates loom high in silver shade;
Alike o'er mosque and mart, o'er street and square,
One silence of the sepulchre is laid.
Stern is the curse that crushes, bans or dooms
All rebels that may venture, scheme or dare ...
Some groan their hearts away in dungeon glooms,
In exile or in slavery some despair.
All rebels that may venture, scheme or dare ...
Some groan their hearts away in dungeon glooms,
In exile or in slavery some despair.
51
What peace at last this Orient empire lulls,
What safety from alarm its despot cheers,
Guarded by fortresses of human skulls
That tower to-night o'er moats of blood and tears!
What safety from alarm its despot cheers,
Guarded by fortresses of human skulls
That tower to-night o'er moats of blood and tears!
And he whose patient hope no peril dims,
Whose desperate zeal no fear of failure mars,
To tear the chains from liberty's white limbs,
Must fight his way through swarms of scimitars!
Whose desperate zeal no fear of failure mars,
To tear the chains from liberty's white limbs,
Must fight his way through swarms of scimitars!
... And yet, even now, where purple pomps unfold,
The Sultan, with all power at dark eclipse,
Dies from the poisoned wine whose cup of gold
His own Sultana lifted to his lips!
The Sultan, with all power at dark eclipse,
Dies from the poisoned wine whose cup of gold
His own Sultana lifted to his lips!
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