University of Virginia Library

Scene 1.

—An open Grove of Palms. Soldiers stealing separately from different parts of the stage.
Chorus of Soldiers.
Hist! comrades, hist! the sun is low,
Amid the palms cool breezes blow,
The grove of waving palms, where we
Were bid to muster secretly,
One by one, and two by two,
The Caliph's high behest to do.
The sun gleams through the dew-drops clear,
Hist! hist! an armed tread is near.

Soldier.
Tis Azim, our bold captain.

(Enter Azim.)
Azim.
Comrades brave,
I greet ye well; albeit I come not now
To lead ye on to glorious victory
Through glorious toils, but to a slight task, fit
For the harem's slaves. Thus Amurath commands,
That stealthily, yet swiftly, we surround
The peaceful palace, whose light towers ye see
Above the almond grove. And then—Good comrades,
Did ye ne'er pluck a blossom from the tree,
Or snatch a brooding dove from off her nest?
Such work is ours. Would it were done. Haste! haste!
But with a cautious speed.

Chorus of Soldiers.
On, comrades, on! In yonder nest,
The milk-white dove hath sought her rest;
Fragrant and fair, in yonder bower,
Blooms peacefully the milk-white flower.
One by one, and two by two,
We speed the Caliph's will to do,
With stealthy step that none may hear:—
On! on! the fated towers are near.

(Exeunt.)