University of Virginia Library

In an Andalusian vale
Clothed in moonlight blue and pale,
From the hill-top looking down
Travellers see a golden town,
Moslem mosque and minaret,
That tiers of Moorish arches fret,
Frost-like work of carvèd spires
Touched at top with silver fires;
Purple half-globes of rich domes;
Courts where the sultana roams,
Where the notes of gitterns ring
Tinkling while the almai sing,
Drum and timbrel as in trance
Sounding while the almai dance;
Gravelled close and garden-square,
Where scented fountains drench the air,
Fountains sprinkled by the breeze,
Planted round with orange-trees;
Where palm-tops rise feathery o'er
Cypress tall and sycamore;
And, when opes the gold hareem
Like the vistas of a dream,
Where, in many a marble tank
And fountain basin, with white flank,
Naked in the moonlight frisk
Concubine and odalisc.—
There by carven ivory screens
Eunuchs tire their gorgeous queens,
White Circassians snowy-limbed
In rich golden broideries trimmed,
Or like sculptured marble blocks
Swathed but in their flowing locks;
Queens by Ethiopian slaves
Bathed in silvery fountain-waves.
There Venetian amber hair
Glimmers in the twilight air,
Mixed with many an ebon tress
Of young captive negresses
Tinged with iridescent glooms,
Purple-black like ravens' plumes,—
On white necks of perfect mould
Flaxen swaths, and swaths of gold,
Auburn curl and umber spread,
Russet and the rich wine-red.
Seated too on cushions rare
Of green silk, embroidered fair,
Picking ripe pomegranate seed,
Inhaling fumes of opiate weed,
(Clustering grapes in purple pride
Dusky-blooming at their side,
On their knee the lute unstrung
From the snowy shoulder slung,
Or the plaintive-voiced guitar
That makes with many a soothing bar
Of some long-remembered stave
The queen forgets she is a slave,)
Maidens gaze in dreamful swoon
From the casement at the moon,
Murmuring voices sing and sigh
In the pillared balcony.—

He who draws more near the gate
Sees upon its brazen grate
Carvéd dragons of huge mould
Wreathed about with snakes of gold,
Panels, friezes sculpturesque
Freaked with zig-zag arabesque,
Rich mosaic of coloured stones,
Squares and stripes, and curves, and zones,
And all the arch and porch enscrolled
With work of scarlet, blue, and gold.—

Tall and swarthy, stern and slow
On the ramparts to and fro,
In their tunics laced with gold
And turbans twined of orange fold,
With the sheen of silk and steel
Glancing clearly as they wheel,
Shooting meteor-lights afar
From each flashing scimitar,
Two and two, the palace guard
Keep their silent watch and ward,
And the clank of their armed throng
Mingles with the women's song.

But at times the caravan
Wending to the rich divan,
But at times the pausing train
Looking down upon the plain,
Looking down with eyes that swim
Through the moonlight pale and dim
Of the blue and silver nights,
Vaguely sees such formless sights,
Vaguely hears such hideous sounds
From those dim piles and guarded grounds,
That they pause, and shuddering say,
“Holy Allah, lord, we pray,
By thy strong and righteous will
Guard thy prophet's children still,
Guard and keep us from all ill.