780
From which the captive gladly steals,
And this and more to me reveals:
Such still to guilt just Allah sends--
Slaves, tools, accomplices--no friends!

XVII.

"All this, Zuleika, harshly sounds;
But harsher still my tale must be:
Howe'er my tongue thy softness wounds,
Yet I must prove all truth to thee."[gn]
I saw thee start this garb to see,
Yet is it one I oft have worn, 790
And long must wear: this Galiongee,
To whom thy plighted vow is sworn,
Is leader of those pirate hordes,
Whose laws and lives are on their swords;
To hear whose desolating tale
Would make thy waning cheek more pale:
Those arms thou see'st my band have brought,
The hands that wield are not remote;
This cup too for the rugged knaves
Is filled--once quaffed, they ne'er repine: 800
Our Prophet might forgive the slaves;
They're only infidels in wine.

XVIII.

"What could I be? Proscribed at home,
And taunted to a wish to roam;
And listless left--for Giaffir's fear
Denied the courser and the spear--
Though oft--Oh, Mahomet! how oft!--
In full Divan the despot scoffed,
As if _my_ weak unwilling hand
Refused the bridle or the brand: 810
He ever went to war alone,
And pent me here untried--unknown;
To Haroun's care with women left,[go]
By hope unblest, of fame bereft,
While thou--whose softness long endeared,
Though it unmanned me, still had cheered--
To Brusa's walls for safety sent,
Awaited'st there the field's event.
Haroun who saw my spirit pining[gp]
Beneath inaction's sluggish yoke, 820
His captive, though with dread resigning,
My thraldom for a season broke,
On promise to return before
The day when Giaffir's charge was o'er.
'Tis vain--my tongue can not impart[gq]
My almost drunkenness of heart,[169]
When first this liberated eye
Surveyed Earth--Ocean--Sun--and Sky--
As if my Spirit pierced them through,
And all their inmost wonders knew! 830
One word alone can paint to thee
That more than feeling--I was Free!
E'en for thy presence ceased to pine;
The World--nay, Heaven itself was mine!