?

When I behold thy little feet
After thy beard obsequious run,
I always fancy that I meet
Some father followed by his son.

A man like thee scarce e'er appear'd--
A beard like thine--where shall we find it?
Surely thou cherishest thy beard
In hope to hide thyself behind it.

_Isaai, Ben Khalif_.

LAMIAT ALAJEM[38]

No kind supporting hand I meet,
But Fortitude shall stay my feet;
No borrow'd splendors round me shine,
But Virtue's lustre all is mine;
A Fame unsullied still I boast,
Obscur'd, conceal'd, but never lost--
The same bright orb that led the day
Pours from the West his mellow'd ray.

Zaura, farewell! No more I see
Within thy walls, a home for me;
Deserted, spurn'd, aside I'm toss'd,
As an old sword whose scabbard's lost:
Around thy walls I seek in vain
Some bosom that will soothe my pain--
No friend is near to breathe relief,
Or brother to partake my grief.
For many a melancholy day
Thro' desert vales I've wound my way;
The faithful beast, whose back I press,
In groans laments her lord's distress;

In every quiv'ring of my spear
A sympathetic sigh I hear;
The camel bending with his load,
And struggling thro' the thorny road,
'Midst the fatigues that bear him down,
In Hassan's woes forgets his own;
Yet cruel friends my wanderings chide,
My sufferings slight, my toils deride.

Once wealth, I own, engrossed each thought,
There was a moment when I sought
The glitt'ring stores Ambition claims
To feed the wants his fancy frames;
But now 'tis past--the changing day
Has snatch'd my high-built hopes away,
And bade this wish my labors close--
Give me not riches, but repose.
'Tis he--that mien my friend declares,
That stature, like the lance he bears;
I see that breast which ne'er contain'd
A thought by fear or folly stain'd,
Whose powers can every change obey,
In business grave, in trifles gay,
And, form'd each varying taste to please,
Can mingle dignity with ease.

What, tho' with magic influence, sleep,
O'er every closing eyelid creep:
Tho' drunk with its oblivious wine
Our comrades on their bales recline,
My Selim's trance I sure can break--
Selim, 'tis I, 'tis I who speak.
Dangers on every side impend,
And sleep'st thou, careless of thy friend?
Thou sleep'st while every star on high,
Beholds me with a wakeful eye--
Thou changest, ere the change