Laurel · Lord Byron · The Giaour, and Other Poems

The Bride of Abydos: Canto I

Lord Byron (1788–1824) · 1816

iambic tetrameter · 483 lines · from The Giaour, and Other Poems

Know ye the land where the cypress and myrtleAre emblems of deeds that are done in their clime?Where the rage of the vulture, the love of the turtle,Now melt into sorrow, now madden to crime?Know ye the land of the cedar and vine,Where the flowers ever blossom, the beams ever shine;Where the light wings of Zephyr, oppressed with perfume,Wax faint o'er the gardens of Gul in her bloom;Where the citron and olive are fairest of fruit,And the voice of the nightingale never is mute;Where the tints of the earth, and the hues of the sky,In colour though varied, in beauty may vie,And the purple of Ocean is deepest in dye;Where the virgins are soft as the roses they twine,And all, save the spirit of man, is divine--Tis the clime of the East--'tis the land of the Sun--Can he smile on such deeds as his children have done?Oh! wild as the accents of lovers' farewellezAre the hearts which they bear, and the tales which they tell.

Begirt with many a gallant slave,Apparelled as becomes the brave,Awaiting each his Lord's behestTo guide his steps, or guard his rest,Old Giaffir sate in his Divan:Deep thought was in his aged eye;And though the face of MussulmanNot oft betrays to standers byThe mind within, well skilled to hideAll but unconquerable pride,His pensive cheek and pondering browfbDid more than he was wont avow.

"Let the chamber be cleared."--The train disappeared--"Now call me the chief of the Haram guard"--With Giaffir is none but his only son,And the Nubian awaiting the sire's award."Haroun--when all the crowd that waitAre passed beyond the outer gate,(Woe to the head whose eye beheldMy child Zuleika's face unveiled!)Hence, lead my daughter from her tower--fcHer fate is fixed this very hour;Yet not to her repeat my thought--By me alone be duty taught!"

"Pacha! to hear is to obey."--No more must slave to despot say--Then to the tower had ta'en his way:But here young Selim silence brake,First lowly rendering reverence meet;And downcast looked, and gently spake,Still standing at the Pacha's feet:For son of Moslem must expire,Ere dare to sit before his sire!"Father! for fear that thou shouldst chideMy sister, or her sable guide--Know--for the fault, if fault there be,Was mine--then fall thy frowns on me!So lovelily the morning shone,That--let the old and weary sleep--I could not; and to view aloneThe fairest scenes of land and deep,With none to listen and replyTo thoughts with which my heart beat highWere irksome--for whate'er my mood,In sooth I love not solitude;I on Zuleika's slumber broke,And, as thou knowest that for meSoon turns the Haram's grating key,Before the guardian slaves awokeWe to the cypress groves had flown,And made earth, main, and heaven our own!There lingered we, beguiled too longWith Mejnoun's tale, or Sadi's song;fdTill I, who heard the deep tambourBeat thy Divan's approaching hour,To thee, and to my duty true,Warned by the sound, to greet thee flew:But there Zuleika wanders yet--Nay, Father, rage not--nor forgetThat none can pierce that secret bowerBut those who watch the women's tower."

"Son of a slave"--the Pacha said--"From unbelieving mother bred,Vain were a father's hope to seeAught that beseems a man in thee.Thou, when thine arm should bend the bow,And hurl the dart, and curb the steed,Thou, Greek in soul if not in creed,Must pore where babbling waters flow,feAnd watch unfolding roses blow.Would that yon Orb, whose matin glowThy listless eyes so much admire,Would lend thee something of his fire!Thou, who woulds't see this battlementBy Christian cannon piecemeal rent;Nay, tamely view old Stambol's wallBefore the dogs of Moscow fall,Nor strike one stroke for life and deathAgainst the curs of Nazareth!Go--let thy less than woman's handAssume the distaff--not the brand.But, Haroun!--to my daughter speed:And hark--of thine own head take heed--If thus Zuleika oft takes wing--Thou see'st yon bow--it hath a string!"

No sound from Selim's lip was heard,At least that met old Giaffir's ear,But every frown and every wordPierced keener than a Christian's sword."Son of a slave!--reproached with fear!Those gibes had cost another dear.Son of a slave!--and who my Sire?"Thus held his thoughts their dark career;And glances ev'n of more than ireffFlash forth, then faintly disappear.Old Giaffir gazed upon his sonAnd started; for within his eyeHe read how much his wrath had done;He saw rebellion there begun:"Come hither, boy--what, no reply?I mark thee--and I know thee too;But there be deeds thou dar'st not do:But if thy beard had manlier length,And if thy hand had skill and strength,I'd joy to see thee break a lance,Albeit against my own perchance."As sneeringly these accents fell,On Selim's eye he fiercely gazed:That eye returned him glance for glance,And proudly to his Sire's was raisedfg,Till Giaffir's quailed and shrunk askance--And why--he felt, but durst not tell."Much I misdoubt this wayward boyWill one day work me more annoy:I never loved him from his birth,And--but his arm is little worth,And scarcely in the chase could copeWith timid fawn or antelope,Far less would venture into strifeWhere man contends for fame and life--I would not trust that look or tone:No--nor the blood so near my own.fhThat blood--he hath not heard--no more--I'll watch him closer than before.He is an Arab to my sight,Or Christian crouching in the fight--fiBut hark!--I hear Zuleika's voice;Like Houris' hymn it meets mine ear:She is the offspring of my choice;Oh! more than ev'n her mother dear,With all to hope, and nought to fear--My Peri! ever welcome here!fjSweet, as the desert fountain's waveTo lips just cooled in time to save--Such to my longing sight art thou;Nor can they waft to Mecca's shrineMore thanks for life, than I for thine,Who blest thy birth and bless thee now."fk

Fair, as the first that fell of womankind,When on that dread yet lovely serpent smiling,Whose Image then was stamped upon her mind--But once beguiled--and ever more beguiling;Dazzling, as that, oh! too transcendent visionTo Sorrow's phantom-peopled slumber given,When heart meets heart again in dreams Elysian,And paints the lost on Earth revived in Heaven;Soft, as the memory of buried love;Pure, as the prayer which Childhood wafts above;Was she--the daughter of that rude old Chief,Who met the maid with tears--but not of grief.

Who hath not proved how feebly words essayTo fix one spark of Beauty's heavenly ray?Who doth not feel, until his failing sightflFaints into dimness with its own delight,His changing cheek, his sinking heart confessThe might--the majesty of Loveliness?Such was Zuleika--such around her shoneThe nameless charms unmarked by her alone--The light of Love, the purity of Grace,fmThe mind, the Music breathing from her face,The heart whose softness harmonized the whole,And oh! that eye was in itself a Soul!

Her graceful arms in meekness bendingAcross her gently-budding breast;At one kind word those arms extendingTo clasp the neck of him who blestHis child caressing and carest,Zuleika came--and Giaffir feltHis purpose half within him melt:Not that against her fancied wealHis heart though stern could ever feel;Affection chained her to that heart;Ambition tore the links apart.

"Zuleika! child of Gentleness!How dear this very day must tell,When I forget my own distress,In losing what I love so well,To bid thee with another dwell:Another! and a braver manWas never seen in battle's van.We Moslem reck not much of blood:But yet the line of CarasmanUnchanged, unchangeable hath stoodFirst of the bold Timariot bandsThat won and well can keep their lands.fnEnough that he who comes to woofoIs kinsman of the Bey Oglou:His years need scarce a thought employ;I would not have thee wed a boy.And thou shalt have a noble dower:And his and my united powerWill laugh to scorn the death-firman,Which others tremble but to scan,And teach the messenger what fateThe bearer of such boon may wait.And now thou know'st thy father's will;All that thy sex hath need to know:'Twas mine to teach obedience still--The way to love, thy Lord may show."

In silence bowed the virgin's head;And if her eye was filled with tearsThat stifled feeling dare not shed,And changed her cheek from pale to red,And red to pale, as through her earsThose winged words like arrows sped,What could such be but maiden fears?So bright the tear in Beauty's eye,Love half regrets to kiss it dry;So sweet the blush of Bashfulness,Even Pity scarce can wish it less!

Whate'er it was the sire forgot:Or if remembered, marked it not;Thrice clapped his hands, and called his steed,Resigned his gem-adorned chibouque,And mounting featly for the mead,With Maugrabeel and Mamaluke,His way amid his Delis took,To witness many an active deedWith sabre keen, or blunt jerreed.The Kislar only and his MoorsWatch well the Haram's massy doors.

His head was leant upon his hand,His eye looked o'er the dark blue waterThat swiftly glides and gently swellsBetween the winding Dardanelles;But yet he saw nor sea nor strand,Nor even his Pacha's turbaned bandMix in the game of mimic slaughter,Careering cleave the folded feltWith sabre stroke right sharply dealt;Nor marked the javelin-darting crowd,Nor heard their Ollahs wild and loud--He thought but of old Giaffir's daughter!

No word from Selim's bosom broke;One sigh Zuleika's thought bespoke:Still gazed he through the lattice grate,Pale, mute, and mournfully sedate.To him Zuleika's eye was turned,But little from his aspect learned:Equal her grief, yet not the same;Her heart confessed a gentler flame:fpBut yet that heart, alarmed or weak,She knew not why, forbade to speak.Yet speak she must--but when essay?"How strange he thus should turn away!Not thus we e'er before have met;Not thus shall be our parting yet."Thrice paced she slowly through the room,And watched his eye--it still was fixed:She snatched the urn wherein was mixedThe Persian Atar-gul's perfume,And sprinkled all its odours o'erThe pictured roof and marble floor:The drops, that through his glittering vestfqThe playful girl's appeal addressed,Unheeded o'er his bosom flew,As if that breast were marble too."What, sullen yet? it must not be--Oh! gentle Selim, this from thee!"She saw in curious order setThe fairest flowers of Eastern land--"He loved them once; may touch them yet,If offered by Zuleika's hand."The childish thought was hardly breathedBefore the rose was plucked and wreathed;The next fond moment saw her seatHer fairy form at Selim's feet:"This rose to calm my brother's caresA message from the Bulbul bears;It says to-night he will prolongFor Selim's ear his sweetest song;And though his note is somewhat sad,He'll try for once a strain more glad,With some faint hope his altered layMay sing these gloomy thoughts away.

"What! not receive my foolish flower?Nay then I am indeed unblest:On me can thus thy forehead lower?And know'st thou not who loves thee best?frOh, Selim dear! oh, more than dearest!Say, is it me thou hat'st or fearest?Come, lay thy head upon my breast,And I will kiss thee into rest,Since words of mine, and songs must fail,Ev'n from my fabled nightingale.I knew our sire at times was stern,But this from thee had yet to learn:Too well I know he loves thee not;But is Zuleika's love forgot?Ah! deem I right? the Pacha's plan--This kinsman Bey of CarasmanPerhaps may prove some foe of thine.If so, I swear by Mecca's shrine,--fsIf shrines that ne'er approach allowTo woman's step admit her vow,--Without thy free consent--command--The Sultan should not have my hand!Think'st thou that I could bear to partWith thee, and learn to halve my heart?Ah! were I severed from thy side,Where were thy friend--and who my guide?Years have not seen, Time shall not see,The hour that tears my soul from thee:ftEv'n Azrael, from his deadly quiverWhen flies that shaft, and fly it must,fuThat parts all else, shall doom for everOur hearts to undivided dust!"

He lived--he breathed--he moved--he felt;He raised the maid from where she knelt;His trance was gone, his keen eye shoneWith thoughts that long in darkness dwelt;With thoughts that burn--in rays that melt.As the stream late concealedBy the fringe of its willows,When it rushes reveal'dIn the light of its billows;As the bolt bursts on highFrom the black cloud that bound it,Flashed the soul of that eyeThrough the long lashes round it.A war-horse at the trumpet's sound,A lion roused by heedless hound,A tyrant waked to sudden strifeBy graze of ill-directed knife,fvStarts not to more convulsive lifeThan he, who heard that vow, displayed,And all, before repressed, betrayed:"Now thou art mine, for ever mine,With life to keep, and scarce with life resign;fwNow thou art mine, that sacred oath,Though sworn by one, hath bound us both.Yes, fondly, wisely hast thou done;That vow hath saved more heads than one:But blench not thou--thy simplest tressClaims more from me than tenderness;I would not wrong the slenderest hairThat clusters round thy forehead fair,fxFor all the treasures buried farWithin the caves of Istakar.This morning clouds upon me lowered,Reproaches on my head were showered,And Giaffir almost called me coward!Now I have motive to be brave;The son of his neglected slave,Nay, start not,'twas the term he gave,May show, though little apt to vaunt,A heart his words nor deeds can daunt.His son, indeed!--yet, thanks to thee,Perchance I am, at least shall be;But let our plighted secret vowBe only known to us as now.I know the wretch who dares demandFrom Giaffir thy reluctant hand;More ill-got wealth, a meaner soulHolds not a Musselim's control;Was he not bred in Egripo?A viler race let Israel show!But let that pass--to none be toldOur oath; the rest shall time unfold.To me and mine leave Osman Bey!I've partisans for Peril's day:Think not I am what I appear;I've arms--and friends--and vengeance near."

"Think not thou art what thou appearest!My Selim, thou art sadly changed:This morn I saw thee gentlest--dearest--But now thou'rt from thyself estranged.My love thou surely knew'st before,It ne'er was less--nor can be more.To see thee--hear thee--near thee stay--And hate the night--I know not why,Save that we meet not but by day;With thee to live, with thee to die,I dare not to my hope deny:Thy cheek--thine eyes--thy lips to kiss--Like this--and this--no more than this;fyFor, Allah! sure thy lips are flame:What fever in thy veins is flushing?My own have nearly caught the same,At least I feel my cheek, too, blushing.To soothe thy sickness, watch thy health,Partake, but never waste thy wealth,Or stand with smiles unmurmuring by,And lighten half thy poverty;Do all but close thy dying eye,For that I could not live to try;To these alone my thoughts aspire:More can I do? or thou require?But, Selim, thou must answer whyfzWe need so much of mystery?The cause I cannot dream nor tell,But be it, since thou say'st 'tis well;Yet what thou mean'st by 'arms' and 'friends,'Beyond my weaker sense extends.I meant that Giaffir should have heardThe very vow I plighted thee;His wrath would not revoke my word:But surely he would leave me free.Can this fond wish seem strange in me,To be what I have ever been?What other hath Zuleika seenFrom simple childhood's earliest hour?What other can she seek to seeThan thee, companion of her bower,The partner of her infancy?These cherished thoughts with life begun,Say, why must I no more avow?What change is wrought to make me shunThe truth--my pride, and thine till now?To meet the gaze of stranger's eyesOur law--our creed--our God denies;Nor shall one wandering thought of mineAt such, our Prophet's will, repine:No! happier made by that decree,He left me all in leaving thee.Deep were my anguish, thus compelledgaTo wed with one I ne'er beheld:This wherefore should I not reveal?Why wilt thou urge me to conceal?gbI know the Pacha's haughty moodTo thee hath never boded good;And he so often storms at nought,Allah! forbid that e'er he ought!And why I know not, but withinMy heart concealment weighs like sin.gcIf then such secrecy be crime,And such it feels while lurking here;Oh, Selim! tell me yet in time,Nor leave me thus to thoughts of fear.Ah! yonder see the Tchocadar,My father leaves the mimic war;I tremble now to meet his eye--Say, Selim, canst thou tell me why?"

"Zuleika--to thy tower's retreatBetake thee--Giaffir I can greet:And now with him I fain must prateOf firmans, imposts, levies, state.There's fearful news from Danube's banks,Our Vizier nobly thins his ranksFor which the Giaour may give him thanks!Our Sultan hath a shorter waySuch costly triumph to repay.But, mark me, when the twilight drumHath warned the troops to food and sleep,Unto thy cell with Selim come;Then softly from the Haram creepWhere we may wander by the deep:Our garden battlements are steep;Nor these will rash intruder climbTo list our words, or stint our time;And if he doth, I want not steelWhich some have felt, and more may feel.Then shalt thou learn of Selim moreThan thou hast heard or thought before:Trust me, Zuleika--fear not me!Thou know'st I hold a Haram key."

"Fear thee, my Selim! ne'er till nowDid words like this----"

"Delay not thou;gdI keep the key--and Haroun's guardHave some, and hope of more reward.To-night, Zuleika, thou shalt hearMy tale, my purpose, and my fear:I am not, love! what I appear."

Words in this poem 91

clime n.: A climate; a tract or region of the earth. See Climate. [L. clima. See Climate.]
madden v. t.: To make mad; to drive to madness; to craze; to excite violently with passion; to make very angry; to enrage.
zephyr n.: The west wind; poetically, any soft, gentle breeze. [L. zephyrus, Gr. zéphyr.]
begirt v. t.: To encompass; to begird.
behest v. t.: To vow. Paston.
sate v. t.: To satisfy the desire or appetite of; to satiate; to glut; to surfeit. [Probably shortened fr. satiate: cf. L. satus full. See Satiate.]
divan n.: A book; esp., a collection of poems written by one author; as, the divan of Hafiz. [Persia] [Per. diwan a book of many leaves, an account book, a collection of books, a senate, council: cf. Ar. daiwan, F. divan.]
mussulman n.: A Mohammedan; a Moslem. [Ar. muslimin, pl. of muslim: cf. F. & Sp. musulman. See Moslem.]
unconquerable a.: Not conquerable; indomitable.
avow v. t.: To bind, or to devote, by a vow. Wyclif. [OF. avouer, fr. LL. votare to vow, fr. L. votun. See Vote, n.]
nubian a.: Of or pertaining to Nubia in Eastern Africa.
award v. t.: To give by sentence or judicial determination; to assign or apportion, after careful regard to the nature of the case; to adjudge; as, the arbitrators awarded damages to the complainant. [OF. eswarder to look at, consider, decide, judge; es (L. ex) + warder, garder, to observe, take heed, keep, fr. OHG. wart to watch, guard. See Ward.]
sire n.: A lord, master, or other person in authority. See Sir. [F. sire, originally, an older person. See Sir.]
sable n.: A carnivorous animal of the Weasel family (Mustela zibellina) native of the northern latitudes of Europe, Asia, and America, -- noted for its fine, soft, and valuable fur. [OF. sable, F. zibeline sable (in sense 4), LL. sabellum; cf. D. sabel, Dan. sabel, zobel, Sw. sabel, sobel, G. zobel; all fr. Russ. sóbole.]
lovelily adv.: In manner to excite love; amiably. Otway. [From Lovely.]
sooth a.: True; faithful; trustworthy. [OE. soth, AS. s, for san; akin to OS. s, OHG. sand, Icel. sannr, Sw. sann, Dan. sand, Skr. sat, sant, real, genuine, present, being; properly p. pr. from a root]
broke v. i.: To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
flown a.: Flushed, inflated.
tambour n.: A kind of small flat drum; a tambourine.
unbelieving a.: Not believing; incredulous; doubting; distrusting; skeptical.
aught n.: Property; possession. [AS. , fr. agan to own, p. p. ahte.]
steed n.: A horse, especially a spirited horse for state of war; -- used chiefly in poetry or stately prose. [OE. stede, AS. steda a stud-horse, war horse, fr. stod a stud of breeding steeds; akin to G. stute a mare, Icel. stedda, sto, a stud. *163. See Stud of horses.]
matin n.: A French mastiff. [F. matin.]
listless a.: Having no desire or inclination; indifferent; heedless; spiritless. [OE. listles, lustles. See Lust.]
admire v. t.: To regard with wonder or astonishment; to view with surprise; to marvel at. [F. admirer, fr. L. admirari; ad + mirari to wonder, for smirari, akin to Gr. smi, and E. smile.]
piecemeal adv.: In pieces; in parts or fragments. [OE. pecemele; pece a piece + AS. m, dat. pl. of m part. See Meal a portion.]
tamely adv.: In a tame manner.
keener n.: A professional mourner who wails at a funeral. [Ireland]
career n.: A race course: the ground run over. [F. carrière race course, high road, street, fr. L. carrus wagon. See Car.]
albeit conj.: Even though; although; notwithstanding. [OE. al be although it be, where al is our all. Cf. Although.]
sneeringly adv.: In a sneering manner.
askance adv.: Sideways; obliquely; with a side glance; with disdain, envy, or suspicion. [Cf. D. schuin, schuins, sideways, schuiven to shove, schuinte slope. Cf. Asquint.]
misdoubt v. t.: To be suspicious of; to have suspicion.
wayward a.: Taking one's own way; disobedient; froward; perverse; willful. [OE. weiward, for aweiward, i. e., turned away. See Away, and -ward.]
strife n.: The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
closer n.: One who, or that which, closes; specifically, a boot closer. See under Boot.
peri n.: An imaginary being, male or female, like an elf or fairy, represented as a descendant of fallen angels, excluded from paradise till penance is accomplished. Moore. [Per. peri a female genus, a fairy.]
waft v. t.: To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon. [Prob. originally imp. & p. p. of wave, v. t. See Wave to waver.]
womankind n.: The females of the human race; women, collectively.
beguiling a.: Alluring by guile; deluding; misleading; diverting.
peopled a.: Stocked with, or as with, people; inhabited.
elysian a.: Pertaining, or the abode of the blessed after death; hence, yielding the highest pleasures; exceedingly delightful; beatific. [L. Elysius, fr. Elysium.]
childhood n.: The state of being a child; the time in which persons are children; the condition or time from infancy to puberty. [AS. cildhad; cild child + -had. See Child, and hood.]
loveliness n.: The state or quality of being lovely. [From Lovely.]
nameless a.: Without a name; not having been given a name; as, a nameless star.
meekness n.: The quality or state of being meek.
tore n.: The dead grass that remains on mowing land in winter and spring. Mortimer. [Probably from the root of tear; cf. W. tór a break, cut, tóri to break, cut.]
dwell v. i.: To delay; to linger. [OE. dwellen, dwelien, to err, linger, AS. dwellan to deceive, hinder, delay, dwelian to err; akin to Icel. dvelja to delay, tarry, Sw. dväljas to dwell, Dan. dv]
reck v. t.: To make account of; to care for; to heed; to regard. [AS. reccan, remccan, to care for; akin to OS. rokian, OHG. ruochan, G. geruhen, Icel. rækja, also to E. reckon, rake an implement. See Rake, and cf. Reckon.]
kinsman n.: A man of the same race or family; one related by blood.
scarce a.: Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
shalt: 2d per. sing. of Shall.
scan v. t.: To mount by steps; to go through with step by step. [L. scandere, scansum, to climb, to scan, akin to Skr. skand to spring, leap: cf. F. scander. Cf. Ascend, Descend, Scale a ladder.]
boon n.: A prayer or petition. [OE. bone, boin, a petition, fr. Icel. b; akin to Sw. & Dan. b, AS. b, and perh. to E. ban; but influenced by F. bon good, fr. L. bonus. Ban, Bounty.]
bashfulness n.: The quality of being bashful.
resigned a.: Submissive; yielding; not disposed to resist or murmur.
chibouque n.: A Turkish pipe, usually with a mouthpiece of amber, a stem, four or five feet long and not pliant, of some valuable wood, and a bowl of baked clay. [F. chibouque, fr. Turk.]
featly adv.: Neatly; dexterously; nimbly. [From Feat, a.]
amid prep.: In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among. [OE. amidde, amiddes, on midden, AS. on middan, in the middle, fr. midde the middle. The s is an adverbial ending, originally marking the genitive; the t is a la]
sabre n.: A sword with a broad and heavy blade, thick at the back, and usually more or less curved like a scimiter; a cavalry sword. Saber fish, or Sabre fish (Zoöl.), the cutlass fish.
massy a.: Compacted into, or consisting of, a mass; having bulk and weight ot substance; ponderous; bulky and heavy; weight; heavy; as, a massy shield; a massy rock.
turbaned a.: Wearing a turban.
shall v. i.: To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
pictured a.: Furnished with pictures; represented by a picture or pictures; as, a pictured scene.
sullen a.: Lonely; solitary; desolate. Wyclif (Job iii. 14). [OE. solein, solain, lonely, sullen; through Old French fr. (assumed) LL. solanus solitary, fr. L. solus alone. See Sole, a.]
curious a.: Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
bulbul n.: The Persian nightingale (Pycnonotus jocosus). The name is also applied to several other Asiatic singing birds, of the family Timaliidæ. The green bulbuls belong to the Chloropsis and allied genera. [Per.]
unblest a.: Not blest; excluded from benediction; hence, accursed; wretched. [Pref. un- not + blessed, blest.]
deem v. t.: To decide; to judge; to sentence; to condemn. [OE. demen to judge, condemn, AS. d, fr. d doom; akin to OFries. d, OS. ad, D. doemen, OHG. tuommen, Icel. dæma, Sw. dömma, Dan. dömme, Goth. d. See Doom, n., an]
halve v. t.: To divide into two equal parts; as, to halve an apple; to be or form half of. [From Half.]
fondly adv.: Foolishly. Verstegan (1673).
hast: , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
blench v. t.: To baffle; to disconcert; to turn away; -- also, to obstruct; to hinder.
tress n.: A braid, knot, or curl, of hair; a ringlet. [OE. tresse, OF. trece, F. tresse, LL. tricia, fr. Gr. tri`cha threefold, because a tress is usually formed by interlacing three pieces; akin to trei^s three. Se]
daunt v. t.: To overcome; to conquer. [OF. danter, F. dompter to tame, subdue, fr. L. domitare, v. intens. of domare to tame. See Tame.]
wealth n.: Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
sadly adv.: Wearily; heavily; firmly.
morn n.: The first part of the day; the morning; -- used chiefly in poetry. [OE. morwen, morgen, AS. morgen; akin to D. morgen, OS. morgan, G. morgen, Icel. morginn, morgunn, Sw. morgon, Dan. morgen, Goth. maúrgins. Cf. Morrow, Morning.]
allah n.: The name of the Supreme Being, in use among the Arabs and the Mohammedans generally. [contr. fr. the article al the + ilah God.]
soothe v. t.: To assent to as true. Testament of Love. [Originally, to assent to as true; OE. so to verify, AS. ges to prove the truth of, to bear witness. See Sooth, a.]
aspire v. t.: To aspire to; to long for; to try to reach; to mount to.
repine v. i.: To fail; to wane. [Pref. re- + pine to languish.]
wherefore adv.: For which reason; so; -- used relatively. [Where + for.]
haughty a.: High; lofty; bold. [OE. hautein, F. hautain, fr. haut high, OF. also halt, fr. L. altus. See Altitude.]
ought p. p.: Was or were under obligation to pay; owed. [Orig. the preterit of the verb to owe. OE. oughte, aughte, ahte, AS. ahte. sq. root110. See Owe.]
yonder adv.: At a distance, but within view. [OE. yonder, ýonder; cf. OD. ginder, Goth. jaindr there. Yond, adv.]
betake v. t.: To take or seize. [Pref. be- + take.]
fain v. t.: To be glad ; to wish or desire.
nobly adv.: Of noble extraction; as, nobly born or descended.
giaour n.: An infidel; -- a term applied by Turks to disbelievers in the Mohammedan religion, especially Christrians. [Turk. giaur an infidel, Per. gawr, another form of ghebr fire worshiper. Cf. Kaffir, Gheber .]
intruder n.: One who intrudes; one who thrusts himself in, or enters without right, or without leave or welcome; a trespasser.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Bride of Abydos: Canto I is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 3, Project Gutenberg ebook #21811; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Lord Byron, The Bride of Abydos: Canto I, in The Giaour, and Other Poems (1816), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #21811, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/byron-works-3/the-bride-of-abydos-canto-i.html, id L23866.

Form and metre

The Bride of Abydos: Canto I is 483 lines in 20 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 86%).

See other poems in iambic tetrameter.

Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.

Rhyme words, stanza by stanza

The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.

1 ABABCCDDEEFFFCCGG-- myrtle^A · clime^B · turtle^A · crime^B · vine^C · shine^C · perfume^D · bloom^D · fruit^E · mute^E · sky^F · vie^F · dye^F · twine^C · divine^C · sun^G · done^G · farewellez · tell
2 AABB-C-CDD-- slave^A · brave^A · behest^B · rest^B · divan · eye^C · mussulman · by^C · hide^D · pride^D · browfb · avow
3 ----AABB--CC disappeared · guard · son · award · wait^A · gate^A · beheld^B · unveiled^B · — · hour · thought^C · taught^C
4 AAABCBC--DDEEFGFGHHIIJHHJKK--LLMMNNOO obey^A · say^A · way^A · brake^B · meet^C · spake^B · feet^C · expire · sire · chide^D · guide^D · be^E · me^E · shone^F · sleep^G · alone^F · deep^G · reply^H · high^H · mood^I · solitude^I · broke^J · me^H · key^H · awoke^J · flown^K · own^K · long · song;fd · tambour^L · hour^L · true^M · flew^M · yet^N · forget^N · bower^O · tower^O
5 AABBCDD-CCEEFFGGHHIIDDJJ said^A · bred^A · see^B · thee^B · bow^C · steed^D · creed^D · flow,fe · blow^C · glow^C · admire^E · fire^E · battlement^F · rent^F · wall^G · fall^G · death^H · nazareth^H · hand^I · brand^I · speed^D · heed^D · wing^J · string^J
6 ABA-BB-B-BCDCCDEEFFGG--G-G-HHIIJJKK--LL--MNMNN-OO-PP- heard^A · ear^B · word^A · sword · fear^B · dear^B · sire · career^B · ireff · disappear^B · son^C · eye^D · done^C · begun^C · reply^D · too^E · do^E · length^F · strength^F · lance^G · perchance^G · fell · gazed · glance^G · raisedfg · askance^G · tell · boy^H · annoy^H · birth^I · worth^I · cope^J · antelope^J · strife^K · life^K · tone · own.fh · more^L · before^L · sight · fi · voice^M · ear^N · choice^M · dear^N · fear^N · here!fj · wave^O · save^O · thou · shrine^P · thine^P · —
7 ABAB----CCDD womankind^A · smiling^B · mind^A · beguiling^B · vision · given · elysian · heaven · love^C · above^C · chief^D · grief^D
8 AABBCCDDEEFF essay^A · ray^A · sightfl^B · delight^B · confess^C · loveliness^C · shone^D · alone^D · grace,fm^E · face^E · whole^F · soul^F
9 ABABBCCDDEE bending^A · breast^B · extending^A · blest^B · carest^B · felt^C · melt^C · weal^D · feel^D · heart^E · apart^E
10 ABABBCCD-D----EE--CCFFGHGH gentleness^A · tell^B · distress^A · well^B · dwell^B · man^C · van^C · blood^D · carasman · stood^D · bands · lands.fn · woofo · oglou · employ^E · boy^E · dower · power · firman^C · scan^C · fate^F · wait^F · will^G · know^H · still^G · show^H
11 ABAABABCCDD head^A · tears^B · shed^A · red^A · ears^B · sped^A · fears^B · eye^C · dry^C · bashfulness^D · less^D
12 AABCBC-BB-- forgot^A · not^A · steed^B · chibouque^C · mead^B · mamaluke^C · took · deed^B · jerreed^B · moors · doors
13 ABCCAABDDEEB hand^A · water^B · swells^C · dardanelles^C · strand^A · band^A · slaughter^B · felt^D · dealt^D · crowd^E · loud^E · daughter^B
14 AABBCC--DDEEFFGHHG----IIJJKLKL--MMNNOOPPQQ broke^A · bespoke^A · grate^B · sedate^B · turned^C · learned^C · same · flame:fp · weak^D · speak^D · essay^E · away^E · met^F · yet^F · room^G · fixed^H · mixed^H · perfume^G · o'er · floor · vestfq · addressed · flew^I · too^I · be^J · thee^J · set^K · land^L · yet^K · hand^L · breathed · wreathed · seat^M · feet^M · cares^N · bears^N · prolong^O · song^O · sad^P · glad^P · lay^Q · away^Q
15 -A--AAAABBCCDD----EEFFGGHH------ flower · unblest^A · lower · best?fr · dearest^A · fearest^A · breast^A · rest^A · fail^B · nightingale^B · stern^C · learn^C · not^D · forgot^D · plan · carasman · thine · — · allow^E · vow^E · command^F · hand^F · part^G · heart^G · side^H · guide^H · see · thee:ft · quiver · must,fu · ever · dust
16 AA-AABCBCD-D-EEF-FGG--HHIIJJ--KK-LLMMMNNOOPPQQRR--SSTTUU felt^A · knelt^A · shone · dwelt^A · melt^A · concealed^B · willows^C · reveal'd^B · billows^C · high^D · it · eye^D · it · sound^E · hound^E · strife^F · knife,fv · life^F · displayed^G · betrayed^G · mine · resign;fw · oath^H · both^H · done^I · one^I · tress^J · tenderness^J · hair · fair,fx · far^K · istakar^K · lowered · showered^L · coward^L · brave^M · slave^M · gave^M · vaunt^N · daunt^N · thee^O · be^O · vow^P · now^P · demand^Q · hand^Q · soul^R · control^R · egripo · show · told^S · unfold^S · bey^T · day^T · appear^U · near^U
17 -A-ABBCDCDD-DEFEFGGH-HH----IIJJKLKLL--MLM-NONOPP--QQ------RR--STST--UU appearest · changed^A · dearest · estranged^A · before^B · more^B · stay^C · why^D · day^C · die^D · deny^D · kiss · this;fy^D · flame^E · flushing^F · same^E · blushing^F · health^G · wealth^G · by^H · poverty · eye^H · try^H · aspire · require · whyfz · mystery · tell^I · well^I · friends^J · extends^J · heard^K · thee^L · word^K · free^L · me^L · been · seen · hour^M · see^L · bower^M · infancy · begun^N · avow^O · shun^N · now^O · eyes^P · denies^P · mine · repine · decree^Q · thee^Q · compelledga · beheld · reveal · conceal?gb · mood · good · nought^R · ought^R · within · sin.gc · crime^S · here^T · time^S · fear^T · tchocadar · war · eye^U · why^U
18 AABBCCCDDEFEFFFGGHHIIJJ retreat^A · greet^A · prate^B · state^B · banks^C · ranks^C · thanks^C · way^D · repay^D · drum^E · sleep^F · come^E · creep^F · deep^F · steep^F · climb^G · time^G · steel^H · feel^H · more^I · before^I · me^J · key^J
20 ---AAA thou;gd · guard · reward · hear^A · fear^A · appear^A

Scansion, line by line

Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
Know ye the land where the cypress and myrtle	11	······/˘·/˘
Are emblems of deeds that are done in their clime?	11	·/˘········
Where the rage of the vulture, the love of the turtle,	13	·····/˘····/˘
Now melt into sorrow, now madden to crime?	11	····/˘·/˘··
Know ye the land of the cedar and vine,	10	······/˘··
Where the flowers ever blossom, the beams ever shine;	10	··///˘··/·
Where the light wings of Zephyr, oppressed with perfume,	12	·····/˘˘/·˘/
Wax faint o'er the gardens of Gul in her bloom;	11	····/˘·····
Where the citron and olive are fairest of fruit,	12	··/˘·/˘·/˘··
And the voice of the nightingale never is mute;	10	·····/˘/··
Where the tints of the earth, and the hues of the sky,	12	············
In colour though varied, in beauty may vie,	11	·/˘·/˘·/˘··
And the purple of Ocean is deepest in dye;	11	··/˘·/·/˘··
Where the virgins are soft as the roses they twine,	12	··/˘····/˘··
And all, save the spirit of man, is divine--	10	····/···˘/
Tis the clime of the East--'tis the land of the Sun--	12	············
Can he smile on such deeds as his children have done?	12	········/˘··
Oh! wild as the accents of lovers' farewellez	13	····/˘·/˘····
Are the hearts which they bear, and the tales which they tell.	12	············
Begirt with many a gallant slave,	8	˘/·/·/˘·
Apparelled as becomes the brave,	8	˘/˘·˘/··
Awaiting each his Lord's behest	8	˘/˘···˘/
To guide his steps, or guard his rest,	8	········
Old Giaffir sate in his Divan:	8	······˘/
Deep thought was in his aged eye;	7	·······
And though the face of Mussulman	8	·····/˘˘
Not oft betrays to standers by	8	··˘/·/˘·
The mind within, well skilled to hide	8	········
All but unconquerable pride,	8	··˘/˘˘˘·
His pensive cheek and pondering browfb	8	·/˘··/˘·
Did more than he was wont avow.	8	······˘/
"Let the chamber be cleared."--The train disappeared--	11	··/˘·····˘/
"Now call me the chief of the Haram guard"--	10	··········
With Giaffir is none but his only son,	10	·······/˘·
And the Nubian awaiting the sire's award.	11	··/˘˘/˘··˘/
"Haroun--when all the crowd that wait	8	········
Are passed beyond the outer gate,	8	·····/˘·
(Woe to the head whose eye beheld	8	······˘/
My child Zuleika's face unveiled!)	8	······˘/
Hence, lead my daughter from her tower--fc	9	···/˘··/·
Her fate is fixed this very hour;	9	·····/˘/˘
Yet not to her repeat my thought--	8	····˘/··
By me alone be duty taught!"	8	··˘/·/˘·
"Pacha! to hear is to obey."--	8	······˘/
No more must slave to despot say--	8	·····/˘·
Then to the tower had ta'en his way:	8	···/····
But here young Selim silence brake,	8	·····/˘·
First lowly rendering reverence meet;	8	·/˘/˘/˘·
And downcast looked, and gently spake,	8	·/···/˘·
Still standing at the Pacha's feet:	8	·/˘·····
For son of Moslem must expire,	8	···/˘·˘/
Ere dare to sit before his sire!	9	·······/˘
"Father! for fear that thou shouldst chide	8	/˘······
My sister, or her sable guide--	8	·/˘··/˘·
Know--for the fault, if fault there be,	8	········
Was mine--then fall thy frowns on me!	8	········
So lovelily the morning shone,	8	·/˘˘·/˘·
That--let the old and weary sleep--	8	·····/˘·
I could not; and to view alone	8	······˘/
The fairest scenes of land and deep,	8	·/˘·····
With none to listen and reply	8	···/˘·˘/
To thoughts with which my heart beat high	8	········
Were irksome--for whate'er my mood,	9	·/˘·˘˘/··
In sooth I love not solitude;	8	·····/˘·
I on Zuleika's slumber broke,	8	·····/˘·
And, as thou knowest that for me	8	···/˘···
Soon turns the Haram's grating key,	8	·····/˘·
Before the guardian slaves awoke	8	···/˘·˘/
We to the cypress groves had flown,	8	···/˘···
And made earth, main, and heaven our own!	8	·····//·
There lingered we, beguiled too long	8	·/˘·˘/··
With Mejnoun's tale, or Sadi's song;fd	9	·········
Till I, who heard the deep tambour	8	······/˘
Beat thy Divan's approaching hour,	9	··˘/˘/˘/˘
To thee, and to my duty true,	8	·····/˘·
Warned by the sound, to greet thee flew:	8	········
But there Zuleika wanders yet--	8	·····/˘·
Nay, Father, rage not--nor forget	8	·/˘···˘/
That none can pierce that secret bower	9	·····/˘/˘
But those who watch the women's tower."	9	·····/˘/˘
"Son of a slave"--the Pacha said--	8	········
"From unbelieving mother bred,	8	··˘/˘/˘·
Vain were a father's hope to see	8	···/˘···
Aught that beseems a man in thee.	8	········
Thou, when thine arm should bend the bow,	8	········
And hurl the dart, and curb the steed,	8	········
Thou, Greek in soul if not in creed,	8	········
Must pore where babbling waters flow,fe	9	···/˘/˘··
And watch unfolding roses blow.	8	··˘/˘/˘·
Would that yon Orb, whose matin glow	8	·····/˘·
Thy listless eyes so much admire,	8	·/˘···˘/
Would lend thee something of his fire!	9	···/˘··/˘
Thou, who woulds't see this battlement	8	·····/˘˘
By Christian cannon piecemeal rent;	8	·/˘/˘/··
Nay, tamely view old Stambol's wall	8	·/˘·····
Before the dogs of Moscow fall,	8	·····/··
Nor strike one stroke for life and death	8	········
Against the curs of Nazareth!	8	·····/˘˘
Go--let thy less than woman's hand	8	·····/˘·
Assume the distaff--not the brand.	8	˘/·/˘···
But, Haroun!--to my daughter speed:	8	·····/˘·
And hark--of thine own head take heed--	8	········
If thus Zuleika oft takes wing--	8	········
Thou see'st yon bow--it hath a string!"	8	········
No sound from Selim's lip was heard,	8	········
At least that met old Giaffir's ear,	8	········
But every frown and every word	8	·/˘··/˘·
Pierced keener than a Christian's sword.	8	·/˘··/˘·
"Son of a slave!--reproached with fear!	8	····˘/··
Those gibes had cost another dear.	8	····˘/˘·
Son of a slave!--and who my Sire?"	9	·······/˘
Thus held his thoughts their dark career;	8	······˘/
And glances ev'n of more than ireff	9	·/˘······
Flash forth, then faintly disappear.	8	···/˘·˘/
Old Giaffir gazed upon his son	8	········
And started; for within his eye	8	·/˘·····
He read how much his wrath had done;	8	········
He saw rebellion there begun:	8	··˘/˘·˘/
"Come hither, boy--what, no reply?	8	·/˘···˘/
I mark thee--and I know thee too;	8	········
But there be deeds thou dar'st not do:	8	········
But if thy beard had manlier length,	8	········
And if thy hand had skill and strength,	8	········
I'd joy to see thee break a lance,	8	········
Albeit against my own perchance."	9	˘/˘····˘/
As sneeringly these accents fell,	8	·/˘˘·/˘·
On Selim's eye he fiercely gazed:	8	·····/˘·
That eye returned him glance for glance,	8	··˘/····
And proudly to his Sire's was raisedfg,	9	·/˘······
Till Giaffir's quailed and shrunk askance--	8	······˘/
And why--he felt, but durst not tell.	8	········
"Much I misdoubt this wayward boy	8	··˘/·/˘·
Will one day work me more annoy:	8	······˘/
I never loved him from his birth,	8	·/˘·····
And--but his arm is little worth,	8	·····/˘·
And scarcely in the chase could cope	8	·/˘·····
With timid fawn or antelope,	8	·/˘··/˘·
Far less would venture into strife	8	···/˘···
Where man contends for fame and life--	8	··˘/····
I would not trust that look or tone:	8	········
No--nor the blood so near my own.fh	9	·········
That blood--he hath not heard--no more--	8	········
I'll watch him closer than before.	8	···/˘···
He is an Arab to my sight,	8	···/˘···
Or Christian crouching in the fight--fi	9	·/˘/˘····
But hark!--I hear Zuleika's voice;	8	········
Like Houris' hymn it meets mine ear:	8	········
She is the offspring of my choice;	8	···/····
Oh! more than ev'n her mother dear,	8	·····/˘·
With all to hope, and nought to fear--	8	········
My Peri! ever welcome here!fj	8	·/˘//˘··
Sweet, as the desert fountain's wave	8	···/˘/˘·
To lips just cooled in time to save--	8	········
Such to my longing sight art thou;	8	···/˘···
Nor can they waft to Mecca's shrine	8	·····/˘·
More thanks for life, than I for thine,	8	········
Who blest thy birth and bless thee now."fk	9	·········
Fair, as the first that fell of womankind,	10	·······/˘˘
When on that dread yet lovely serpent smiling,	11	·····/˘/˘/˘
Whose Image then was stamped upon her mind--	10	·/˘·······
But once beguiled--and ever more beguiling;	10	··˘/·/·˘/˘
Dazzling, as that, oh! too transcendent vision	11	/˘····˘/˘/˘
To Sorrow's phantom-peopled slumber given,	10	·/˘/˘/˘/˘/
When heart meets heart again in dreams Elysian,	11	····˘/··˘/˘
And paints the lost on Earth revived in Heaven;	10	······˘/·/
Soft, as the memory of buried love;	9	···/˘·/˘·
Pure, as the prayer which Childhood wafts above;	10	·····/····
Was she--the daughter of that rude old Chief,	10	···/˘·····
Who met the maid with tears--but not of grief.	10	··········
Who hath not proved how feebly words essay	10	·····/˘·˘/
To fix one spark of Beauty's heavenly ray?	10	·····/˘/˘·
Who doth not feel, until his failing sightfl	10	·······/˘·
Faints into dimness with its own delight,	10	···/˘···˘/
His changing cheek, his sinking heart confess	10	·/˘··/˘·˘/
The might--the majesty of Loveliness?	9	···/˘·/˘˘
Such was Zuleika--such around her shone	10	··········
The nameless charms unmarked by her alone--	10	·/˘·˘/··˘/
The light of Love, the purity of Grace,fm	11	·····/˘··//
The mind, the Music breathing from her face,	10	···/˘/˘···
The heart whose softness harmonized the whole,	10	···/˘/˘···
And oh! that eye was in itself a Soul!	10	······˘/··
Her graceful arms in meekness bending	9	·/˘··/˘/˘
Across her gently-budding breast;	8	˘/·/˘/˘·
At one kind word those arms extending	9	······˘/˘
To clasp the neck of him who blest	8	········
His child caressing and carest,	8	··˘/˘···
Zuleika came--and Giaffir felt	8	········
His purpose half within him melt:	8	·/˘·····
Not that against her fancied weal	8	·····/˘·
His heart though stern could ever feel;	8	·····/˘·
Affection chained her to that heart;	8	˘/˘·····
Ambition tore the links apart.	8	˘/˘···˘/
"Zuleika! child of Gentleness!	8	·····/˘˘
How dear this very day must tell,	8	···/˘···
When I forget my own distress,	8	··˘/··˘/
In losing what I love so well,	8	·/˘·····
To bid thee with another dwell:	8	····˘/˘·
Another! and a braver man	8	˘/˘··/˘·
Was never seen in battle's van.	8	·/˘··/˘·
We Moslem reck not much of blood:	8	·/˘·····
But yet the line of Carasman	8	········
Unchanged, unchangeable hath stood	8	˘/······
First of the bold Timariot bands	8	········
That won and well can keep their lands.fn	9	·········
Enough that he who comes to woofo	9	˘/·······
Is kinsman of the Bey Oglou:	8	·/······
His years need scarce a thought employ;	8	······˘/
I would not have thee wed a boy.	8	········
And thou shalt have a noble dower:	8	·····/˘·
And his and my united power	9	····˘/˘/˘
Will laugh to scorn the death-firman,	8	······/˘
Which others tremble but to scan,	8	·/˘/˘···
And teach the messenger what fate	8	···/˘˘··
The bearer of such boon may wait.	8	·/˘·····
And now thou know'st thy father's will;	8	·····/˘·
All that thy sex hath need to know:	8	········
'Twas mine to teach obedience still--	8	····˘/˘·
The way to love, thy Lord may show."	8	········
In silence bowed the virgin's head;	8	·/˘··/˘·
And if her eye was filled with tears	8	········
That stifled feeling dare not shed,	8	·/˘/˘···
And changed her cheek from pale to red,	8	········
And red to pale, as through her ears	8	········
Those winged words like arrows sped,	8	··˘··/˘·
What could such be but maiden fears?	8	·····/˘·
So bright the tear in Beauty's eye,	8	·····/˘·
Love half regrets to kiss it dry;	8	··˘/····
So sweet the blush of Bashfulness,	8	·····/˘˘
Even Pity scarce can wish it less!	8	//˘·····
Whate'er it was the sire forgot:	9	˘˘/···/˘/
Or if remembered, marked it not;	8	··˘/˘···
Thrice clapped his hands, and called his steed,	8	········
Resigned his gem-adorned chibouque,	8	˘/··˘/··
And mounting featly for the mead,	8	·/˘/˘···
With Maugrabeel and Mamaluke,	8	·····/˘˘
His way amid his Delis took,	8	··˘/·/˘·
To witness many an active deed	8	·/˘/·/˘·
With sabre keen, or blunt jerreed.	7	·/˘····
The Kislar only and his Moors	8	···/˘···
Watch well the Haram's massy doors.	8	·····/˘·
His head was leant upon his hand,	9	···/˘····
His eye looked o'er the dark blue water	9	·······/˘
That swiftly glides and gently swells	8	·/˘··/˘·
Between the winding Dardanelles;	8	···/˘···
But yet he saw nor sea nor strand,	8	········
Nor even his Pacha's turbaned band	8	·/···/˘·
Mix in the game of mimic slaughter,	9	·····/˘/˘
Careering cleave the folded felt	8	˘/˘··/˘·
With sabre stroke right sharply dealt;	8	·/˘··/˘·
Nor marked the javelin-darting crowd,	8	···/˘/˘·
Nor heard their Ollahs wild and loud--	8	········
He thought but of old Giaffir's daughter!	9	·······/˘
No word from Selim's bosom broke;	8	·····/˘·
One sigh Zuleika's thought bespoke:	8	······˘/
Still gazed he through the lattice grate,	8	·····/˘·
Pale, mute, and mournfully sedate.	8	······˘/
To him Zuleika's eye was turned,	8	········
But little from his aspect learned:	8	·/˘··/··
Equal her grief, yet not the same;	8	/˘······
Her heart confessed a gentler flame:fp	9	··˘/·/˘··
But yet that heart, alarmed or weak,	8	····˘/··
She knew not why, forbade to speak.	8	····˘/··
Yet speak she must--but when essay?	8	······˘/
"How strange he thus should turn away!	8	······˘/
Not thus we e'er before have met;	8	········
Not thus shall be our parting yet."	8	····//˘·
Thrice paced she slowly through the room,	8	···/˘···
And watched his eye--it still was fixed:	8	········
She snatched the urn wherein was mixed	8	········
The Persian Atar-gul's perfume,	8	·/˘···˘/
And sprinkled all its odours o'er	8	·/˘··/˘·
The pictured roof and marble floor:	8	·/˘··/˘·
The drops, that through his glittering vestfq	8	·····/˘·
The playful girl's appeal addressed,	8	·/˘·˘/˘/
Unheeded o'er his bosom flew,	8	˘/˘··/˘·
As if that breast were marble too.	8	·····/˘·
"What, sullen yet? it must not be--	8	·/˘·····
Oh! gentle Selim, this from thee!"	8	·/˘·····
She saw in curious order set	8	···/˘/˘·
The fairest flowers of Eastern land--	8	·/˘/·/˘·
"He loved them once; may touch them yet,	8	········
If offered by Zuleika's hand."	8	·/˘·····
The childish thought was hardly breathed	8	·/˘··/˘·
Before the rose was plucked and wreathed;	8	········
The next fond moment saw her seat	8	···/˘···
Her fairy form at Selim's feet:	8	·/˘·····
"This rose to calm my brother's cares	8	·····/˘·
A message from the Bulbul bears;	8	·/˘··/˘·
It says to-night he will prolong	8	······˘/
For Selim's ear his sweetest song;	8	·····/˘·
And though his note is somewhat sad,	8	·····//·
He'll try for once a strain more glad,	8	········
With some faint hope his altered lay	8	·····/˘·
May sing these gloomy thoughts away.	8	···/˘·˘/
"What! not receive my foolish flower?	9	··˘/·/˘/˘
Nay then I am indeed unblest:	8	····˘/··
On me can thus thy forehead lower?	9	·····/˘/˘
And know'st thou not who loves thee best?fr	9	·········
Oh, Selim dear! oh, more than dearest!	9	·······/˘
Say, is it me thou hat'st or fearest?	9	·······/˘
Come, lay thy head upon my breast,	8	········
And I will kiss thee into rest,	8	········
Since words of mine, and songs must fail,	8	········
Ev'n from my fabled nightingale.	8	···/˘/˘˘
I knew our sire at times was stern,	8	··//····
But this from thee had yet to learn:	8	········
Too well I know he loves thee not;	8	········
But is Zuleika's love forgot?	8	······˘/
Ah! deem I right? the Pacha's plan--	8	········
This kinsman Bey of Carasman	8	·/······
Perhaps may prove some foe of thine.	8	˘/······
If so, I swear by Mecca's shrine,--fs	8	·····/˘·
If shrines that ne'er approach allow	8	····˘/˘/
To woman's step admit her vow,--	8	·/˘·˘/··
Without thy free consent--command--	8	····˘/˘/
The Sultan should not have my hand!	8	·/˘·····
Think'st thou that I could bear to part	8	········
With thee, and learn to halve my heart?	8	········
Ah! were I severed from thy side,	8	···/˘···
Where were thy friend--and who my guide?	8	········
Years have not seen, Time shall not see,	8	········
The hour that tears my soul from thee:ft	9	·/·······
Ev'n Azrael, from his deadly quiver	9	·····/˘/˘
When flies that shaft, and fly it must,fu	9	·········
That parts all else, shall doom for ever	9	·······/˘
Our hearts to undivided dust!"	8	/···˘/˘·
He lived--he breathed--he moved--he felt;	8	········
He raised the maid from where she knelt;	8	········
His trance was gone, his keen eye shone	8	········
With thoughts that long in darkness dwelt;	8	·····/˘·
With thoughts that burn--in rays that melt.	8	········
As the stream late concealed	7	····˘/˘
By the fringe of its willows,	7	·····/·
When it rushes reveal'd	6	··/˘˘/
In the light of its billows;	7	·····/˘
As the bolt bursts on high	6	······
From the black cloud that bound it,	7	·······
Flashed the soul of that eye	7	·˘·····
Through the long lashes round it.	7	···/˘··
A war-horse at the trumpet's sound,	8	·····/˘·
A lion roused by heedless hound,	8	·/˘··/˘·
A tyrant waked to sudden strife	8	·/˘··/˘·
By graze of ill-directed knife,fv	9	····˘/˘··
Starts not to more convulsive life	8	····˘/˘·
Than he, who heard that vow, displayed,	8	······˘/
And all, before repressed, betrayed:	8	····˘/˘/
"Now thou art mine, for ever mine,	8	·····/˘·
With life to keep, and scarce with life resign;fw	11	········˘/·
Now thou art mine, that sacred oath,	8	·····/˘·
Though sworn by one, hath bound us both.	8	········
Yes, fondly, wisely hast thou done;	8	·/˘/˘···
That vow hath saved more heads than one:	8	········
But blench not thou--thy simplest tress	8	·····/˘·
Claims more from me than tenderness;	8	·····/˘˘
I would not wrong the slenderest hair	8	·····/˘·
That clusters round thy forehead fair,fx	9	·/˘··/˘··
For all the treasures buried far	8	···/˘/˘·
Within the caves of Istakar.	8	········
This morning clouds upon me lowered,	9	·/˘····/˘
Reproaches on my head were showered,	9	˘/˘····/˘
And Giaffir almost called me coward!	9	···/···/˘
Now I have motive to be brave;	8	···/˘···
The son of his neglected slave,	8	····˘/˘·
Nay, start not,'twas the term he gave,	8	········
May show, though little apt to vaunt,	8	···/˘···
A heart his words nor deeds can daunt.	8	········
His son, indeed!--yet, thanks to thee,	8	··˘/····
Perchance I am, at least shall be;	8	˘/······
But let our plighted secret vow	8	··//˘/˘·
Be only known to us as now.	8	·/˘·····
I know the wretch who dares demand	8	······˘/
From Giaffir thy reluctant hand;	8	····˘/˘·
More ill-got wealth, a meaner soul	8	·····/˘·
Holds not a Musselim's control;	8	······˘/
Was he not bred in Egripo?	8	········
A viler race let Israel show!	8	·····/˘·
But let that pass--to none be told	8	········
Our oath; the rest shall time unfold.	8	/·····˘/
To me and mine leave Osman Bey!	8	·····/˘·
I've partisans for Peril's day:	8	·/˘˘·/˘·
Think not I am what I appear;	8	······˘/
I've arms--and friends--and vengeance near."	8	·····/˘·
"Think not thou art what thou appearest!	9	······˘/˘
My Selim, thou art sadly changed:	8	·····/˘·
This morn I saw thee gentlest--dearest--	9	·····/˘/˘
But now thou'rt from thyself estranged.	8	····˘/˘/
My love thou surely knew'st before,	8	···/˘···
It ne'er was less--nor can be more.	8	········
To see thee--hear thee--near thee stay--	8	········
And hate the night--I know not why,	8	········
Save that we meet not but by day;	8	········
With thee to live, with thee to die,	8	········
I dare not to my hope deny:	8	······˘/
Thy cheek--thine eyes--thy lips to kiss--	8	········
Like this--and this--no more than this;fy	9	·········
For, Allah! sure thy lips are flame:	8	·/˘·····
What fever in thy veins is flushing?	9	·/˘····/˘
My own have nearly caught the same,	8	···/˘···
At least I feel my cheek, too, blushing.	9	·······/˘
To soothe thy sickness, watch thy health,	8	···/˘···

The first 400 of 483 lines; the reader marks them all.

Notes from the edition 27

E. H. Coleridge's notes to The Works of Lord Byron, Poetry, Vol. III (John Murray, 1900; Project Gutenberg #21811). Bracketed passages are the editor's; unbracketed are Byron's own or earlier editors'. Lettered variant readings (manuscript and edition collations) are not harvested here, matching the treatment of Coleridge's Don Juan notes.

Stanza 1, line 1 [The opening lines were probably suggested by Goethe's--

"Kennst du das Land wo die citronen bluehn?"]
Stanza 1, line 8 "Gul," the rose.
Stanza 1, line 10 ["'Where the Citron,' etc. These lines are in the MS., and omitted by the Printer, whom I again request to look over it, and see that no others are omitted.--B." (Revise No. 1, November 13, 1813.)

"I ought and do apologise to Mr.---- the Printer for charging him with an omission of the lines which I find was my own--but I also wish he would not print such a stupid word as finest for fairest." (Revise, November 15, 1813.)

The lines, "Where the Citron," etc., are absent from a fair copy dated November 11, but are inserted as an addition in an earlier draft.]
Stanza 1, line 17 "Souls made of fire, and children of the Sun, With whom revenge is virtue." Young's Revenge, act v. sc. 2 (British Theatre, 1792, p. 84).
Stanza 4, line 29 Mejnoun and Leila, the Romeo and Juliet of the East. Sadi, the moral poet of Persia. [For the "story of Leila and Mujnoon," see The Gulistan, or Rose Garden of ... Saadi, translated by Francis Gladwin, Boston, 1865, Tale xix. pp. 288, 289; and Gulistan ... du Cheikh Sa'di ... Traduit par W. Semelet, Paris, 1834, Notes on Chapitre V. p. 304. Sa'di "moralizes" the tale, to the effect that love dwells in the eye of the beholder. See, too, J[a]m[i]'s Medjnoun et Leila, translated by A. L. Chezy, Paris, 1807.]
Stanza 4, line 30 Tambour. Turkish drum, which sounds at sunrise, noon, and twilight. [The "tambour" is a kind of mandoline. It is the large kettle-drum (nagare) which sounds the hours.]
Stanza 6, line 40 The Turks abhor the Arabs (who return the compliment a hundredfold) even more than they hate the Christians.
Stanza 8, line 1 [Lines 170-181 were added in the course of printing. They were received by the publisher on November 22, 1813.]
Stanza 8, line 10 This expression has met with objections. I will not refer to "Him who hath not Music in his soul," but merely request the reader to recollect, for ten seconds, the features of the woman whom he believes to be the most beautiful; and, if he then does not comprehend fully what is feebly expressed in the above line, I shall be sorry for us both. For an eloquent passage in the latest work of the first female writer of this, perhaps of any, age, on the analogy (and the immediate comparison excited by that analogy) between "painting and music," see vol. iii. cap. 10, De l'Allemagne. And is not this connection still stronger with the original than the copy? with the colouring of Nature than of Art? After all, this is rather to be felt than described; still I think there are some who will understand it, at least they would have done had they beheld the countenance whose speaking harmony suggested the idea; for this passage is not drawn from imagination but memory,{A} that mirror which Affliction dashes to the earth, and looking down upon the fragments, only beholds the reflection multiplied!

[For the simile of the broken mirror, compare Childe Harold, Canto III. stanza xxxiii. line 1 (Poetical Works, ii. 236, note 2); and for "the expression," "music breathing from her face," compare Sir Thomas Browne's Religio Medici, Part II. sect, ix., Works, 1835, ii. 106, "And sure there is musick, even in the beauty and the silent note which Cupid strikes, far sweeter than the sound of any instrument;" and Lovelace's "Song," Orpheus to Beasts--

"Oh could you view the melody Of ev'ry grace, And music of her face!"

The effect of the appeal to Madame de Stael is thus recorded in Byron's Journal of December 7, 1813 (Letters, 1898, ii. 369): "This morning, a very pretty billet from the Stael," (for passage in De L'Allemagne, Part III. chap, x., and the "billet," see Letters, ii. 354, note 1) ... "She has been pleased to be pleased with my slight eulogy in the note annexed to The Bride."]

{A} In this line I have not drawn from fiction but memory--that mirror of regret memory--the too faithful mirror of affliction the long vista through which we gaze. Someone has said that the perfection of Architecture is frozen music--the perfection of Beauty to my mind always presented the idea of living Music.--[MS. erased.]
Stanza 10, line 9 Carasman Oglou, or Kara Osman Oglou, is the principal landholder in Turkey; he governs Magnesia: those who, by a kind of feudal tenure, possess land on condition of service, are called Timariots: they serve as Spahis, according to the extent of territory, and bring a certain number into the field, generally cavalry.

[The "line of Carasman" dates back to Kara Youlouk, the founder of the dynasty of the "White Sheep," at the close of the fourteenth century. Hammer-Purgstall (Hist. de l'Emp. Ottoman, iii. 151) gives sang-sue, "blood-sucker," as the equivalent of Youlouk, which should, however, be interpreted "smooth-face." Of the Magnesian Kara Osman Oglou ("Black Osman-son"), Dallaway (Constantinople Ancient and Modern, 1797, p. 190) writes, "He is the most powerful and opulent dere bey ('lord of the valley'), or feudal tenant, in the empire, and, though inferior to the pashas in rank, possesses more wealth and influence, and offers them an example of administration and patriotic government which they have rarely the virtue to follow." For the Timariots, who formed the third class of the feudal cavalry of the Ottoman Empire, see Finlay's Greece under Othoman ... Domination, 1856, pp. 50, 51.]
Stanza 10, line 14 [The Bey Oglou (Begz[=a]de) is "the nobleman," "the high-born chief."]
Stanza 10, line 21 When a Pacha is sufficiently strong to resist, the single messenger, who is always the first bearer of the order for his death, is strangled instead, and sometimes five or six, one after the other, on the same errand, by command of the refractory patient; if, on the contrary, he is weak or loyal, he bows, kisses the Sultan's respectable signature, and is bowstrung with great complacency. In 1810, several of these presents were exhibited in the niche of the Seraglio gate; among others, the head of the Pacha of Bagdat, a brave young man, cut off by treachery, after a desperate resistance.
Stanza 12, line 3 Clapping of the hands calls the servants. The Turks hate a superfluous expenditure of voice, and they have no bells.
Stanza 12, line 4 "Chibouque," the Turkish pipe, of which the amber mouthpiece, and sometimes the ball which contains the leaf, is adorned with precious stones, if in possession of the wealthier orders.
Stanza 12, line 6 "Maugrabee" [Maghrab[=i], Moors], Moorish mercenaries.
Stanza 12, line 7 "Delis," bravos who form the forlorn hope of the cavalry, and always begin the action. [See Childe Harold, Canto II., Poetical Works, 1899, ii. 149, note 1.]
Stanza 12, line 10 [The Kizlar aghasi was the head of the black eunuchs; kislar, by itself, is Turkish for "girls," "virgins."]
Stanza 13, line 8 A twisted fold of felt is used for scimitar practice by the Turks, and few but Mussulman arms can cut through it at a single stroke: sometimes a tough turban is used for the same purpose. The jerreed [jar[=i]d] is a game of blunt javelins, animated and graceful.
Stanza 13, line 11 "Ollahs," Alla il Allah [La il[a]h ill 'll[a]h], the "Leilies," as the Spanish poets call them, the sound is Ollah: a cry of which the Turks, for a silent people, are somewhat profuse, particularly during the jerreed [jar[=i]d], or in the chase, but mostly in battle. Their animation in the field, and gravity in the chamber, with their pipes and comboloios [vide post, p. 181, note 4], form an amusing contrast.
Stanza 14, line 18 "Atar-gul," ottar of roses. The Persian is the finest.
Stanza 14, line 20 The ceiling and wainscots, or rather walls, of the Mussulman apartments are generally painted, in great houses, with one eternal and highly-coloured view of Constantinople, wherein the principal feature is a noble contempt of perspective; below, arms, scimitars, etc., are, in general, fancifully and not inelegantly disposed.
Stanza 14, line 36 It has been much doubted whether the notes of this "Lover of the rose" are sad or merry; and Mr. Fox's remarks on the subject have provoked some learned controversy as to the opinions of the ancients on the subject. I dare not venture a conjecture on the point, though a little inclined to the "errare mallem," etc., if Mr. Fox was mistaken.

[Fox, writing to Grey (see Lord Holland's Preface (p. xii.) to the History ... of James the Second, by ... C. J. Fox, London, 1808), remarks, "In defence of my opinion about the nightingale, I find Chaucer, who of all poets seems to have been the fondest of the singing of birds, calls it a 'merry note,'" etc. Fox's contention was attacked and disproved by Martin Davy (1763-1839, physician and Master of Caius College, Cambridge), in an interesting and scholarly pamphlet entitled, Observations upon Mr. Fox's Letter to Mr. Grey, 1809.]
Stanza 15, line 29 "Azrael," the angel of death.
Stanza 16, line 32 The treasures of the Pre-Adamite Sultans. See D'Herbelot [1781, ii. 405], article Istakar [Estekhar ou Istekhar].
Stanza 16, line 48 "Musselim," a governor, the next in rank after a Pacha; a Waywode is the third; and then come the Agas.

[This table of precedence applies to Ottoman officials in Greece and other dependencies. The Musselim [Mutaselline] is the governor or commander of a city (e.g. Hobhouse, Travels in Albania, ii. 41, speaks of the "Musselim of Smyrna"); Aghas, i.e. heads of departments in the army or civil service, or the Sultan's household, here denote mayors of small towns, or local magnates.]
Stanza 16, line 49 "Egripo," the Negropont. According to the proverb, the Turks of Egripo, the Jews of Salonica, and the Greeks of Athens, are the worst of their respective races.

[See Gibbon's Decline and Fall, 1855, viii. 386.]
Stanza 17, line 67 "Tchocadar"--one of the attendants who precedes a man of authority.

[See D'Ohsson's Tableau Generale, etc., 1787, ii. 159, and Plates 87, 88. The Turks seem to have used the Persian word chawki-d[=a]r, an officer of the guard-house, a policeman (whence our slang word "chokey"), for a "valet de pied," or, in the case of the Sultan, for an apparitor. The French spelling points to D'Ohsson as Byron's authority.]

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