CANTO THE SECOND XIV |
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CANTO THE SECONDXIV
"When Paswan, after years of strife,
At last for power, but first for life,
In Widdin`s walls too proudly sate,
Our Pachas rallied round the state;
Nor last nor least in high command,
Each brother led a separate band;
They gave their horse-tails to the wind,
And mustering in Sophia`s plain
Their tents were pitch`d, their posts assign`d;
To one, alas! assign`d in vain!
What need of words? the deadly bowl,
By Giaffir`s order drugg`d and given,
With venom subtle as his soul,
Dismiss`d Abdallah`s hence to heaven.
Reclined and feverish in the bath,
He, when the hunter`s sport was up,
But little deem`d a brother`s wrath
To quench his thirst had such a cup:
The bowl a bribed attendant bore;
He drank one draught, and nor needed more!
If thou my tale, Zuleika, doubt,
Call Haroun — he can tell it out.
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