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CANTO THE FIRSTIII
"Let the chamber be clear`d." — The train disappear`d —
"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 wait
Are pass`d beyond the outer gate,
(Woe to the head whose eye beheld
My child Zuleika`s face unveil`d!)
Hence, lead my daughter from her tower:
Her fate is fix`d 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 look`d, 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 chide
My 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 alone
The fairest scenes of land and deep,
With none to listen and reply
To thoughts with which my heart beat high
Were irksome — for whate`er my mood,
In sooth I love not solitude;
I on Zuleika`s slumber broke,
And as thou knowest that for me
Soon turns the Haram`s grating key,
Before the guardian slaves awoke
We to the cypress groves had flown,
And made earth, main, and heaven our own!
There linger`d we, beguil`d too long
With Mejnoun`s tale, or Sadi`s song,
Till I, who heard the deep tambour
Beat thy Divan`s approaching hour,
To thee, and to my duty true,
Warn`d by the sound, to greet thee flew:
But there Zuleika wanders yet —
Nay, father, rage not — nor forget
That none can pierce that secret bower
But those who watch the women`s tower."
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