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CANTO THE SECONDXXV
Escaped from shot, unharm`d by steel,
Or scarcely grazed its force to feel,
Had Selim won, betray`d, beset,
To where the strand and billows met:
There as his last step left the land,
And the last death-blow dealt his hand —
Ah! wherefore did he turn to look
For her his eye but sought in vain?
That pause, that fatal gaze he took,
Hath doom`d his death, or fix`d his chain.
Sad proof, in peril and in pain,
How late will Lover`s hope remain!
His back was to the dashing spray;
Behind, but close, his comrades lay
When, at the instant, hiss`d the ball —
"So may the foes of Giaffir fall!"
Whose voice is heard? whose carbine rang?
Whose bullet through the night-air sang,
Too nearly, deadly aim`d to err?
`Tis thine — Abdallah`s Murderer!
The father slowly rued thy hate,
The son hath found a quicker fate:
Fast from his breast the blood is bubbling,
The whiteness of the sea-foam troubling —
If aught his lips essay`d to groan,
The rushing billows choked the tone!
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