Surviving left his quenchless hate;

And o'er him bends that foe with brow

As dark as his that bled below.

• The flowered shawls generally worn by persons of rank.

540

545

"Her spirit pointed well the steel
"Which taught that felon heart to feel.
"He call'd the Prophet, but his power
"Was vain against the vengeful Giaour:
"He call'd on Alla-but the word

"Arose unheeded or unheard.

"Thou Paynim fool!-could Leila's prayer

"Be pass'd, and thine accorded there?

"I watch'd my time, I leagu'd with these,

550

"The traitor in his turn to seize;

555

"My wrath is wreak'd, the deed is done,

A turban carv'd in coarsest stone,

A pillar with rank weeds o'ergrown,

Whereon can now be scarcely read

The Koran verse that mourns the dead;

560

* The turban-pillar-and inscriptive verse, decorate the tombs of the Osmanlies, whether in the cimetery or the wilderness. In the mountains you frequently pass similar mementos; and on enquiry you are informed that they record some victim of rebellion, plunder, or revenge.

They come their kerchiefs green they wave †,
And welcome with a kiss the brave!

*"Alla Hu!" the concluding words of the Muezzin's call to prayer from the highest gallery on the exterior of the Minaret. On a still evening, when the Muezzin has a fine voice (which they frequently have) the effect is solemn and beautiful beyond all the bells in Christendom.

+ The following is part of a battle song of the Turks :-" I see-1

But thou, false Infidel! shalt writhe
Beneath avenging Monkir's scythe;
And from its torment 'scape alone

To wander round lost Eblis' + throne;
And fire unquench'd, unquenchable—
Around-within-thy heart shall dwell,
Nor ear can hear, nor tongue can tell
The tortures of that inward hell!-

585

see a dark-eyed girl of Paradise, and she waves a handkerchief, a "kerchief of green; and cries aloud, Come, kiss me, for I love thee," &c.

* Monkir and Nekir are the inquisitors of the dead, before whom the corpse undergoes a slight noviciate and preparatory training for damnation. If the answers are none of the clearest, he is hauled up with a scythe and thumped down with a red hot mace till properly seasoned, with a variety of subsidiary probations. The office of these angels is no sinecure; there are but two; and the number of orthodox deceased being in a small proportion to the remainder, their hands are always full.

+ Eblis the Oriental Prince of Darkness.

D

But first, on earth as Vampire * sent,
Thy corse shall from its tomb be rent;
Then ghastly haunt thy native place,
And suck the blood of all thy race,
There from thy daughter, sister, wife,
At midnight drain the stream of life;
Yet loathe the banquet which perforce
Must feed thy livid living corse;
Thy victims ere they yet expire

Shall know the dæmon for their sire,
As cursing thee, thou cursing them,

Thy flowers are wither'd on the stem.
But one that for thy crime must fall-
The youngest-most belov'd of all,
Shall bless thee with a father's name—

That word shall wrap thy heart in flame!

590

595

600

605

* The Vampire superstition is still general in the Levant. Honest Tournefort tells a long story, which Mr. Southey, in the notes on Thalaba, quotes about these "Vroucolochas," as he calls them. The Romaic term is "Vardoulacha," which the worthy old traveller has thus transposed. I recollect a whole family being terrified by the scream of a child, which they imagined must proceed from such a visitation. The Greeks never mention the word without horror.