II The Merry Bard
Zuleikah! The young Agas in the bazaar are slim-waisted and wear yellow slippers. I am old and hideous. One of my eyes is out, and the hairs of my beard are mostly grey. Praise be to Allah! I am a merry bard.
There is a bird upon the terrace of the Emir’s chief wife. Praise be to Allah! He has emeralds on his neck, and a ruby tail. I am a merry bard. He deafens me with his diabolical screaming.
There is a little brown bird in the basket-maker’s cage. Praise be to Allah! He ravishes my soul in the moonlight. I am a merry bard.
The peacock is an Aga, but the little bird is a Bulbul.
I am a little brown Bulbul. Come and listen in the moonlight. Praise be to Allah! I am a merry bard.
III. The Caïque.
Yonder to the kiosk, beside the creek,
Paddle the swift caïque.
Thou brawny oarsman with the sunburnt cheek,
Quick! for it soothes my heart to hear the Bulbul speak!
Ferry me quickly to the Asian shores,
Swift bending to your oars.
Beneath the melancholy sycamores,
Hark! what a ravishing note the lovelorn Bulbul pours.
Behold, the boughs seem quivering with delight,
The stars themselves more bright,
As ’mid the waving branches out of sight
The Lover of the Rose sits singing through the night.
Under the boughs I sat and listened still,
I could not have my fill.
‘How comes,’ I said, ‘such music to his bill?
Tell me for whom he sings so beautiful a trill.’
‘Once I was dumb,’ then did the Bird disclose,
‘But looked upon the Rose;
And in the garden where the loved one grows,
I straightway did begin sweet music to compose.’
‘O bird of song, there’s one in this caïque
The Rose would also seek,
So he might learn like you to love and speak.’
Then answered me the bird of dusky beak,
‘The Rose, the Rose of Love blushes on Leilah’s cheek.’
The Almack’s Adieu
(‘Wapping Old Stairs’)
Your Fanny was never false-hearted,
And this she protests and she vows,
From the triste moment when we parted
On the staircase at Devonshire House!
I blushed when you asked me to marry,
I vowed I would never forget;
And at parting I gave my dear Harry
A beautiful vinegarette!
We spent en province all December,
And I ne’er condescended to look
At Sir Charles, or the rich county member,
Or even at that darling old Duke.
You were busy with dogs and with horses,
Alone in my chamber I sat,
And made you the nicest of purses,
And the smartest black satin cravat!
At night with that vile Lady Frances
(Je faisais moi tapisserie)
You danced every one of the dances,
And never once thought of poor me!
Mon pauvre petit cœur! what a shiver
I felt as she danced the last set,
And you gave, ô mon Dieu! to revive her,
My beautiful vinegarette!
Return, love! away with coquetting;
This flirting disgraces a man!
And ah! all the while you’re forgetting
The heart of your poor little Fan!
Reviens! break away from these Circes,
Reviens for a nice little chat;
And I’ve made you the sweetest of purses,
And a lovely black satin cravat!
The Knightly Guerdon
(‘Wapping Old Stairs’)
Untrue to my Ulric I never could be,
I vow by the saints and the blessed Marie.
Since the desolate hour when we stood by the shore,
And your dark galley waited to carry you o’er,
My faith then I plighted, my love I confessed,
As I gave you the Battle-axe marked with your Crest.
When the bold barons met in my father’s old hall,
Was not Edith the flower of the banquet and ball?
In the festival hour, on the lips of your bride,
Was there ever a smile save with THEE at my side?
Alone in my turret I loved to sit best,
To blazon your BANNER and broider your crest.
The knights were assembled, the tourney was gay!
Sir Ulric rode first in the warrior-mêlée.
In the dire battle-hour, when the tourney was done,
And you gave to another the wreath you had won!
Though I never reproached thee, cold, cold was my breast,
As I thought of that Battle-axe, ah! and that crest!
But away with remembrance, no more will I pine
That others usurped for a time what was mine!
There’s a FESTIVAL HOUR for my Ulric and me;
Once more, as of old, shall he bend at my knee;
Once more by the side of the knight I love best
Shall I blazon his BANNER and broider his CREST.