Thy shadow scarce seems shade, thy pattering leaflets Sprinkle their gathered sunshine o'er my senses, And Nature gives me all her summer confidences.
Whether my heart with hope or sorrow tremble, Thou sympathisest still; wild and unquiet, I fling me down; thy ripple, like a river, Flows valleyward, where calmness is, and by it My heart is floated down into the land of quiet.
ONE day Shah Mahmúd, riding with the Wind A-hunting, left his Retinue behind,
And coming to a River, whose swift Course Doubled back Game and Dog, and Man and Horse,
Beheld upon the Shore a little Lad
A-fishing, very poor, and Tatter-clad
He was, and weeping as his Heart would break. So the Great Sultan, for good humor's sake Pull'd in his Horse a moment, and drew nigh, And after making his Salám, ask'd why He wept-weeping, the Sultan said, so sore As he had never seen one weep before. The Boy look'd up, and "Oh Amír,” he said, "Sev'n of us are at home, and Father dead, And Mother left with scarce a Bit of Bread:
And now since Sunrise have I fisi — and see! Caught nothing for our Supper- Woe is Me!” The Sultan lighted from his Horse. “Behold.”
Said he, * Good Fortune will not be control 2: And, since To-day yours seems 10 turn from you, Suppose we try for once what mine will do, And we will share alike in all I win.“
So the Shah took, and flung his Fortune in. The Net: which, cast by the Great Mahmud's Hand, A hundred glittering Fishes brought & Land. The Lad look & up in Wonder- Malmud smled And varied inte Saddit. But the Châc Lar after-Nay, Amiz, but half the Ear Is yours by Bargain"-"Nay. Today take " The Sultar cried, and shook has Bridle free “But mind — Te-morrow 4 belongs to Me And so rode of. Next morning at Divan The Sultar's Mind upon his Bargain ran, And being somewhat in a mind for sport Sent for the Lad: who carried up 1 COLL And marving me Royalty's full Blaze With such & Carer of Fish as yesterday's. The Suitar called and set him by his sid And asking him. What Luck?" The Boy renhed. This is the Luck that follows every Casi, Since c'er my Net the Sultan's Shadow pass"à.”
When Yusif from his Father's House was 12h. En Father's Heart was rely fociar. And. Like & Pipe with but one note, his Tongue With nothing but the name of Tusid ring.
Then down from Heaven's Branches came the Bird Of Heaven, and said “God wearies of that Word. Hast thou not else to do, and else to say?"
So Yacúb's lips were sealèd from that Day. But one Night in a Vision, far away
His darling in some alien Home he saw,
And stretch'd his arms forth; and between the Awe Of God's Displeasure, and the bitter Pass
Of Love and Anguish, sigh'd forth an Alas! And stopp'd-But when he woke the angel came, And said, 'Oh, faint of purpose! Though the Name Of that Beloved were not utter'd by
Thy Lips it hung sequester'd in that Sigh.'
THE SHAH AND THE STOKER.
One night Shah Mahmúd who had been of late Somewhat distemper'd with Affairs of State Stroll'd through the Streets disguised, as wont to do- And, coming to the Baths, there on the Flue Saw the poor Fellow who the Furnace fed Sitting beside his Water-jug and Bread. Mahmud stept in- sat down unask'd took up And tasted of the untasted Loaf and Cup, Saying within himself, "Grudge but a bit, And, by the Lord, your Head shall pay for it!" So having rested, warm'd and satisfied. Himself without a Word on either side, At last the wayward Sultan rose to go. And then at last his Host broke silence Art satisfied? Well, Brother, any Day Or Night, remember, when you come this Way And want a bit of Provender- why, you
Are welcome, and if not why, welcome too." The Sultan was so tickled with the whim Of this quaint Entertainment and of him Who offer'd it, that many a Night again Stoker and Shah forgather'd in that Vein- Till, the poor Fellow having stood the Test Of true Good-fellowship, Mahmud confess'd One Night the Sultan that had been his Guest: And in requital of the Scanty Dole The Poor Man offer'd with so large a soul, Bid him ask any Largess that he would-
A Throne - if he would have it, so he should.
The Poor Man kiss'd the Dust, and "All," said he, “I ask is what and where I am to be;
If but the Shah from time to time will come
As now and see me in the lowly Home His presence makes a palace, and my own Poor Flue more royal than another's Throne."
FANCY thou not, though weary, as if won The Journey's End when only just begun; For not a Mountain Peak with Toil attain'd But shows a Top yet higher to be gain'd. Wherefore still Forward, Forward!
WHEN Israel, of the Lord beloved, Out of the land of bondage came, Her fathers' God before her moved,
An awful guide, in smoke and flame. By day, along the astonished lands The cloudy pillar glided slow; By night, Arabia's crimsoned sands Returned the fiery column's glow.
There rose the choral hymn of praise, And trump and timbrel answered keen, And Zion's daughters poured their lays, With priest's and warrior's voice between. No portents now our foes amaze,
Forsaken Israel wanders lone:
Our fathers would not know Thy ways, And Thou hast left them to their own.
But, present still, though now unseen, When brightly shines the prosperous day, Be thoughts of Thee a cloudy screen To temper the deceitful ray.
And oh, when stoops on Judah's path In shade and storm the frequent night, Be thou, long-suffering, slow to wrath, A burning and a shining light!
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