END OF FATALLA SAYEGHIR’S STORY.
NOTE.
It was my intention to have added here a few translations, for the purpose of giving the reader some idea of modern Arabian poetry; but I understand that an able hand, and one more practised than mine, is already employed on the task. A volume, entitled A Miscellany of French and Oriental Literature, by J. Augoub, will appear in a few days.[U] I was acquainted with the author, a young poet of the highest promise, prematurely snatched from his family and his fame. He was born in Egypt, and had been educated in France. The original fragments which he has left behind, and doubtless also these translations, breathe the deep and ardent colouring of his native skies, combined with the purity of French taste. These works, published by his widow, are the only legacy he has bequeathed to his family and his country.
I have inserted in these volumes a few fragments extracted from the publication here announced, assured that they will but stimulate the reader’s desire for a further acquaintance with them.
A. de Lamartine.
15th April, 1835.
MAOULS,
Or Popular Romances of the Modern Arabs; extracted from a Collection entitled, “A Miscellany of French and Oriental Literature,” by J. Augoub.
Now that thy stature, like the young shoot of a palm, is slender and graceful, grant me thy caresses. O my best beloved, let us make use of time as it flies! Close not against love the avenue to thy favour. Believe me, beauty is evanescent; its empire has never yet been prolonged for a mortal.