Together, where the cypress grows,
Place the red tulip and the rose;
And let the long dissever’d meet—
Two lovers, in communion sweet.”
THE MEETING IN THE DESERT.
Then with her faithful attendant she went cautiously forth, and together they threaded their way over the desolate sand and through the grove of palms; but she stayed not to gather the lilies blooming around her feet—she waited not to catch the breath of the roses, or to drink of the tiny stream, whose life-giving waves had made this little oasis to bloom like a garden in the midst of the desert. But she hastened on her way, and the boy ran by her side wondering why she sped so quickly through the grove. On, beyond its cooling shade and over the barren steepes, she pressed with unfaltering feet until she saw the haggard form of her lover; then she stepped gently to his side and laid her hand upon his arm. “Ah! Majnūn, it is thy Lailī that has come;” his mind awoke with one glad cry, for the familiar voice with its caressing tones rang with the notes of peace and joy through the darkened chambers of his brain. For one glad moment he held her in his arms, and then, overcome with emotion, he fainted at her feet. She quickly knelt beside him, and then
“His head which in the dust was laid
Upon her lap she drew, and dried
His tears with tender hand and pressed
Him close and closer to her breast;