She spake the Oracle,
And senselessly she fell.
They knelt in care beside her,
Her Sister and the King.
They sprinkled her palms with water,
They wetted her nostrils with blood.
She wakes as from a dream,
She asks the uttered Voice,
But when she heard, an anger and a grief
Darkened her wrinkling brow.
“Then let him live in long captivity!”
She answered: but Mohareb’s quickened eye
Perused her sullen countenance
That lied not with the lips.
A miserable man!
What boots it, that, in central caves
The Powers of Evil at his Baptism pledged
The Sacrament of Hell?
His death secures them now.
What boots it that they gave
Abdaldar’s guardian ring,
When thro’ another’s life
The blow may reach his own?
He sought the dungeon cell
Where Thalaba was laid.
’Twas the grey morning twilight, and the voice
Of Thalaba in prayer,
With words of hallowed import, smote
The King’s alarmed sense.
The grating of the heavy hinge
Roused not the Arabian youth;
Nor lifted he his earthward face
At sound of coming feet.
Nor did Mohareb with unholy voice
Disturb the duty: silent, spirit-awed,
Envious, heart-humbled, he beheld
The dungeon-peace of piety
Till Thalaba, the perfect rite performed,
Raised his calm eye; then spake the Island-Chief.
“Arab! my guidance thro’ the dangerous Cave,
“Thy service overpaid,
“An unintended friend in enmity.
“The hand that caught thy ring
“Received and bore me to the scene I sought.
“Now know me grateful. I return
“That amulet, thy only safety here.”
Artful he spake, with show of gratitude
Veiling the selfish deed.
Locked in the magic chain
The powerless hand of Thalaba
Received again the Spell.
Remembering then with what an ominous faith
First he drew on the gem,
The Youth repeats his words of augury;
“In God’s name and the Prophet’s! be its power
“Good, let it serve the holy! if for evil
“God and my faith shall hallow it.
“Blindly the wicked work
“The righteous will of Heaven!”
So Thalaba received again
The written ring of gold.
Thoughtful awhile Mohareb stood
And eyed the captive youth.
Then, building skilfully the sophist speech,
Thus he began. “Brave art thou, Thalaba!
“And wherefore are we foes!... for I would buy
“Thy friendship at a princely price, and make thee
“To thine own welfare wise.
“Hear me! in Nature are two hostile Gods,
“Makers and Masters of existing things,
“Equal in power:... nay hear me patiently!...
“Equal ... for look around thee! the same Earth
“Bears fruit and poison; where the Camel finds
“His fragrant[145] food, the horned Viper there
“Sucks in the juice of death; the Elements
“Now serve the use of man, and now assert
“Dominion o’er his weakness; dost thou hear
“The sound of merriment and nuptial song?
“From the next house proceeds the mourner’s cry
“Lamenting o’er the dead. Sayest thou that Sin
“Entered the world of Allah? that the Fiend
“Permitted for a season, prowls for prey?
“When to thy tent the venomous serpent creeps
“Dost thou not crush the reptile? even so,
“Besure, had Allah crushed his Enemy,
“But that the power was wanting. From the first,
“Eternal as themselves their warfare is,
“To the end it must endure. Evil and Good....
“What are they Thalaba but words? in the strife
“Of Angels, as of men, the weak are guilty;
“Power must decide. The Spirits of the Dead
“Quitting their mortal mansion, enter not,
“As falsely ye are preached, their final seat
“Of bliss, or bale; nor in the sepulchre
“Sleep they the long long sleep: each joins the host
“Of his great Leader, aiding in the war
“Whose fate involves his own.
“Woe to the vanquished then!
“Woe to the sons of man who followed him!
“They with their Leader, thro’ eternity,
“Must howl in central fires.
“Thou Thalaba hast chosen ill thy part,
“If choice it may be called, where will was not,
“Nor searching doubt, nor judgement wise to weigh.
“Hard is the service of the Power beneath
“Whose banners thou wert born; his discipline
“Severe, yea cruel; and his wages, rich
“Only in promise; who has seen the pay?
“For us ... the pleasures of the world are ours,
“Riches and rule, the kingdoms of the Earth.
“We met in Babylon adventurers both,
“Each zealous for the hostile Power he served:
“We meet again; thou feelest what thou art,
“Thou seest what I am, the Sultan here,
“The Lord of Life and Death.
“Abandon him who has abandoned thee,
“And be as I am, great among mankind!”
The Captive did not, hasty to confute
Break of that subtle speech,
But when the expectant silence of the King
Looked for his answer, then spake Thalaba.
“And this then is thy faith! this monstrous creed!
“This lie against the Sun and Moon and Stars
“And Earth and Heaven! blind man who canst not see
“How all things work the best! who wilt not know
“That in the Manhood of the World, whate’er
“Of folly marked its Infancy, of vice
“Sullied its Youth, ripe Wisdom shall cast off,
“Stablished in good, and knowing evil safe.
“Sultan Mohareb, yes, ye have me here
“In chains; but not forsaken, tho’ opprest:
“Cast down, but not destroyed. Shall danger daunt,
“Shall death dismay his soul, whose life is given
“For God and for his brethren of mankind?
“Alike rewarded, in that noble cause,
“The Conquerors and the Martyrs palm above
“Beam with one glory. Hope ye that my blood
“Can quench the dreaded flame? and know ye not
“That leagued against you are the Just and Wise,
“And all Good Actions of all ages past,
“Yea your own Crimes, and Truth, and God in Heaven!”
“Slave!” quoth Mohareb, and his lips
Quivered with eager wrath.
“I have thee! thou shalt feel my power,
“And in thy dungeon loathsomeness
“Rot piece-meal, limb from limb!”
And out the Tyrant rushes,
And all impatient of the thoughts
That cankered in his heart,
Seeks in the giddiness of boisterous sport
Short respite from the avenging power within.
What Woman is she
So wrinkled and old,
That goes to the wood?
She leans on her staff
With a tottering step,
She tells her bead-strings slow
Thro’ fingers dulled by age.
The wanton boys bemock her.
The babe in arms that meets her
Turns round with quick affright
And clings to his nurse’s neck.
Hark! hark! the hunter’s cry
Mohareb gone to the chase!
The dogs with eager yell
Are struggling to be free;
The hawks in frequent stoop
Token their haste for flight;
And couchant on the saddle-bow,
With tranquil eyes and talons sheathed
The ounce expects his liberty.
Propt on the staff that shakes
Beneath her trembling weight,
The Old Woman sees them pass.
Halloa! halloa!
The game is up!
The dogs are loosed
The deer bounds over the plain,
The lagging dogs behind
Follow from afar!
But lo! the Falcon o’er his head.
Hovers with hostile[146] wings,
And buffets him with blinding strokes!
Dizzy with the deafening strokes
In blind and interrupted course,
Poor beast be struggles on;
And now the dogs are nigh!
How his heart pants! you see
The panting of his heart;
And tears like human tears
Roll down, along the big veins, fever-swoln;
And now the death-sweat[147] darkens his dun hide!
His fear, his groans, his agony, his death,
Are the sport and the joy and the triumph!