ZAIDE'S DESOLATION

It was the hour when Titan from Aurora's couch awoke,

And on the world her radiant face in wonted beauty broke,

When a Moor came by in sad array, and Zaide was his name.

Disguised, because his heart was sad with love's consuming flame;

No shield he bore, he couched no lance, he rode no warrior steed;

No plume nor mantle he assumed, motto or blazon screed;

Still on the flank of his mantle blank one word was written plain,

In the Moorish of the people, "I languish through disdain."

A flimsy cape his shoulders clad, for, when the garb is poor,