Whose iron-coast a frozen girdle clasps,

Came Islam’s foes, and this rich city grand

Is the creation of the Infidel—

The haughty lords of radiant Indian land—

A tale most sad for Moslem lips to tell!”

A hundred years had fled since he had chased

The spirit-bird, swift as a dream effaced;

And that sweet warbler was a sainted sprite,

Sent from its rest, to lead so good a man

To Christian light—for so the legend ran