Page:The Corsair (Byron).djvu/47

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THE CORSAIR.
33

Though to the rest the sober berry's juice,3
The slaves bear round for rigid Moslems' use;
The long Chibouque's4 dissolving cloud supply,
While dance the Almas5 to wild minstrelsy:640
The rising morn will view the chiefs embark;
But waves are somewhat treacherous in the dark:
And revellers may more securely sleep
On silken couch than o'er the rugged deep;
Feast there who can—nor combat till they must,
And less to conquest than to Korans trust;
And yet the numbers crowded in his host
Might warrant more than even the Pacha's boast.


III.

With cautious reverence from the outer gate
Slow stalks the slave, whose office there to wait,650
Bows his bent head—his hand salutes the floor,
Ere yet his tongue the trusted tidings bore:
"A captive Dervise, from the Pirate's nest
Escaped, is here—himself would tell the rest."
He took the sign from Seyd's assenting eye,

And led the holy man in silence nigh.