144
THE GIAOUR.
But he is dead! within the dell
I saw him buried where he fell;
He comes not—for he cannot break
From earth;—why then art thou awake?
They told me wild waves rolled above
The face I view—the form I love;
They told me—'twas a hideous tale!—
I'd tell it, but my tongue would fail:
If true, and from thine ocean-cave1310
Thou com'st to claim a calmer grave,
Oh! pass thy dewy fingers o'er
This brow that then will burn no more;
Or place them on my hopeless heart:
But, Shape or Shade! whate'er thou art,
In mercy ne'er again depart!
Or farther with thee bear my soul
Than winds can waft or waters roll!
*****
"Such is my name, and such my tale.
Confessor! to thy secret ear1320
I breathe the sorrows I bewail.
And thank thee for the generous tear
This glazing eye could never shed.
Then lay me with the humblest dead,[lower-roman 1]
And, save the cross above my head,
Be neither name nor emblem spread.
By prying stranger to be read,
Or stay the passing pilgrim's tread."[decimal 1]
I saw him buried where he fell;
He comes not—for he cannot break
From earth;—why then art thou awake?
They told me wild waves rolled above
The face I view—the form I love;
They told me—'twas a hideous tale!—
I'd tell it, but my tongue would fail:
If true, and from thine ocean-cave1310
Thou com'st to claim a calmer grave,
Oh! pass thy dewy fingers o'er
This brow that then will burn no more;
Or place them on my hopeless heart:
But, Shape or Shade! whate'er thou art,
In mercy ne'er again depart!
Or farther with thee bear my soul
Than winds can waft or waters roll!
*****
"Such is my name, and such my tale.
Confessor! to thy secret ear1320
I breathe the sorrows I bewail.
And thank thee for the generous tear
This glazing eye could never shed.
Then lay me with the humblest dead,[lower-roman 1]
And, save the cross above my head,
Be neither name nor emblem spread.
By prying stranger to be read,
Or stay the passing pilgrim's tread."[decimal 1]
Variants
- ↑ Then lay me with the nameless dead.—[MS.]
Notes
- ↑ The circumstance to which the above story relates was not very uncommon in Turkey. A few years ago the wife of Muchtar Pacha complained to his father of his son's supposed infidelity; he asked
