Thalaba the Destroyer/Volume 1/Book 1

by Robert Southey

The First Book.

 

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. . Worse and worse, young Orphane, be thy payne,
If ** thou due vengeance doe forbeare,
Till guiltie blood her guerdon do obtayne.
Faery Queen, B. 2. Can. 1. 

 

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THALABA THE DESTROYER.

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THE FIRST BOOK.

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How beautiful is night!
A dewy freshness fills the silent air,
No mist obscures, nor cloud, nor speck, nor stain,
Breaks the serene of heaven:
In full-orb’d glory yonder Moon divine
Rolls through the dark blue depths.
Beneath her steady ray
The desert-circle spreads,
Like the round ocean, girdled with the sky.
How beautiful is night!

Who at this untimely hour
Wanders o’er the desert sands?
No station is in view,
Nor palm-grove islanded amid the waste.
The mother and her child,
The widowed mother and the fatherless boy,
They at this untimely hour
Wander o’er the desert sands.

Alas! the setting sun
Saw Zeinab in her bliss,
Hodeirah’s wife belov’d.
Alas! the wife belov’d,
The fruitful mother late,
Whom when the daughters of Arabia nam’d,
They wished their lot like her’s;
She wanders o’er the desert sands
A wretched widow now,
The fruitful mother of so fair a race,
With only one preserv’d,
She wanders o’er the wilderness.

No tear reliev’d the burthen of her heart;
Stunn’d with the heavy woe, she felt like one
Half-waken’d from a midnight dream of blood.
But sometimes when the boy
Would wet her hand with tears,
And, looking up to her fix’d countenance,
Sob out the name of Mother, then did she
Utter a feeble groan.
At length collecting, Zeinab turn’d her eyes
To heaven, exclaiming, “Praised be the Lord!
“He gave, he takes away!
“The Lord our God is good!”

“Good is he!” cried the boy,
“Why are my brethren and my sisters slain?
“Why is my father kill’d?
“Did ever we neglect our prayers,
“Or ever lift a hand unclean to heaven?
“Did ever stranger from our tent
“Unwelcom’d turn away?
“Mother, he is not good!”

Then Zeinab beat her breast in agony;
“O God forgive my child!
“He knows not what he says!
“Thou know’st I did not teach him thoughts like these,
“O Prophet, pardon him!”

She had not wept till that assuaging prayer,..
The fountains of her eyes were open’d then,
And tears relieved her heart.
She rais’d her swimming eyes to Heaven,
“Allah, thy will be done!
“Beneath the dispensation of thy wrath
“I groan, but murmur not.
“A day will come when all things that are dark
“Will be made clear;.. then shall I know, O Lord,
“Why in thy mercy thou hast stricken me!
“Then see and understand what now
“My heart believes and feels!”

Young Thalaba in silence heard reproof,
His brow in manly frowns was knit,
With manly thoughts his heart was full.
“Tell me who slew my father?” cried the boy.
Zeinab replied and said,
“I knew not that there liv’d thy father’s foe.
“The blessings of the poor for him
“Went daily up to Heaven,
“In distant lands the traveller told his praise;..
“I did not think there liv’d
“Hodeirah’s enemy.”

“But I will hunt him through the earth!”
Young Thalaba exclaim’d.
“Already I can bend my father’s bow,
“Soon will my arm have strength
“To drive the arrow-feathers to his heart.”

Zeinab replied, “O Thalaba, my child,
“Thou lookest on to distant days,
“And we are in the desert, far from men!”

Not till that moment her afflicted heart
Had leisure for the thought.
She cast her eyes around,
Alas! no tents were there
Beside the bending sands;
No palm tree rose to spot the wilderness.
The dark blue sky clos’d round,
And rested like a dome
Upon the circling waste.
She cast her eyes around,
Famine and Thirst were there..
The Mother bowed her head,
And wept upon her child.

A sudden cry of wonder
From Thalaba arous’d her;
She rais’d her head, and saw
Where high in air a stately palace rose.
Amid a grove embower’d
Stood the prodigious pile;
Trees of such ancient majesty
Tower’d not on Yemen’s happy hills,
Nor crown’d the stately brow of Lebanon.
Fabric so vast, so lavishly enrich’d,
For Idol, or for Tyrant, never yet
Rais’d the slave race of man,
In Rome, nor in the elder Babylon,
Nor old Persepolis,
Nor where the family of Greece
Hymn’d Eleutherian Jove.
Here studding azure tablatures
And ray’d with feeble light,
Star-like the ruby and the diamond shone:
Here on the golden towers
The yellow moon-beam lay,
Here with white splendour floods the silver wall.
Less wonderous pile and less magnificent
Sennamar built at Hirah, though his art
Seal’d with one stone the ample edifice,
And made its colours, like the serpent’s skin,
Play with a changeful beauty: him, its Lord,
Jealous lest after effort might surpass
The now unequall’d palace, from its height
Dash’d on the pavement down.

They enter’d, and through aromatic paths
Wondering they went along.
At length, upon a mossy bank,
Beneath a tall mimosa’s shade,
Which o’er him bent its living canopy,
They saw a man reclin’d.
Young he appear’d, for on his cheek there shone
The morning glow of health,
And the brown beard curl’d close around his chin.
He slept, but at the sound
Of coming feet awaking, fix’d his eyes
In wonder, on the wanderer and her child.
“Forgive us,” Zeinab cried,
“Distress hath made us bold.
“Relieve the widow and the fatherless!
“Blessed are they who succour the distrest;
“For them hath God appointed Paradise.”

He heard, and he look’d up to heaven,
And tears ran down his cheeks:
“It is a human voice!
“I thank thee, O my God! …
“How many an age hath past
“Since the sweet sounds have visited my ear!
“I thank thee, O my God,
“It is a human voice!”

To Zeinab turning then he cried,
“O mortal, who art thou
“Whose gifted eyes have pierced
“The shadow of concealment that hath wrapt
“These bowers, so many an age,
“From eye of mortal man?
“For countless years have past,
“And never foot of man
“The bowers of Irem trod,..
“Save only I, a miserable wretch
“From Heaven and Earth shut out!”

Fearless, and scarce surpriz’d,
For grief in Zeinab’s soul
All other feebler feelings overpower’d,
She answer’d, “Yesterday
“I was a wife belov’d,
“The fruitful mother of a numeroos race.
“I am a widow now,
“Of all my offspring this alone is left.
“Praise to the Lord our God,
“He gave, he takes away!”

Then said the stranger, “Not by Heaven unseen,
“Nor in unguided wanderings hast thou reach’d
“This secret place, be sure!
“Nor for light purpose is the Veil,
“That from the Universe hath long shut out
“These ancient bowers, withdrawn.
“Hear thou my words, O mortal, in thy heart
“Treasure what I shall tell;
“And when amid the world
“Thou shalt emerge again,
“Repeat the warning tale.
“Why have the Fathers suffer’d, but to make
“The Children wisely safe?

“The Paradise of Irem this,
“And that the palace pile
“Which Shedad built, the King.
“Alas! in the days of my youth
“The hum of the populous world
“Was heard in yon wilderness waste!
“O’er all the winding sands
“The tents of Ad were pitch’d;
“Happy Al-Ahkaf then,
“For many and brave were her sons,
“Her daughters were many and fair.
“My name was Aswad then..
“Alas! alas! how strange
“The sound so long unheard!
“Of noble race I came,
“One of the wealthy of the earth my sire.
“An hundred horses in my father’s stalls
“Stood ready for his will;
“Numerous his robes of silk,
“The number of his camels was not known.
“These were my heritance,
“O God! thy gifts were these;
“But better had it been for Aswad’s soul
“Had he ask’d alms on earth,
“And begg’d the crumbs which from his table fell,
“So he had known thy word.

“Boy, who hast reach’d my solitude,
“Fear the Lord in the days of thy youth!
“My knee was never taught
“To bend before my God;
“My voice was never taught
“To shape one holy prayer.
“We worshipp’d Idols, wood and stone,
“The work of our own foolish hands;
“We worshipp’d in our foolishness.
“Vainly the Prophet’s voice
“Its frequent warning rais’d,
“Repent, and be forgiven!”…
“We mock’d the messenger of God,
“We mock’d the Lord, long-suffering, slow to wrath.

“A mighty work the pride of Shedad plann’d,
“Here in the wilderness to form
“A garden more surpassing fair
“Than that, before whose gate
“The lightning of the Cherub’s fiery sword
“Waves wide to bar access,
“Since Adam, the transgressor, thence was driven.
“Here too would Shedad build
“A kingly pile sublime,
“The palace of his pride.
“For this exhausted mines
“Supplied their golden store,
“For this the central caverns gave their gems;
“For this the woodman’s axe
“Open’d the cedar forest to the sun;
“The silkworm of the East
“Spun her sepulchral egg;
“The hunter African
“Provok’d the danger of the elephant’s wrath;
“The Ethiop, keen of scent,
“Detects the ebony,
“That deep-inearth’d, and hating light,
“A leafless tree and barren of all fruit,
“With darkness feeds her boughs of raven grain.
“Such were the treasures lavished in yon pile;
“Ages have past away,
“And never mortal eye
“Gaz’d on their vanity.

“The garden,.. copious springs
“Blest that delightful spot,
“And every flower was planted there
“That makes the gale of evening sweet.
“He spake, and bade the full-grown forest rise
“His own creation; should the King
“Wait for slow Nature’s work?
“All trees that bend with luscious fruit,
“Or wave with feathery boughs,
“Or point their spiring heads to heaven,
“Or spreading wide their shadowy arms,
“Invite the traveller to repose at noon,..
“Hither, uprooted with their native soil,
“The labour and the pain of multitudes,
“Mature in beauty, bore them.
“Here, frequent in the walks
“The marble statue stood
“Of heroes and of chiefs.
“The trees and flowers remain,
“By Nature’s care perpetuate and self-sown.
“The marble statues long have lost all trace
“Of heroes and of chiefs;
“Huge shapeless stones they lie,
“O’er-grown with many a flower.

“The work of pride went on..
“Often the Prophet’s voice
“Denounced impending woe..
“We mock’d at the words of the Seer.
“We mock’d at the wrath of the Lord.
“A long continued drought first troubled us;
“Three years no cloud had form’d,
“Three years no rain had fallen;
“The wholesome herb was dry,
“The corn matur’d not for the food of man,
“The wells and fountains fail’d.
“O hard of heart, in whom the punishment
“Awoke no sense of guilt!
“Headstrong to ruin, obstinately blind,
“We to our Idols still applied for aid;
“Sakia we invok’d for rain,
“We called on Razeka for food..
“They did not hear our prayers, they could not hear!
“No cloud appear’d in Heaven,
“No nightly dews came down.

“Then to the place of concourse messengers
“Were sent, to Mecca, where the nations came,
“Round the Red Hillock kneeling, to implore
“God in his favour’d place.
“We sent to call on God;
“Ah fools! unthinking that from all the earth
“The heart ascends to him.
“We sent to call on God;
“Ah fools! to think the Lord
“Would hear their prayers abroad,
“Who made no prayers at home!

“Meantime the work of pride went on,
“And still before our Idols, wood and stone,
“We bow’d the impious knee.
“Turn men of Ad, and call upon the Lord,”
The Prophet Houd exclaim’d.
“Turn, men of Ad, and look to Heaven,
“And fly the wrath to come.”—
“We mock’d the Prophet’s words;..
“Now dost thou dream, old man,
“Or art thou drunk with wine?
“Future woe and wrath to come,
“Still thy prudent voice forebodes;
“When it comes will we believe,
“Till it comes will we go on
“In the way our fathers went.
“Now are thy words from God?
“Or dost thou dream, old man,
“Or art thou drunk with wine?”

So spake the stubborn race,
“The unbelieving ones.
“I too, of stubborn unbelieving heart,
“Heard him, and heeded not.
“It chanced my father went the way of man,
“He perish’d in his sins.
“The funeral rites were duly paid,
“We bound a camel to his grave,
“And left it there to die,
“So if the resurrection came
“Together they might rise.
“I past my father’s grave,
“I heard the Camel moan.
“She was his favourite beast,
“One who had carried me in infancy,
“The first that by myself I learnt to mount.
“Her limbs were lean with famine, and her eyes
“Look’d ghastlily with want.
“She knew me as I past,
“She star’d me in the face.
“My heart was touch’d, had it been human else?
“I thought no eye was near, and broke her bonds,
“And drove her forth to liberty and life.
“The Prophet Houd beheld,
“He lifted up his voice,
“Blessed art thou, young man,
“Blessed art thou, O Aswad, for the deed!
“In the day of visitation,
“In the fearful hour of judgment,
“God will remember thee!”

“The day of visitation was at hand,
“The fearful hour of judgment hastened on.
“Lo Shedad’s mighty pile complete,
“The palace of his pride.
“Would ye behold its wonders, enter in!
“I have no heart to visit it!
“Time hath not harm’d the eternal monument;
“Time is not here, nor days, nor months, nor years,
“An everlasting now of misery!..
“Ye must have heard their fame,
“Or likely ye have seen
“The mighty Pyramids,..
“For sore those mighty piles shall overlive
“The feeble generations of mankind.
“What though unmov’d they bore the deluge weight,
“Survivors of the ruined world?
“What though their founder fill’d with miracles
“And wealth miraculous their ample vaults?
“Compar’d with yonder fabric, and they shrink
“The baby wonders of a woman’s work!
“Here emerald columns o’er the marble courts
“Fling their green rays, as when amid a shower
“The sun shines loveliest on the vernal corn.
“Here Shedad bade the sapphire floor be laid,
“As though with feet divine
“To trample azure light,
“Like the blue pavement of the firmament.
“Here self-suspended hangs in air,
“As its pure substance loath’d material touch,
“The living carbuncle;
“Sun of the lofty dome,
“Darkness hath no dominion o’er its beams;
“Intense it glows, an ever-flowing tide
“Of glory, like the day-flood in its source.
“Impious! the Trees of vegetable gold,
“Such as in Eden’s groves
“Yet innocent it grew;
“Impious! he made his boast, though heaven had hid
“So deep the baneful ore,
“That they should branch and bud for him,
“That art should force their blossoms and their fruit,
“And re-create for him whate’er
“Was lost in Paradise.
“Therefore at Shedad’s voice
“Here towered the palm, a silver trunk,
“The fine gold net-work growing out
“Loose from its rugged boughs.
“Tall as the Cedar of the mountain, here
“Rose the gold branches, hung with emerald leaves,
“Blossom’d with pearls, and rich with ruby fruit.
“O Ad! my country! evil was the day
“That thy unhappy sons
“Crouch’d at this Nimrod’s throne,
“And placed him on the pedestal of power,
“And laid their liberties beneath his feet,
“Robbing their children of the heritance
“Their fathers handed down.
“What was to him the squander’d wealth?
“What was to him the burthen of the land,
“The lavished misery?
“He did but speak his will,
“And, like the blasting Siroc of the East,
“The ruin of the royal voice
“Found its way every-where.
“I marvel not that he, whose power
“No earthly law, no human feeling curb’d,
“Mock’d at the living God!

“And new the King’s command went forth
“Among the people, bidding old and young,
“Husband and wife, the master and the slave,
“All the collected multitudes of Ad,
“Here to repair, and hold high festival,
“That he might see his people, they behold
“Their King’s magnificence and power.
“The day of festival arriv’d;
“Hither they came, the old man and the boy,
“Husband and wife, the master and the slave,
“Hither they came. From yonder high tower top,
“The loftiest of the Palace, Shedad look’d
“Down on his tribe: their tents on yonder sands
“Rose like the countless billows of the sea;
“Their tread and voices like the ocean roar,
“One deep confusion of tumultuous sounds.
“They saw their King’s magnificence; beheld
“His Palace sparkling like the Angel domes
“Of Paradise; his garden like the bowers
“Of early Eden, and they shouted out,
“Great is the King, a God upon the earth!

“Intoxicate with joy and pride,
“He heard their blasphemies;
“And in his wantonness of heart he bade
“The Prophet Houd be brought;
“And o’er the marble courts,
“And o’er the gorgeous rooms
“Glittering with gems and gold,
“He led the Man of God.
“Is not this a stately pile?”
Cried the Monarch in his joy.
“Hath ever eye beheld,
“Hath ever thought conceiv’d,
“Place more magnificent?
“Houd, they say that Heaven imparted
“To thy lips the words of wisdom!
“Look at the riches round,
“And value them aright,
“If so thy wisdom can.”

“The Prophet heard his vaunt,
“And he answer’d him, with an aweful smile,
“O Shedad! only in the hour of death
“We learn to value things like these aright.”

“Hast thou a fault to find
“In all thine eyes have seen?”
“Again the King exclaim’d.
“Yea!” said the man of God;
“The walls are weak, the building ill secur’d.
“Azrael can enter in!
“The Sarsar can pierce through,
“The Icy Wind of Death.”

“I was beside the Monarch when he spake..
“Gentle the Prophet spake,
“But in his eye there dwelt
“A sorrow that disturb’d me while I gaz’d.
“The countenance of Shedad fell,
“And anger sat upon his paler lips.
“He to the high tower-top the Prophet led,
“And pointed to the multitude,
“And as again they shouted out,
“Great is the King! a God upon the Earth!”
“With dark and threatful smile to Houd he turn’d,..
“Say they aright, O Prophet? is the King
“Great upon earth, a God among mankind?”
“The Prophet answer’d not,
“Over that infinite multitude
“He roll’d his ominous eyes,
“And tears which could not be supprest gush’d forth.

“Sudden an uproar rose,
“A cry of joy below,
“The Messenger is come!
“Kail from Mecca comes,
“He brings the boon obtain’d!”

“Forth as we went we saw where overhead
“There hung a deep black cloud,
“On which the multitude
“With joyful eyes look’d up,
“And blest the coming rain.
“The Messenger addrest the King
“And told his tale of joy.
“To Mecca I repair’d,
“By the Red Hillock knelt,
“And call’d on God for rain.
“My prayer ascended and was heard;
“Three clouds appear’d in heaven.
“One white, and like the flying cloud of noon,
“One red, as it had drunk the evening beams,
“One black and heavy with its load of rain.
“A voice went forth from heaven,
“Chuse, Kail, of the three!”
“I thank’d the gracious Power,
“And chose the black cloud, heavy with its wealth.”
“Right! right! a thousand tongues exclaim’d,
“And all was merriment and joy.

“Then stood the Prophet up and cried aloud,
“Woe, woe to Irem! woe to Ad!
“Death is gone up into her palaces!
“Woe! woe! a day of guilt and punishment,
“A day of desolation!”
“As he spake,
“His large eye roll’d in horror, and so deep
“His tone, it seem’d some Spirit from within
“Breath’d thro’ his moveless lips the unearthly voice.
“All looks were turn’d to him. “O Ad!” he cried,
“Dear native land, by all remembrances
“Of childhood, by all joys of manhood dear;
“O Vale of many Waters! morn and night
“My age must groan for you, and to the grave
“Go down in sorrow. Thou wilt give thy fruits,
“But who shall gather them? thy grapes will ripen,
“But who shall tread the wine-press? Fly the wrath,
“Ye who would live and save your souls alive!
“For strong is his right hand that bends the Bow,
“The Arrows that he shoots are sharp,
“And err not from their aim!”

“With that a faithful few
“Prest through the throng to join him. Then arose
“Mockery and mirth; “Go, bald head!” and they mix’d
“Curses with laughter. He set forth, yet once
“Look’d back:.. his eye fell on me, and he call’d
“Aswad!”… it startled me,.. it terrified,..
“Aswad!” again he call’d,.. and I almost
“Had followed him… O moment fled too soon!
“O moment irrecoverably lost!
“The shouts of mockery made a coward of me;
“He went, and I remain’d in fear of Man!

“He went, and darker grew
“The deepening cloud above.
“At length it open’d, and.. O God! O God!
“There were no waters there!
“There fell no kindly rain!
“The Sarsar from its womb went forth,
“The Icy Wind of Death.

“They fell around me, thousands fell around,
“The King and all his People fell.
“All! all! they perish’d all!
“I.. only I.. was left.
“There came a voice to me and said,
“In the Day of Visitation,
“In the fearful Hour of Judgment,
“God hath remember’d thee.”

“When from an agony of prayer I rose,
“And from the scene of death
“Attempted to go forth,
“The way was open, I beheld
“No barrier to my steps.
“But round these bowers the Arm of God
“Had drawn a mighty chain,
“A barrier that no human force might break.
“Twice I essay’d to pass.
“With that the voice was heard,
“O, Aswad, be content, and bless the Lord!

“One righteous deed hath sav’d
“Thy soul from utter death.
“O Aswad, sinful man!
“When by long penitence
“Thou feel’st thy soul prepar’d,
“Breathe up the wish to die,
“And Azrael comes, obedient to the prayer.”
“A miserable man
“From Earth and Heaven shut out,
“I heard the dreadful voice.
“I look’d around my prison place,
“The bodies of the dead were there,
“Where’er I look’d they lay.
“They moulder’d, moulder’d here,..
“Their very bones have crumbled into dust,
“So many years have past!
“So many weary ages have gone by!
“And still I linger here!
“Still groaning with the burthen of my sins,
“Have never dar’d to breathe
“The prayer to be releas’d.

“Oh! who can tell the unspeakable misery
“Of solitude like this!
“No sound hath ever reach’d my ear
“Save of the passing wind..
“The fountain’s everlasting flow,
“The forest in the gale,
“The pattering of the shower,
“Sounds dead and mournful all.
“No bird hath ever clos’d her wing
“Upon these solitary bowers;
“No insect sweetly buzz’d amid these groves,
“From all things that have life,
“Save only me, conceal’d.
“This Tree alone, that o’er my head
“Hangs down its hospitable boughs,
“And bends its whispering leaves
“As though to welcome me,
“Seems to partake of life;
“I love it as my friend, my only friend!

“I know not for what ages I have dragg’d
“This miserable life;
“How often I have seen
“These antient trees renew’d,
“What countless generations of mankind
“Have risen and fallen asleep,
“And I remain the same!
“My garment hath not waxed old,
“Nor the sole of my shoe hath worn.

“I dare not breathe the prayer to die,
“O merciful Lord God!..
“But when it is thy will,
“But when I have aton’d
“For mine iniquities,
“And sufferings have made pure
“My soul with sin defil’d,
“Release me in thine own good time,..
“I will not cease to praise thee, O my God!”

Silence ensued awhile,
Then Zeinab answer’d him;
“Blessed art thou, O Aswad! for the Lord,
“Who sav’d thy soul from Hell,
“Will call thee to him in his own good time.
“And would that when my heart
“Breath’d up the wish to die,
“Azrael might visit me!
“Then would I follow where my babes are gone,
“And join Hodeirah now!”

She ceas’d, and the rushing of wings
Was heard in the stillness of night,
And Azrael, the Death-Angel, stood before them.
His countenance was dark,
Solemn, but not severe,
It awed, but struck no terror to the heart.
“Zeinab, thy wish is heard!
“Aswad, thy hour is come!”
They fell upon the ground and blest the voice,
And Azrael from his sword
Let fall the drops of bitterness and death.

“Me too! me too!” young Thalaba exclaim’d,
As wild with grief he kiss’d
His Mother’s livid hand,
His Mother’s quivering lips,
“Oh Angel! take me too!”

“Son of Hodeirah!” the Death-Angel said,
“It is not yet the hour.
“Son of Hodeirah, thou art chosen forth
“To do the will of Heaven;
“To avenge thy Father’s death,
“The murder of thy race;
“To work the mightiest enterprize
“That mortal man hath wrought.
“Live! and remember Destiny
“Hath mark’d thee from mankind!”

He ceas’d, and he was gone.
Young Thalaba look’d round,..
The Palace and the groves were seen no more,
He stood amid the Wilderness, alone.