TO THE
STRANGER.

IS then this tranquil life so irksome grown?

Are these sweet SOLITUDES devoid of charms,

And is fair NATURE form’d for ME alone?

For still HER LOVE my aged bosom warms.

As when in active youth I fondly stray’d

By ABI-KOURA or the CASPIAN shore,

With rapture her romantic mien survey’d,

And all her hues of beauty o’er and o’er:

Felt the mild sway of her attractive power,

To soothe, refine, and harmonize the heart,

To waft delight with every winged hour,

With every changing scene new joys impart.

O had those scenes of simple joy remain’d,

Present, as now in retrospective view,

Had MEMORY thro’ my riper years retain’d

The traits of NATURE, YOUTH’s wild pencil drew.

Then had not dreams of unsubstantial bliss

Display’d their dazzling veil before my sight,

Nor LUXURY’s spell enchain’d, nor serpent hiss

Of ENVY’s demon, changed my noon to night.

A long tempestuous night, whose hollow blast

Raised into billowy rage my anguish’d soul,

Presaging future wrongs to crown the past,

Indignantly I spurn’d at base controul;

Spurn’d at the bonds, the maxims that enslave

To abject views, the free, the generous mind,

Disdaining dark REVENGE, resolved to brave

The dangerous desert, and abjure mankind.

’Twas then, resign’d to HEAVEN, I sought REPOSE,

And here, with LIBERTY, REPOSE I found;

With every rising morn new comforts rose,

Each day fair NATURE lovelier smiled around,

And smiled within, and gently whisper’d PEACE:

Calm REASON heard her voice with mild assent,

And bade the tumult of the passions cease,

While health and temperance led to sweet CONTENT.

And here I hourly bless the heavenly hand,

That led thro’ yon lorn wilds my lonely way,

Preserved me from the TARTAR’s wandering band,

And from night-prowling savage beasts of prey.

That, when AMBITION, ENVY, SENSUAL LOVE,

Had triumph’d over GRATITUDE awhile,

Bade a dark miscreant and his sociates prove

The just reward of VIOLENCE and GUILE.

For vainly MAN, or FIENDS infernal, strive

To strike the blow that PROVIDENCE disowns,

In vain would FORCE effect, or ART contrive

To crush an insect, or perpetuate thrones.

A wond’rous chain of causes and effects

Combines mute nature, animals, and man,

Whether the being’s passive, or reflects,

Or acts instinctive, in the mighty plan.

That chain, depending from the throne divine,

Can ne’er be broken by created force:

While pure intention of the heart is thine,

No act that follows will disgrace its source.

Thy woes have risen from thy FATHER’s crime,

And I, his earlier VICTIM, pity thee:

O may the gently-soothing hand of TIME

Pour o’er thy griefs the balm that comforts me.

HE is no more, and SELIMA is blest,

Since Heaven in MERCY claim’d HER as its own:

That world of charms his treachery possest,

Delusive HOPE long pictured mine alone.

Depart in peace, and with my last FAREWEL

Receive the counsel of experienced years:

PRIDE, AVARICE, LUXURY, from thy breast expel,

Or THEY will guide thee to the fount of tears.

Let not th’ atrocious deeds of demon POWER

Produce malignant influence on thy mind,

But imitate th’ autumnal cloud, whose shower

Revives the plain where thirsty suns have shined.

Thou art the child of HER in LIFE adored,

And still in DEATH remember’d with a sigh;

Thou art the offspring of A MAN ABHORR’D

Whose memory often clouds my mental eye!

Yet learn this truth, from his once deadly foe

I felt more pleasure here to shield his son,

Than he, AMBITION’s votary, could forego,

When his career of short-lived power was run.

Henceforth, his NAME in dark oblivion rest,

No more remembrance bid his actions live,

But may th’ all-merciful and ever-blest

Forgive his frailties as I now forgive!

To thee these tranquil scenes no solace yield,

Nor seem my words congenial to thine ear;

That ordent spirit seeks a different field,

For PEACE and NATURE only, harbour here.

To ME yon spreading CEDAR’s friendly shade,

Yields more delight in SUMMER’s sultry hour,

Than erst the pomp of grandeur’s vain parade,

Than all the dazzling charms of wealth and power.

O’er broken rocks I love to climb the steep,

And trace thro’ those wild glens the winding way

O’erhung with gloomy pines, whose shadows deep,

Almost exclude the living light of day.

Gain some rude prominence—thence widely view

The varied prospect of the wilds below,

Or DISTANCE fading to etherial blue,

While nearer mountains catch the evening glow.

Hear oft, delighted, at the close of day,

The little warbler’s briefly-broken song,

’Till the sweet nightingale assume the lay,

Whose notes soft echoes from the rocks prolong.

And oft the azure arch of heaven survey,

When silent night advances calm and clear,

Trace thro’ its signs the planetary way,

And various aspects of the changeful year.

As roll the stars around the radiant pole,

I contemplate THE POWER that gave them birth,

And gives expansion to the free-born soul,

To raise its views above this little earth.

On FANCY’s wing with lightning swiftness fly

Thro’ all the regions of etherial space,

Mix with the happy spirits of the sky,

And o’er the clouds the blazing meteors chace.

These are delights to which thou wilt not soar;

In the closed HARAM see soft pleasures reign,

Seek COURTLY interest, FORTUNE’s golden store,

Or rush to CONQUEST o’er the bloody plain.

Win FLATTERY’s FAVOR, and aspire to FAME,

Ascend the dangerous pinnacle of POWER,

Let pompous titles supercede thy name,

Nor heed the threat’ning storms that o’er thee lower.

When YOUTH retires, when FORTUNE adverse proves,

And gloomy CARE thine every hope invades;

Perhaps remembrance of these silent groves

May lead thy footsteps oft to lonely shades.

May lead thee far—induce thee here to stray,

And seek old ACHMED in his calm abode;

His voice shall cheer thee, kindly bid thee stay,

And strive to lighten thy oppressive load.

Or if, since FATE relentless reigns o’er all,

And soon or late will claim our fleeting breath,

Should ACHMED hear the blest angelic call,

And this dear cell become the cave of DEATH.

If then the sigh of SORROW heave thy breast,

Or tear of tender PITY mourn my doom,

Form HERE my grave, HERE let my relics rest,

’Tis all I ask from MAN—a simple TOMB.