The Complete Poems of Sir Thomas Moore

T >> Thomas Moore et al >> The Complete Poems of Sir Thomas Moore

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84

[240] "A wind which prevails in February, called Bidmusk, from a small and
odoriferous flower of that name."--"The wind which blows these flowers
commonly lasts till the end of the month."--_Le Bruyn_.

[241] "The Biajus are of two races: the one is settled on Borneo, and are
a rude but warlike and industrious nation, who reckon themselves the
original possessors of the island of Borneo. The other is a species of
sea-gypsies or itinerant fishermen, who live in small covered boats, and
enjoy a perpetual summer on the eastern ocean, shifting to leeward from
island to island, with the variations of the monsoon.

[242] "The sweet-scented violet is one of the plants most esteemed,
particularly for its great use in Sorbet, which they make of violet
sugar."--_Hassequist_.

[243] "Last of all she took a guitar, and sang a pathetic air in the
measure called Nava, which is always used to express the lamentations of
absent lovers."--_Persian Tales_.

[244] "The Easterns used to set out on their longer voyages with
music."--_Harmer_.

[245] "The Gate of Tears, the straits or passage into the Red Sea,
commonly called Babelmandel. It received this name from the old Arabians,
on account of the danger of the navigation and the number of shipwrecks by
which it was distinguished; which induced them to consider as dead, and to
wear mourning for all who had the boldness to hazard the passage through
it into the Ethiopic ocean."--_Richardson_.

[246] "I have been told that whensoever an animal falls down dead, one or
more vultures, unseen before, instantly appears."--_Pennant_.

[247] "They fasten some writing to the wings of a Bagdat, or Babylonian
pigeon."--_Travels of certain Englishmen_.

[248] "The Empress of Jehan-Guire used to divert herself with feeding tame
fish in her canals, some of which were many years afterwards known by
fillets of gold, which she caused to be put round them."--_Harris_.

[249] The meteors that Pliny calls "_faces_."

[250] "The brilliant Canopus, unseen in European climates."--_Brown_.

[251] A precious stone of the Indies, called by the ancients, Ceraunium,
because it was supposed to be found in places where thunder had fallen.
Tertullian says it has a glittering appearance, as if there had fire in
it; and the author of the Dissertation of Harris's Voyages, supposes it to
be the opal.

[252] "The Guebres are known by a dark yellow color, which the men affect
in their clothes."--_Thevenot_.

[253] "The Kolah, or cap, worn by the Persians, is made of the skin of the
sheep of Tartary."--_Waring_.

[254] A frequent image among the oriental poets. "The nightingales warbled
their enchanting notes, and rent the thin veils of the rose-bud, and the
rose."--_Jami_.

[255] "Blossoms of the sorrowful Nyctanthes give a durable color to
silk."--_Remarks on the Husbandry of Bengal_, p. 200. Nilica is one of the
Indian names of this flower.--_Sir W. Jones_. The Persians call it
Gul.--Carreri.

[256] "In parts of Kerman, whatever dates are shaken from the trees by the
wind they do not touch, but leave them for those who have not any, or for
travellers.--Ebn Haukal.

[257] The two terrible angels, Monkir and Nakir, who are called "the
Searchers of the Grave" in the "Creed of the orthodox Mahometans" given by
Ockley, vol. ii.

[258] "The Arabians call the mandrake 'the devil's candle,' on account of
its shining appearance in the night."--_Richardson_.

[259] For an account of Ishmonie, the petrified city in Upper Egypt, where
it is said there are many statues of men, women, etc., to be seen to this
day, see _Perry's "Views of the Levant_."

[260] Jesus.

[261] The Ghebers say that when Abraham, their great Prophet, was thrown
into the fire by order of Nimrod, the flame turned instantly into "a bed
of roses, where the child sweetly reposed."--_Tavernier_.

[262] "The shell called Siiankos, common to India, Africa, and the
Mediterranean, and still used in many parts as a trumpet for blowing
alarms or giving signals: it sends forth a deep and hollow sound."--
_Pennant_.

[263] "The finest ornament for the horses is made of six large flying
tassels of long white hair, taken out of the tails of wild oxen, that are
to be found in some places of the Indies."--_Thevenot_.

[264] "The angel Israfll, who has the most melodious voice of all God's
creatures."--_Sale_.

[265] "In this thicket upon the banks of the Jordan several sorts of wild
beasts are wont to harbor themselves, whose being washed out of the covert
by the overflowings of the river, gave occasion to that allusion of
Jeremiah, _he shall come up like a lion from the smelling of
Jordan_."--_Maundrell's "Aleppo."_

[266] "This wind (the Samoor) so softens the strings of lutes, that they
can never be tuned while it lasts."--_Stephen's Persia_.

[267] "One of the greatest curiosities found in the Persian Gulf is a fish
which the English call Star-fish. It is circular, and at night very
luminous, resembling the full moon surrounded by rays."--_Mirza Abu
Taleb_.

[268] Some naturalists have imagined that amber is a concretion of the
tears of birds.--See _Trevoux, Chambers_.

[269] "The bay Kieselarke, which is otherwise called the Golden Bay, the
sand whereof shines as fire."--_Struy_.

[270] "The application of whips or rods."--_Dubois_.

[271] Kempfer mentions such an officer among the attendants of the King of
Persia, and calls him "_formae corporis estimator_." His business was, at
stated periods, to measure the ladies of the Haram by a sort of
regulation-girdle whose limits it was not thought graceful to exceed. If
any of them outgrew this standard of shape, they were reduced by
abstinence till they came within proper bounds.

[272] "Akbar on his way ordered a fort to be built upon the Nilab, which
he called Attock, which means in the Indian language Forbidden; for, by
the superstition of the Hindoos, it was held unlawful to cross that
river."--_Dow's_ Hindostan.

[273] "The inhabitants of this country (Zinge) are never afflicted with
sadness or melancholy; on this subject the Sheikh _Abu-al-Kheir-Azhari_
has the following distich:--

"'Who is the man without care or sorrow, (tell) that I may rub my hand to
him.

"'(Behold) the Zingians, without care and sorrow, frolicsome with
tipsiness and mirth.'"

[274] The star Soheil, or Canopus.

[275] "The lizard Stellio. The Arabs call it Hardun. The Turks kill it,
for they imagine that by declining the head it mimics them when they say
their prayers."--_Hasselquist_.

[276] "As you enter at that Bazar, without the gate of Damascus, you see
the Green Mosque, so called because it hath a steeple faced with green
glazed bricks, which render it very resplendent: It is covered at top with
a pavilion of the same stuff. The Turks say this mosque was made in that
place, because Mahomet being come so far, would not enter the town, saying
it was too delicious."--_Thevenot_.

[277] Nourmahal signifies Light of the Haram. She was afterwards called
Nourjehan, or the Light of the World.

[278] "The rose of Kashmire for its brilliancy and delicacy of odor has
long been proverbial in the East."--Foster.

[279] "Tied round her waist the zone of bells, that sounded with ravishing
melody."--_Song of Jayadeva_.

[280] "The little isles in the Lake of Cachemire are set with arbors and
large-leaved aspen-trees, slender and tall."--_Bernier_.

[281] "The Tuckt Suliman, the name bestowed by the Mahommetans on this
hill, forms one side of a grand portal to the Lake."--_Forster_.

[282] "The Feast of Roses continues the whole time of their remaining in
bloom."--See _Pietro de la Valle_.

[283] "Gul sad berk, the Rose of a hundred leaves. I believe a particular
species."--_Ouseley_.

[284] A place mentioned in the Toozek Jehangeery, or Memoirs of Jehan-
Guire, where there is an account of the beds of saffron-flowers about
Cashmere.

[285] "It is the custom among the women to employ the Maazeen to chant
from the gallery of the nearest minaret, which on that occasion is
illuminated, and the women assembled at the house respond at intervals
with a ziraleet or joyous chorus."--_Russel_.

[286] "The swing is a favorite pastime in the East, as promoting a
circulation of air, extremely refreshing in those sultry climates."--
_Richardson_.

[287] At the keeping of the Feast of Roses we beheld an infinite number of
tents pitched, with such a crowd of men, women, boys, and girls, with
music, dances, etc."--_Herbert_.

[288] "An old commentator of the Chou-King says, the ancients having
remarked that a current of water made some of the stones near its banks
send forth a sound, they detached some of them, and being charmed with the
delightful sound they emitted, constructed King or musical instruments of
them,"--_Grosier_.

[289] In the wars of the Divs with the Peris, whenever the former took the
latter prisoners, "they shut them up in iron cages, and hung them on the
highest trees. Here they were visited by their companions, who brought
them the choicest odors."--_Richardson_.

[290] In the Malay language the same word signifies women and flowers.

[291] The capital of Shadukiam.

[292] "Among the birds of Tonquin is a species of goldfinch, which sings
so melodiously that it is called the Celestial Bird. Its wings, when it is
perched, appear variegated with beautiful colors, but when it flies they
lose all their splendor."--_Grosier_.

[293] "As these birds on the Bosphorus are never known to rest, they are
called by the French '_les ames damnees_.'"--_Dalloway_.

[294] "You may place a hundred handfuls of fragrant herbs and flowers
before the nightingale, yet he wishes not in his constant heart for more
than the sweet breath of his beloved rose."--_Jami_.

[295] "He is said to have found the great _Mantra_, spell or talisman,
through which he ruled over the elements and spirits of all
denominations."--_Wilford_.

[296] "The gold jewels of Jinnie, which are called by the Arabs El Herrez,
from the supposed charm they contain."--_Jackson_.

[297] "A demon, supposed to haunt woods, etc., in a human shape."--
_Richardson_.

[298] The name of Jehan-Guire before his accession to the throne.

[299] "Hemasagara, or the Sea of Gold, with flowers of the brightest gold
color."--_Sir W. Jones_.

[300] "This tree (the Nagacesara) is one of the most delightful on earth,
and the delicious odor of its blossoms justly gives them a place in the
quiver of Camadeva, or the God of Love."--_Id_.

[301] "The Malayans style the tuberose (_polianthes tuberosa_) Sandal
Malam, or the Mistress of the Night."--_Pennant_.

[302] The people of the Batta country in Sumatra (of which Zamara is one
of the ancient names), "when not engaged in war, lead an idle, inactive
life, passing the day in playing on a kind of flute, crowned with garlands
of flowers, among which the globe-amaranthus, a native of the country,
mostly prevails,"--_Marsden_.

[303] "The largest and richest sort (of the Jambu or rose-apple) is called
Amrita, or immortal, and the mythologists of Tibet apply the same word to
a celestial tree, bearing ambrosial fruit."--_Sir W. Jones_.

[304] Sweet Basil, called Rayhan in Persia, and generally found in
churchyards.

[305] "In the Great Desert are found many stalks of lavender and
rosemary."--_Asiat. Res_.

[306] "The almond-tree, with white flowers, blossoms on the bare
branches."--_Hasselquist_.

[307] An herb on Mount Libanus, which is said to communicate a yellow
golden hue to the teeth of the goat and other animals that graze upon it.

[308] The myrrh country.

[309] "This idea (of deities living in shells) was not unknown to the
Greeks, who represent the young Nerites, one of the Cupids, as living in
shells on the shores of the Red Sea."--_Wilford_.

[310] "A fabulous fountain, where instruments are said to be constantly
playing."--_Richardson_.

[311] "The Pompadour pigeon is the species, which, by carrying the fruit
of the cinnamon to different places, is a great disseminator of this
valuable tree."--See _Brown's_ Illustr. Tab. 19.

[312] "The Persians have two mornings, the Soobhi Kazim and the Soobhi
Sadig, the false and the real daybreak. They account for this phenomenon
in a most whimsical manner. They say that as the sun rises from behind the
Kohi Qaf (Mount Caucasus), it passes a hole perforated through that
mountain, and that darting its rays through it, it is the cause of the
Soobhi Kazim, or this temporary appearance of daybreak. As it ascends, the
earth is again veiled in darkness, until the sun rises above the mountain,
and brings with it the Soobhi Sadig, or real morning."--_Scott Waring_.

[313] "In the centre of the plain, as it approaches the Lake, one of the
Delhi Emperors, I believe Shan Jehan, constructed a spacious garden called
the Shalimar, which is abundantly stored with fruit-trees and flowering
shrubs. Some of the rivulets which intersect the plain are led into a
canal at the back of the garden, and flowing through its centre, or
occasionally thrown into a variety of water-works, compose the chief
beauty of the Shalimar."--_Forster_.

[314] "The waters of Cachemir are the more renowned from its being
supposed that the Cachemirians are indebted for their beauty to
them."--_Ali Yezdi_.

[315] "From him I received the following little Gazzel, or Love Song, the
notes of which he committed to paper from the voice of one of those
singing girls of Cashmere, who wander from that delightful valley over the
various parts of India."--_Persian Miscellanies_.

[316] "The roses of the Jinan Nile, or Garden of the Nile (attached to the
Emperor of Morocco's palace) are unequalled, and mattresses are made of
their leaves for the men of rank to recline upon."--_Jackson_.

[317] "On the side of a mountain near Paphos there is a cavern which
produces the most beautiful rock-crystal. On account of its brilliancy it
has been called the Paphian diamond."--_Mariti_.

[318] "These is a part of Candahar, called Peria, or Fairy Land."--
_Thevenot_. In some of those countries to the north of India vegetable
gold is supposed to be produced.

[319] "These are the butterflies which are called in the Chinese language
Flying Leaves. Some of them have such shining colors, and are so
variegated, that they may be called flying flowers; and indeed they are
always produced in the finest flower-gardens."--_Dunn_.

[320] "The Arabian women wear black masks with little clasps prettily
ordered."--_Carreri_. Niebuhr mentions their showing but one eye in
conversation.

[321] "The golden grapes of Casbin."--_Description of Persia_.

[322] "The fruits exported from Caubul are apples, pears, pomegranates,"
etc.--_Elphinstone_.

[323] "We sat down under a tree, listened to the birds, and talked with
the son of our Mehmaundar about our country and Caubul, of which he gave
an enchanting account; that city and its 100,000 gardens," etc.--_Ib_.

[324] "The mangusteen, the most delicate fruit in the world; the pride of
the Malay islands."--_Marsden_.

[325] "A delicious kind of apricot, called by the Persians tokmekshems,
signifying sun's seed."--_Description of Persia_.

[326] "Sweetmeats, in a crystal cup, consisting of rose-leaves in
conserve, with Iemon of Visna cherry, orange flowers," etc.--_Russel_.

[327] "Antelopes cropping the fresh berries of Erac."--The _Moallakat_,
Poem of Tarafa.

[328] "Mauri-ga-Sima, an island near Formosa, supposed to have been sunk
in the sea for the crimes of its inhabitants. The vessels which the
fishermen and divers bring up from it are sold at an immense price in
China and Japan."--See _Kempfer_.

[329] Persian Tales.

[330] The white wine of Kishma.

[331] "The King of Zeilan is said to have the very finest ruby that was
ever seen. Kublai-Khan sent and offered the value of a city for It, but
the king answered he would not give it for the treasure of the
world."--_Marco Polo_.

[332] The Indians feign that Cupid was first seen floating down the Ganges
on the Nymphaea Nelumbo.--See _Pennant_.

[333] Teflis is celebrated for its natural warm baths.--See _Ebn Haukal_.

[334] "The Indian Syrinda, or guitar."--_Symez_.

[335] "Around the exterior of the Dewan Khafs (a building of Shah Allum's)
in the cornice are the following lines in letters of gold upon a ground of
white marble--'_If there be a paradise upon earth, it is this, it is
this.'"--Franklin_.

[336] "Delightful are the flowers of the Amra trees on the mountain tops
while the murmuring bees pursue their voluptuous toil."--_Song of
Jayadera_.

[337] "The Nison or drops of spring rain, which they believe to produce
pearls if they fall into shells."--_Richardson_.

[338] For an account of the share which wine had in the fall of the
angels, see _Mariti_.

[339] The Angel of Music.

[340] The Hudhud, or Lapwing, is supposed to have the power of discovering
water under ground.

[341] "The Chinese had formerly the art of painting on the sides of
porcelain vessels fish and other animals, which were only perceptible when
the vessel was full of some liquor, They call this species Kia-tsin, that
is, _azure is put in press_, on account of the manner in which the azure
is laid on."--"They are every now and then trying to discover the art of
this magical painting, but to no purpose."--_Dunn_.

[342] An eminent carver of idols, said in the Koran to be father to
Abraham. "I have such a lovely idol as is not to be met with in the house
of Azor."--_Hafiz_.

[343] Kachmire be Nazeer.--_Forster_.

[344] Jehan-Guire mentions "a fountain in Cashmere called Tirnagh, which
signifies a snake; probably because some large snake had formerly been
seen there."--"During the lifetime of my father, I went twice to this
fountain, which is about twenty coss from the city of Cashmere. The
vestiges of places of worship and sanctity are to be traced without number
amongst the ruins and the caves which are interspersed in its
neighborhood."--_Toozek Jehangeery_.--v. _Asiat. Misc_. vol. ii.

[345] "On a standing roof of wood is laid a covering of fine earth, which
shelters the building from the great quantity of snow that falls in the
winter season. This fence communicates an equal warmth in winter, as a
refreshing coolness in the summer season, when the tops of the houses,
which are planted with a variety of flowers, exhibit at a distance the
spacious view of a beautifully checkered parterre."--_Forster_.

[346] "Two hundred slaves there are, who have no other office than to hunt
the woods and marshes for triple-colored tortoises for the King's Vivary.
Of the shells of these also lanterns are made."--_Vincent le Blanc's_
Travels.

[347] This wind, which is to blow from Syria Damascena, is, according to
the Mahometans, one of the signs of the Last Day's approach.

Another of the signs is, "Great distress in the world, so that a man when
he passes by another's grave shall say, Would to God I were in his
place!"--_Sale's_ Preliminary Discourse.

[348] "On Mahommed Shaw's return to Koolburga (the capital of Dekkan), he
made a great festival, and mounted this throne with much pomp and
magnificence, calling it Firozeh or Cerulean. I have heard some old
persons, who saw the throne Firozeh in the reign of Sultan Mamood
Bhamenee, describe it. They say that it was in length nine feet, and three
in breadth; made of ebony covered with plates of pure gold, and set with
precious stones of immense value. Every prince of the house of Bhamenee,
who possessed this throne, made a point of adding to it some rich stones;
so that when in the reign of Sultan Mamood it was taken to pieces to
remove some of the jewels to be set in vases and cups, the jewellers
valued it at one corore of oons (nearly four millions sterling). I learned
also that it was called Firozeh from being partly enamelled of a sky-blue
color which was in time totally concealed by the number of jewels."--
_Ferishta_.

THE LOVES OF THE ANGELS.

PREFACE.

The Eastern story of the angels Harut and Marut and the Rabbinical
fictions of the loves of Uzziel and Shamchazai are the only sources to
which I need refer for the origin of the notion on which this Romance is
founded. In addition to the fitness of the subject for poetry, it struck
me also as capable of affording an allegorical medium through which might
be shadowed out (as I have endeavored to do in the following stories) the
fall of the Soul from its original purity[1]--the loss of light and
happiness which it suffers, in the pursuit of this world's perishable
pleasures--and the punishments both from conscience and Divine justice
with which impurity, pride, and presumptuous inquiry into the awful
secrets of Heaven are sure to be visited--The beautiful story of Cupid and
Psyche owes its chief charm to this sort of "veiled meaning," and it has
been my wish (however I may have failed in the attempt) to communicate to
the following pages the same _moral_ interest.

Among the doctrines or notions derived by Plato from the East, one of the
most natural and sublime is that which inculcates the pre-existence of the
soul and its gradual descent into this dark material world from that
region of spirit and light which it is supposed to have once inhabited and
to which after a long lapse of purification and trial it will return. This
belief under various symbolical forms may be traced through almost all the
Oriental theologies. The Chaldeans represent the Soul as originally
endowed with wings which fall away when it sinks from its native element
and must be re-produced before it can hope to return. Some disciples of
Zoroaster once inquired of him, "How the wings of the Soul might be made
to grow again?"

"By sprinkling them," he replied, "with the Waters of Life."

"But where are those Waters to be found?" they asked.

"In the Garden of God," replied Zoroaster.

The mythology of the Persians has allegorized the same doctrine, in the
history of those genii of light who strayed from their dwellings in the
stars and obscured their original nature by mixture with this material
sphere; while the Egyptians connecting it with the descent and ascent of
the sun in the zodiac considered Autumn as emblematic of the Soul's
decline toward darkness and the re-appearance of Spring as its return to
life and light.

Besides the chief spirits of the Mahometan heaven, such as Gabriel the
angel of Revelation, Israfil by whom the last trumpet is to be sounded,
and Azrael the angel of death, there were also a number of subaltern
intelligences of which tradition has preserved the names, appointed to
preside over the different stages of ascents into which the celestial
world was supposed to be divided.[2] Thus Kelail governs the fifth heaven;
while Sadiel, the presiding spirit of the third, is also employed in
steadying the motions of the earth which would be in a constant state of
agitation if this angel did not keep his foot planted upon its orb.

Among other miraculous interpositions in favor of Mahomet we find
commemorated in the pages of the Koran the appearance of five thousand
angels on his side at the battle of Bedr.

The ancient Persians supposed that Ormuzd appointed thirty angels to
preside successively over the days of the month and twelve greater ones to
assume the government of the months themselves; among whom Bahman (to whom
Ormuzd committed the custody of all animals, except man) was the greatest.
Mihr, the angel of the 7th month, was also the spirit that watched over
the affairs of friendship and love;--Chur had the care of the disk of the
sun;--Mah was agent for the concerns of the moon;--Isphandarmaz (whom
Cazvin calls the Spirit of the Earth) was the tutelar genius of good and
virtuous women, etc. For all this the reader may consult the 19th and 20th
chapters of Hyde, "_de Religione Veterum Persarum_," where the names and
attributes of these daily and monthly angels are with much minuteness and
erudition explained. It appears from the Zend-avesta that the Persians had
a certain office or prayer for every day of the month (addressed to the
particular angel who presided over it), which they called the Sirouze.

The Celestial Hierarchy of the Syrians, as described by Kircher, appears
to be the most regularly graduated of any of these systems. In the sphere
of the Moon they placed the angels, in that of Mercury the archangels,
Venus and the Sun contained the Principalities and the Powers;--and so on
to the summit of the planetary system, where, in the sphere of Saturn, the
Thrones had their station. Above this was the habitation of the Cherubim
in the sphere of the fixed stars; and still higher, in the region of those
stars which are so distant as to be imperceptible, the Seraphim, we are
told, the most perfect of all celestial creatures, dwelt.

The Sabeans also (as D'Herbelot tells us) had their classes of angels, to
whom they prayed as mediators, or intercessors; and the Arabians
worshipped _female_ angels, whom they called Benab Hasche, or, Daughters
of God.

[1] The account which Macrobius gives of the downward journey of the Soul,
through that gate of the zodiac which opens into the lower spheres, is a
curious specimen of the wild fancies that passed for philosophy in ancient
times.