Then pledg'd we the wine-cup, and fondly I swore, From my home and my weeping friends never to part; My little ones kiss'd me a thousand times o'er, And my wife sobb'd aloud in her fulness of heart. Stay, stay with us-rest, thou art weary and worn; And fain was their war-broken soldier to stayBut sorrow return'd with the dawning of morn, And the voice in my dreaming ear melted away. THE TURKISH LADY. "TWAS the hour when rites unholy Call'd each Paynim voice to pray'r, And the star that faded slowly Left to dews the freshen'd air. 'Say, fair princess! would it grieve thee 'Christian climes should we behold ?' Nay, bold knight! I would not leave thee 'Were thy ransom paid in gold!' Now in Heaven's blue expansion Rose the midnight star to view, When to quit her father's mansion, Thrice she wept, and bade adieu! 'Fly we then, while none discover! 'Tyrant barks, in vain ye ride!' Soon at Rhodes the British lover Clasp'd his blooming Eastern bride. |