[ 62 ] [JAN. 



THE HOURI ; 

 A PERSIAN SONG. 



SWEET Spirit ! ne'er did I beholJ 

 Thy ivory neck, thy locks of gold ; 

 Or gaze into thy full dark eye, 

 Or on thy snowy bosom lie ; 

 Or take in mine thy small white hand, 

 Or bask beneath thy smilings bland; 

 Or walk, enraptured, by the side 

 Of thee, my own immortal bride. 



. 



I see thee not yet oft I hear 

 Thy soft voice whispering in my ear; 

 And when the evening breeze I seek, 

 I feel thy kiss upon my cheek ; 

 And when the moonbeams softly fall 

 On mead and tower, and flower-crowned wall, 

 Methinks the Patriarch's dream I see 

 The steps that lead to heaven and thee. 



I've heard thee wake, with touch refined, 

 The viewless harp-strings of the wind ; 

 And on my ear their soft tones fell, 

 Sweet as the voice of Israfel !* 

 I've seen thee, in the lightning's sheen, 

 Lift up for me heaven's cloudy screen, 

 And give one glimpse, one transient glare, 

 Of the full blaze of glory there. 



Oft, 'midst my wanderings wild and wide, 

 I know that thou art by my side ; 

 For flowers breathe swectlier 'neath thy tread, 

 And suns burn brighter o'er thy head ; 

 And though thy steps so noiseless steal, 

 And though thou ne'er thy form reveal, 

 My throbbing heart and pulses high 

 Tell me, sweet Spirit, thou art nigh. 



' io -';' ii ' v '; 



O for the hour, the happy hour, 

 When Azracl's-f- wings shall to thy bower 

 Bear my enfranchised soul away, 

 Unfettered with these chains of clay ! 

 For what is he whom men so fear 

 Azrael ! the solemn and severe 

 What but the white-robed priest is he, 

 Who weds my happy soul to thee. 



Then shall we rest in bowers that bloom 



With more than Araby's perfume, 



And list to many a lovelier note 



Than swells th' enamoured Bulbul'sJ throat ; 



And gaze on scenes so fair and bright, 



Thought never soared so proud a height, 



And one melodious ziraleet 



Through heaven's unending year repeat. H. N. 



* Israfel, the angel of music. Bulbul, the nightingale, 



t Azrael, the angel of death. $ Ziraleet, a song of rejoicing. 



