THE PAST. 149 



doms of the East, whither their fame had extended ; and, by the sul- 

 tan's command they were interred together, and with extraordinary 

 pomp. One incident only remains to be added. When the bodies 

 were stripped for burial, there was found within the inner vest of the 

 Sheich Faizi, and close to his heart, a withered Lotus leaf inscribed 

 with certain characters. So great was the fame of the dead for wis- 

 dom, learning, and devotion, that it was supposed to be a talisman 

 endued with extraordinary virtues, and immediately transmitted to 

 the sultan. Akbar considered the relic with surprise. It was no- 

 thing but a simple Lotus leaf, faded, shrivelled, and stained with 

 blood ; but on examining it more closely, he could trace, in ill-formed 

 and scarcely legible Indian letters, the word AMRA. 



And when Akbar looked upon this tender memorial of a hapless 

 love, and undying sorrow, his great heart melted within him, and he 

 wept. 



THE PAST. 



A hermit once lived on a steep, 



The last of a numberless race ; 

 He whispered his sighs to the deep, 



Their record he kept in his face. 

 He lived, a mysterious man, 



Like a tree that was scathed by the storm, 

 He showed where the fluid had ran, 



By the fissures it left in his form. 



A succession of winters had flung 



The hoar frost of age on his head, 

 And all his wild melodies rung 



A peal of deep sighs for the dead. 

 One mom he sat lone on the brow, 



That for ages had been his hard pillow ; 

 Ask the solitude where is he now ? 



It echoes " beneath in the billow." 



HARTON. 



Bucltfastleigh. 



VOL, in. 1834. w 



