BY THE PERSIANS. 41 



does not present the luxuriance of arborescent vegetation, or 

 the admirable variety of form and colour, which adorn the 

 soil of Hindostan. The Vindhya chain, which was long the 

 boundary of the East Arianic nations, is still within the 

 torrid zone, while the whole of Persia is situated beyond the 

 tropics, and its poetic literature even belongs in part to the 

 northern soil of Balkh and Fergana. The four paradises 

 celebrated by the Persian poets ( 63 ), were the pleasant valley 

 of Soghd near Samarcand, Maschanrud near Hamadan, 

 Tcha'abi Bowan near Kal'eh Sofid in Tars, and Ghute the 

 plain of Damascus. Both Iran and Turan are wanting in 

 the sylvan scenery and the hermit life of the forest which 

 influenced so powerfully the imaginations of the Indian 

 poets. Gardens refreshed by springing fountains, and filled 

 with rose bushes and fruit trees, could ill replace the wild 

 and grand scenery of Hindostan. No wonder, therefore, 

 that the descriptive poetry of Persia has less life and fresh- 

 ness, and is even often tame, and full of artificial ornament. 

 Since, in the judgment of the Persians, the highest meed of 

 praise is given to that which we term sprightliness and wit, 

 our admiration must be limited to the productiveness of 

 their poets, and to the infinite variety of forms ( 64 ) which 

 the same materials assume under their hands: we miss 

 in them depth and earnestness of feeling. 



In the national epic of Persia, Firdusi's Shahnameh, 

 the course of the narrative is but rarely interrupted by 

 descriptions of landscape. The praises of the coast land of 

 Mazanderan, put into the mouth of a wandering bard, and 

 describing the mildness of its climate, and the vigour of its 

 vegetation, appear to me to have much grace and charm, 

 nd a high degree of local truth. In the story, tjie king 



