"Yes, yes; hear, hear! A song, a song! Make ready for a song." The members re-settled themselves on their chairs, and pronounced
themselves "all attention," while the young poet, throwing himself back
carelessly in his chair and crossing one leg over the other, began in a
clear rich voice, the following ditty. THE CHIEFTAIN'S DESTINY. CANTO THE FIRST. A skiff is seen upon the main,
    The purple wave of Oman's sea;
    Her prow doth long to kiss again
    The perfumed shores of Araby. A gentle Zephyr fills the sail. But, ah, too soft, too mild the gale
    For one on board, who, mounted high,
    Scans the far shore with eagle eye. 'Tis Selim's bark that, long away,
    Hath wandered on the salt sea foam,
    And brings him after many a day
    Back to this land, though not his home. What in the distance glads his eye? A sight none other can descry--
    The kerchief he his mistress gave
    Now from her casement high doth wave. The signal yet is but a speck,
    The cloud has vanished from his brow;
    Yet chafing still, he walks the deck
    Impatiently from helm to prow,
    As if his eagerness could urge
    His vessel faster through the surge. But as the craft now nigher drew,
    The signal note his swarthy crew. Now gaily speeds the gallant bark,
    Soon within grasp of land once more;
    The sun has set, yet 'tis not dark. Each swarthy sailor leaps ashore,
    Yet almost ere they can alight
    Their captain scales a dizzy height,
    And in the moonlight hand in hand
    Two lovers at the casement stand. "Oh, Selim! why this long delay?" A soft voice whispers 'neath the moon. "I've wept for thee full many a day,
    Watching the sea from morn till noon,
    In hope-- But hist! there're footsteps nigh;
    The Caliph keeps a watchful eye. The moon is up, thou must be gone--
    One kiss. Farewell. We meet at dawn." Zuleika to her bower turned--
    Her jasmine bower's perfumed shade;
    A fever in her bosom burned. That night upon her couch being laid,
    The nightingale that woos the rose
    Breaks not so much on her repose
    As the loud beating of her heart
    With feelings she will ne'er impart

    To mortal man, save him alone
    Who wooed and won her from her sire. Her love in secret long hath grown,
    And much she fears her parents' ire;
    She knows her father sets his face
    Against her lover's impious race,
    But still, her troth is plighted now. "Or him or Death," thus ran her vow. CANTO THE SECOND. Zuleika's beauty from her birth
    Had been such as might well entice
    The saints above to visit Earth
    From Mahommed's gay Paradise;
    Her raven tresses shamed the night,
    Her step so proud and yet so light,
    'Twould seem as though she trod the air,
    Like Peri; nor was she less less fair. An eye that mocked the wild gazelle,
    A voice, although untrained by art,
    Sweet as a strain of Israfel,
    The strings of whose melodious heart
    A lyre are, with tones so sweet
    That angels listen at his feet,
    And the stars sink to the ground
    When those living chords resound. That cheek that paled the rose in hue
    Grows pallid, and her bosom heaves;
    Those lips, like rosebuds in the dew
    Enclosing pearls within their leaves,
    Are trembling, and her fairy form,
    Like lily bending to the storm,
    Quivers as an aspen grove,
    With sore misgivings of her love. The Caliph was a man of might;
    Zuleika was his only child,
    He scarce could bear her from his sight,
    Nor was he of a temper mild;
    And woe to him, the caitiff Giaour
    Who fell in dread El Amin's power. Zuleika sighs, what fears appal
    Her soul, lest this should him befall. The maiden slumbered scarce that night,
    Or she slumbered but to dream,
    Such dreams as bravest souls affright;
    Then waking with a start or scream,
    She soon forsook her fitful sleep,
    O'er Selim's likely fate to weep,
    Till the morning star's dim ray
    Now heralds the approach of day. The morning shed a ghastly light,
    Appearing to Zuleika's eye
    Full ominous. The clouds in sight
    Like streaks of blood across the sky,
    While gazing on the distance drear,
    Hark! what footsteps greet her ear? She spies afar at fullest speed
    Her lover on his Arab steed. CANTO THE THIRD. One bound, and he is by her side;
    She greets him with a sorrowing eye. "What ails thee now, my love, my bride,
    And wherefore dost thou deeply sigh? There is a shade upon thy brow
    That I have never seen till now. Shake off these moods, dispel all fear. Is't not enough that I am here?" Zuleika heaved a heavy sigh. "Oh, Selim, if thou still art mine,
    Take me, and this instant fly
    Unto thy home across the brine;
    For if there's danger hovering nigh
    With thee, and not alone, I'd die. Set off at once, nor more delay;
    See how yon orb leads on the day." "Nay, loved one, but I have a vow. Seest thou yon peak where clouds do lower;
    That mountain doth contain, I trow,
    A talisman of mighty power
    Within its heart, and I have sworn
    To seize it ere to-morrow's dawn. When at thy feet the gem I lay,
    Then, but not erst, our wedding day. "This is the vow I must fulfil,
    And ere we fly across the main
    The talisman, come good or ill,
    Is thine. I've sworn it thee to gain. It gives eternal life and youth,
    Annulling time's remorseless tooth. The mountain opens once a day;
    'Tis guarded by a Genii grey." "Thou shalt not run this risk for me,"
    Zuleika cried. But Selim's brow
    Grew darker. "Never maid," quoth he,
    "Shall counsel me to break my vow. Know'st thou not a warrior's word
    Is sacred ever as his sword? An thou wouldst be a chieftain's bride,
    Cease me for my vow to chide." Then round his neck her arms she flings. "Oh, Selim, hear me once and stay. Azrael flaps his dusky wings,
    Al Hassan smiles and points the way." These words in boding tones she saith--
    "Thou ridest on to certain death. Last night I dreamed, my chieftain free,
    That Eblis ope'd its jaws for thee." Then with a smile he sought to lure
    Her fancies from their dark abode. "Thy maiden fears to but conjure
    These phantoms that the mind corrode." Then added, whilst his brows he bent,
    "Unworthy were I my descent,
    Could I be scared from this my theme
    By warning through a word or dream. "With thee I through the world would rove;
    But ere I seek to make thee mine,
    I'd prove me worthy of thy love,
    For I am of a Gheber line. The chieftain of a race whose breath
    Flows freer in the face of Death;
    No coward fear can e'er entwine
    Its coils around a heart like mine. "Think'st thou a warrior bred in strife
    And nurtured at the breast of woe
    Could bide a tame voluptuous life,
    Or stand in dread of mortal foe? I tell thee, girl, I live to brave
    The hairbreadth chances of the grave;
    Full weary were my life to me,
    Were danger not a luxury.