The thought: Those heavy wings spread high
So sure of flight, which do not fly;
That set gaze never on the sky;

Those scriptured flanks it cannot see;
Its crown a brow-contracting load:
Its planted feet which trust the sod
(So grew the image as I trod):
O Nineveh, was this thy God,
Thine also, mighty Nineveh ?

Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

M

NINEVEH.

EET is the hour thy dreary site to see,

City of darkness, vanished Nineveh!

To trace the mounds that mark the barren plain,

Where, veiled from view, tombed wonders yet remain !
Yes, Ninus' palace, where all glories shone,
And rose at once his sepulchre and throne;
Thy far-encircling walls, and thousand towers,
Baffling for ages Asia's leaguered powers;

The streets where princes drove their glittering cars,
And Traffic's sons were countless as the stars;
Arask's vast shrine, where that dread warrior died,
Whose banded myriads — boastful slaves of pride

Fell in one night, when Heaven's own lightnings came,

And Death's pale angel waved her sword of flame,

Are now but heaps, with rude wrecks scattered o'er, That bear a language writ by man no more;

-

Where scarce the hermit wild-flower deigns to blow,
But coarse rank grass and plants of poison grow,
And jackals lurk, and hooded serpents glide,
Monarchs! approach ye here, and bow your pride!
Empires so strong to-day, like change await!
And, laurelled conquerors! weep, and read your fate!
Nicholas Michell.

Orfah.

THE LEAP OF ROUSHAN BEG.

OUNTED on Kyrat strong and fleet,

MOUNTEI

His chestnut steed with four white feet,
Roushan Beg, called Kurroglou,

Son of the road and bandit chief,
Seeking refuge and relief,

Up the mountain pathway flew.

Such was Kyrat's wondrous speed,
Never yet could any steed

Reach the dust-cloud in his course.
More than maiden, more than wife,
More than gold and next to life

Roushan the Robber loved his horse.

In the land that lies beyond

Erzeroum and Trebizond,

Garden-girt his fortress stood;

Plundered khan, or caravan
Journeying north from Koordistan,
Gave him wealth and wine and food.

Seven hundred and fourscore

Men at arms his livery wore,

Did his bidding night and day. Now, through regions all unknown, He was wandering, lost, alone, Seeking without guide his way.

Suddenly the pathway ends,
Sheer the precipice descends,

Loud the torrent roars unseen;

Thirty feet from side to side
Yawns the chasm; on air must ride
He who crosses this ravine.

Gently Roushan Beg caressed

Kyrat's forehead, neck, and breast;

Kissed him upon both his eyes;

Sang to him in his wild way,
As upon the topmost spray
Sings a bird before it flies.

"O my Kyrat, O my steed, Round and slender as a reed,

Carry me this peril through! Satin housings shall be thine, Shoes of gold, O Kyrat mine, O thou soul of Kurroglou !

"Soft thy skin as silken skein, Soft as woman's hair thy mane,

Tender are thine eyes and true; All thy hoofs like ivory shine, Polished bright; O, life of mine. Leap, and rescue Kurroglou!"

Kyrat, then, the strong and fleet, Drew together his four white feet, Paused a moment on the verge, Measured with his eye the space, And into the air's embrace

Leaped as leaps the ocean surge.

As the ocean surge o'er sand
Bears a swimmer safe to land,

Kyrat safe his rider bore;.
Rattling down the deep abyss
Fragments of the precipice

Rolled like pebbles on a shore.

Roushan's tasselled cap of red
Trembled not upon his head,

Careless sat he and upright;

Neither hand nor bridle shook,
Nor his head he turned to look,
As he galloped out of sight.

Flash of harness in the air,
Seen a moment like the glare

Of a sword drawn from its sheath;
Thus the phantom horseman passed,
And the shadow that he cast

Leaped the cataract underneath.

Reyhan the Arab held his breath
While this vision of life and death
Passed above him. "Allahu!"

Cried he. "In all Koordistan
Lives there not so brave a man
As this Robber Kurroglou!"

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Seleucia and Ctesiphon.

SELEUCIA AND CTESIPHON.

WO cities moulder here and can it be,

Seleucia! Ctesiphon! we gaze on ye?

Boast of the Greek, and pride of Parthia's kings,
How has your glory flown on eagle wings!
The thrones of ivory, and the myrtle bowers,