Part 1 (2/2)

And then his fellow: ”True enough! and yet, For such young thews they give good gold-- They give good gold in Babylon!”

And, laughing thus, they left us, To lie through hours of aching silence, Until, at length, the cool of evening fell; When they returned from slumber; And loosed the ankle-cords that we might stand; And bade our mother feed us; And she, with tender fingers, held The milk-bowl to our parching lips; And thrust dried dates betwixt our teeth; And wept, to see us standing there, With helpless hands, before her.

Then, bringing out their mules, they saddled them; And tied us to the girths on either hand.

They drove my weeping sisters from the cavern; And sought to tear my mother from her home; But she escaped them; And they let her bide Amid the ruins of her life, Whose light had dropped, so suddenly, From out the highest heavens: And, when I turned to look on her, And win from her a last farewell, I saw her, sitting desolate betwixt Her silent husband and her wailing babe, With still, strange eyes, That stared upon the dead, unseeing, While her own children went from her, Scarce knowing that they left her, nevermore To look upon her face.

Thus, we set out, as over The darkening, Southern crags The new moon's keen, curved blade was thrust: My sisters trooping on before us, Like a drove of young gazelles, Which, in the dead of night, With pards in leash, and torches flaring, The hunters have encompa.s.sed.

They moved with timid steps, And little runs; Stumbling, with stifled cries; And starting, panic-shot, From every lurking shadow-- Behind them, terror's lifted lash: Before them, ever crouching, The horror of the unknown night-- While, as they moved before us, The moonlight s.h.i.+vered off their shrinking shoulders And naked, glancing limbs, In s.h.i.+mmering, strange beauty.

And closely on their heels, I, with my brothers, foremost in the file, Marched, tethered 'twixt the plodding beasts, Whose stolid riders sat, Each with his javelin on the pummel couched, In watchful silence, with dark eyes alert.

And once, nigh driven crazy By the tugging of the thongs, I sprang into the air, As down a rocky steep we scrambled; And strove to burst the galling bonds, Or hurl my guards on one another; But, all too sure of foot, the beasts, And too securely girths and cords Held me, and I stumbled.

Instantly a thong Struck my wincing shoulders, Blow on thudding blow.

I bit my lips; and strode on silently; Nor fought again for freedom.

So on we journeyed through the night, And down familiar mountain-tracks, Through deep, dark forest, Ever down and down; Fording the streams, whose moon-bright waters flowed, In eddies of delicious, aching cool, About our weary thighs.

And, once, when in mid-torrent, That swirled, girth-high about the plunging beasts, A startled otter, glancing Before their very hoofs, Affrighted them; and, rearing, With blind and desperate floundering, They nearly dragged us down to death: And, ere we righted, With a fearful cry, My eldest sister from the bevy broke; And struck down-stream With wild arm las.h.i.+ng desperately, Until the current caught her; And she sank, to rise no more.

And on again we travelled, Down through the darkling woodlands: And once I saw green, burning eyes, Where, on a low-hung bough, A night-black panther crouched, As though to pounce upon my sisters; But, the sudden crack of whips, Startling him, he snarled; And turned with las.h.i.+ng tail, Cras.h.i.+ng through dense brushwood.

When, once, again we came unto a clearing, The night was near its noon: And all the vales that lay before us Were filled with moving, moonlit mists, That seemed phantasmal waters Of that enchanted world, Where we, in dreams, sail over still lagoons, Throughout eternal night, And under unknown stars.

Still, on we fared, unresting, Until the low moon paled; When, halting on a mountain-spur, We first looked down on Babylon, Far in the dreaming West, A cl.u.s.ter of dim towers, Scarce visible to wearied eyes.

We camped within a sheltering cedar-grove; And all the day, beneath the level boughs, Upon the agelong-bedded needles lay, Half-slumbering, with fleeting, fretful dreams That could not quite forget the chafing cords, That held our arms in aching numbness: But, ere the noon, in sounder sleep I sank, Dreaming I floated on a still, deep pool, Beneath dark, overhanging branches; And seemed to feel upon my cheek The cool caress of waters; While, far above me, through the night of trees, Noon glimmered faintly as the glint of stars.

As thus I lay, in indolent ecstasy, O'er me, suddenly, the waters Curved, and I was dragged, Down and down, Through gurgling deeps Of swirling, drowning darkness...

When I awoke in terror; And strove to sit upright; But, tautly, with a jerk, The thongs that held me to my brothers, Dragged me back to earth.

Awhile I lay, with staring eyes, awake, Watching a big, grey spider, crouched overhead, In ambush 'neath a twig, beside her web, Oft sallying out, to bind yet more securely, The half-entangled flies.

And then, once more, I slumbered; And dreamed a face leant over me, More fair than any face My waking eyes had ever looked upon.

Its beauty burned above me, Not dusky like my sisters' faces, But pale as the wan moon, Reflected in a flood Of darkly flowing waters, Or as the creaming froth, That, born amid the thunder of the fall, Floats on the river's bosom in the suns.h.i.+ne, Bubble after bubble, Peris.h.i.+ng in air.

So, a moment, over me, With frail and fleeting glimmer Of strange elusive, evanescent light, The holy vision hovered.

And yet, whenever, with a fervent longing, I sought to look into the darkling eyes, The face would fade from me, As foam caught in an eddy: Until, at last, I wakened, And, wondering, saw a pale star gleaming Betwixt the cedar-branches.

And soon our captors stirred: And we arose, to see The walls and towers of Babylon, dark Against the clear rose of the afterglow, Already in the surge of shadows caught, As night, beneath us, slowly Westward swept, Flooding the dreaming plain that lay before us, Vast, limitless, bewildering, And strange to mountain-eyes.

As down the slope we went, And when, at last, we left behind The hills and singing waters, A vague, oppressive fear Of those dim, silent leagues of level land, Fell on me; and I almost seemed To bear upon my shoulders The vaster dome of overwhelming night; And, trembling like a child, I looked askance at my two captors, As they rode on in heedless silence, Their swarthy faces sharp Against the lucent sky.

And then, once more, The old, familiar watchfires of the stars Brought courage to my bosom; And the young moon's brilliant horn Was exalted in the sky: And soon, the glooming wilderness Awoke with glittering waters, As a friendly wind sang unto me Among the swaying reeds: While, cloud on cloud, The snowy flocks of pelican Before our coming rose; And, as they swerved to Southward, The moonlight s.h.i.+vered off their flas.h.i.+ng pinions.

So, on we marched, till dawn, across the plain; And, on and on, Beneath the waxing moon, Each night we travelled Westward; Until, at last, we halted By the broad dull-gleaming flood Of mighty, roaring Tigris; And aroused from midnight slumber The surly, grumbling ferrymen, And crossed the swollen waters Upon the great, skin rafts: Then on again we fared, Until the far, dim towers soared in the dawnlight And we encamped beside a stream, Beneath dry, rustling palms.

And heavily I slumbered: And only wakened once, at noon, When, lifting up my head, I saw the towers of Babylon, burning blue, Far off, in the blind heat: And slept again, till sunset, When we took our Westward course Along the low bank of a broad ca.n.a.l, That glimmered wanly 'neath a moonless sky.

Higher, and higher still, As we drew slowly nearer, Arose the vasty walls and serried towers, That seemed to thrust among the stars, And on embattled summits bear the night, Unbowed beneath their burden, As easily as, with unruffled brows, And limber, upright bodies, The village-daughters carry At eve the br.i.m.m.i.n.g pitchers, Poised upon their heads.

And when, above us, the wide-looming walls Shut out the Western stars; Beneath their shade, at midnight, we encamped, To await till dawn should open The city gates for us.

That night we did not sleep, But, crouched upon the ground, We watched the moon rise over Babylon, Till, far behind us, o'er the glittering waste, Was flung the wall's huge shadow, And the moving shades of sentries, Who, unseen above our heads, Paced through the night incessantly.

Thus long we sat, hushed with awed expectation, And gazing o'er the plain that we had travelled, As, gradually, the climbing moon, Escaping from the cl.u.s.tering towers, Revealed far-gleaming waters, And the sharp, shrill cry of owls, Sweeping by on noiseless plumes, a.s.sailed the vasty silence, s.h.i.+vering off like darts From some impenetrable s.h.i.+eld.

And, as we waited, Sometimes, fearfully, I gazed up those stupendous, soaring walls Of that great, slumbering city, wondering What doom behind the bastioned ramparts slept, What destiny, beneath the brooding night, Awaited me beyond the brazen gates.

But, naught the blind, indifferent stars revealed, Though towards the long night's ending, Half-dazed with gazing up that aching height, A drowsiness fell over me, And in a restless waking-trance I lay, Dreaming that Life and Death before me stood.

And, as each thrust towards me a shrouded cup, Implacable silence bade me choose and drink.

But, as I stretched a blind, uncertain hand To take the cup of death, I wakened, and dawn trembled, At last, beyond the Eastern hills, And, star by star, night failed; And eagerly the sun leapt up the sky, And, as his flas.h.i.+ng rays Smote kindling towers and flaming gates of bra.s.s, Across the reedy moat A clattering drawbridge fell, And wide the glittering portals slowly swung: And there came streaming out in slow procession A sleepy caravan of slouching camels, Groaning and grumbling as they strode along Beneath their mountainous burdens, Upon whose swaying summits, Impa.s.sively, the blue-robed merchants sat.

They pa.s.sed us slowly by, And then we took the bridge, And, while our captors parleyed with the guards, Who stood, on either hand, With naked swords, I turned my head, And saw for the last time, far Eastward, The cold, snow-brilliant peaks, Beyond my dim, blue, native hills.

And, as I looked, my thoughts flew homeward, And I, one dreaming moment, Stood by my mourning mother in the cavern Of desolation, looking on the dead.

And then, between the brazen gate-posts, And underneath the brazen lintel, At last we entered Babylon.

Before us, yet another wall arose, And, turning sharply Down a narrow way, The living breath of heaven seemed shut from us As though beneath the beetling crags Of some deep mountain-gorge-- By cliffs of wall, on either hand, That soared up to the narrow sky, Which with dim l.u.s.tre lit The s.h.i.+mmering surface of enamelled brick, Whereon, through giant groves, Blue-coated hunters chased the boar, Or 'loosed red-ta.s.selled falcon After flying crane.

But soon we reached another gate, Sword-guarded, and we entered, And plunged into the traffic Of clamorous merchantmen, Speeding their business ere the heat of day.

And as we jostled, slowly, Through bewildering bazaars, The porters and the idler wayfarers All turned to look upon our shame, With cold, unpitying eyes, And indolent, gaping mouths, Or jested with our captors, Until we left the busier thoroughfares, And walked through groves of cypress and of ilex, Where not a sound or rumour troubled The silence of the dark-plumed boughs And glimmering deeps of peace, Save only the cool spurt of waters That, from a myriad unseen jets, Fretted the crystal airs of morning, And fell in frolic showers Of twinkling, rainbow drops, That plashed in unseen basins; And through the blaze of almond-orchards, Tremulous with blossom That flickered in a rosy, silken snow Of falling petals over us, And wreathed about our feet In soft and scented drifts; Beneath pomegranate trees in young, green leaf, And through vast gardens, glowing with strange flowers, Such as no April kindled into bloom Among the valleys of my native hills.

We came unto a court of many fountains, Where, leaping off their jaded mules, Our captors loosed the thongs that held us, But left our wrists still bound.

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