Thalaba the Destroyer Part 25

"But that were poor revenge.

"O Thalaba, thy G.o.d "Wreaks on the innocent head "His vengeance;... I must suffer in my child!

"Why dost thou pause to strike thy victim? Allah "Permits, commands the deed."

"Liar!" quoth Thalaba.

And Laila's wondering eye Looked up, all anguish to her Father's face, "By Allah and the Prophet," he replied, "I speak the words of truth.

"Misery, misery, "That I must beg mine enemy to speed "The inevitable vengeance now so near!

"I read it in her horoscope, "Her birth-star warned me of Hodeirah's race.

"I laid a spell, and called a Spirit up.

"He answered one must die "Laila or Thalaba....

"Accursed Spirit! even in truth "Giving a lying hope!

"Last, I ascended the seventh Heaven "And on the everlasting[169] Table there "In characters of light, "I read her written doom.

"The years that it has gnawn me! and the load "Of sin that it has laid upon my soul!

"Curse on this hand that in the only hour "The favouring stars allowed "Reeked with other blood than thine.

"Still dost thou stand and gaze incredulous?

"Young man, be merciful, and keep her not "Longer in agony!"

Thalaba's unbelieving frown Scowled on the Sorcerer, When in the air the rush of wings was heard And Azrael stood among them.

In equal terror at the sight The Enchanter, the Destroyer stood, And Laila, the victim maid.

"Son of Hodeirah!" said the Angel of Death, "The accursed fables not.

"When from the Eternal Hand I took "The yearly[170] scroll of fate, "Her name was written there.

"This is the hour, and from thy hands "Commissioned to receive the Maid I come."

"Hear me O Angel!" Thalaba replied, "To avenge my Father's death, "To work the will of Heaven, "To root from earth the accursed sorcerer race, "I have dared danger undismayed, "I have lost all my soul held dear, "I am cut off from all the ties of life, "Unmurmuring; for whate'er awaits me still, "Pursuing to the end the enterprize, "Peril or pain, I bear a ready heart.

"But strike this Maid! this innocent!

"Angel, I dare not do it."

"Remember," answered Azrael, "all thou sayest "Is written down for judgement! every word "In the balance of[171] thy trial must be weighed!"

"So be it!" said the Youth.

"He who can read the secrets of the heart "Will judge with righteousness!

"This is no doubtful path, "The voice of G.o.d within me cannot lie....

"I will not harm the innocent."

He said, and from above, As tho' it were the Voice of Night, The startling answer came.

"Son of Hodeirah, think again!

"One must depart from hence, "Laila, or Thalaba; "She dies for thee, or thou for her, "It must be life for life!

"Son of Hodeirah, weigh it well, "While yet the choice is thine!"

He hesitated not, But looking upward spread his hands to Heaven, "Oneiza, in thy bower of Paradise "Receive me, still unstained!"

"What!" exclaimed Okba, "darest thou disobey, "Abandoning all claim "To Allah's longer aid?"

The eager exultation of his speech Earthward recalled the thoughts of Thalaba.

"And dost thou triumph, Murderer? dost thou deem "Because I perish, that the unsleeping lids "Of Justice shall be closed upon thy crime?

"Poor, miserable man! that thou canst live "With such beast-blindness in the present joy "When o'er thy head the sword of G.o.d "Hangs for the certain stroke!"

"Servant of Allah, thou hast disobeyed, "G.o.d hath abandoned thee, "This hour is mine!" cried Okba, And shook his Daughter off, And drew the dagger from his vest.

And aimed the deadly blow.

All was accomplished. Laila rushed between To save the saviour Youth.

She met the blow and sunk into his arms, And Azrael from the hands[172] of Thalaba Received her parting soul.

THE ELEVENTH BOOK.

THE ELEVENTH BOOK.

O fool to think thy human hand Could check the chariot-wheels of Destiny To dream of weakness in the all-knowing Mind That his decrees should change!

To hope that the united Powers Of Earth, and Air, and h.e.l.l, Might blot one letter from the Book of Fate, Might break one link of the eternal chain!

Thou miserable, wicked, poor old man, Fall now upon the body of thy child, Beat now thy breast, and pluck the bleeding hairs From thy grey beard, and lay Thine ineffectual hand to close her wound.

And call on h.e.l.l to aid, And call on Heaven to send Its merciful thunderbolt!

The young Arabian silently Beheld his frantic grief.

The presence of the hated youth To raging anguish stung The wretched Sorcerer.

"Aye! look and triumph!" he exclaimed, "This is the justice of thy G.o.d!

"A righteous G.o.d is he, to let "His vengeance fall upon the innocent head!

"Curse thee, curse thee, Thalaba!"

All feelings of revenge Had left Hodeirah's son.

Pitying and silently he heard The victim of his own iniquities, Not with the busy hand Of Consolation, fretting the sore wound He could not hope to heal.

So as the Servant of the Prophet stood, With sudden motion the night air Gently fanned his cheek.

'Twas a Green Bird whose wings Had waved the quiet air.

On the hand of Thalaba The Green Bird perched, and turned A mild eye up, as if to win The Adventurer's confidence.

Then springing on flew forward, And now again returns To court him to the way; And now his hand perceives Her rosy feet press firmer, as she leaps Upon the wing again.

Obedient to the call, By the pale moonlight Thalaba pursued O'er trackless snows his way; Unknowing he what blessed messenger Had come to guide his steps, That Laila's Spirit went before his path.

Brought up in darkness and the child of sin, Yet as the meed of spotless innocence, Just Heaven permitted her by one good deed To work her own redemption, after death; So till the judgement day She might abide in bliss, Green[173] warbler of the Bowers of Paradise.

The morning sun came forth, Wakening no eye to life In this wide solitude; His radiance with a saffron hue, like heat, Suffused the desert snow.

The Green Bird guided Thalaba, Now oaring with slow wing her upward way, Descending now in slant descent On out-spread pinions motionless, Floating now with rise and fall alternate, As if the billows of the air Heaved her with their sink and swell.

And when, beneath the noon, The icey glitter of the snow Dazzled his aching sight, Then on his arm alighted the Green Bird And spread before his eyes Her plumage of refres.h.i.+ng hue.

Evening came on; the glowing clouds Tinged with a purple ray the mountain ridge That lay before the Traveller.

Ah! whither art thou gone, Guide and companion of the youth, whose eye Has lost thee in the depth of Heaven?

Why hast thou left alone The weary wanderer in the wilderness?

And now the western clouds grow pale And Night descends upon his solitude.

The Arabian youth knelt down, And bowed his forehead to the ground And made his evening prayer.

When he arose the stars were bright in heaven, The sky was blue, and the cold Moon Shone over the cold snow.

A speck in the air!

Is it his guide that approaches?