XCIII.

But oh, thou grand legitimate Alexander!

Her son's son, let not this last phrase offend Thine ear, if it should reach—and now rhymes wander Almost as far as Petersburgh, and lend

A dreadful impulse to each loud meander

Of murmuring Liberty's wide waves, which blend

Their roar even with the Baltic's

so you be Your father's son, 't is quite enough for me.

XCIV.

To call men love-begotten, or proclaim
Their mothers as the antipodes of Timon,
That hater of mankind, would be a shame,
A libel, or whate'er you please to rhyme on:
But people's ancestors are history's game;

And if one lady's slip could leave a crime on
All generations, I should like to know
What pedigree the best would have to show?

XCV.

Had Catherine and the sultan understood

Their own true interests, which kings rarely know, Until 'tis taught by lessons rather rude,

There was a way to end their strife, although Perhaps precarious, had they but thought good, Without the aid of prince or plenipo: She to dismiss her guards and he his haram, And for their other matters, meet and share 'em.

XCVI.

But as it was, his Highness had to hold
His daily council upon ways and means
How to encounter with this martial scold,
This modern Amazon and queen
of queans;
And the perplexity could not be told

Of all the pillars of the state, which leans
Sometimes a little heavy on the backs
Of those who cannot lay on a new tax.

XCVII.

Meantime Gulbeyaz, when her king was gone,
Retired into her boudoir, a sweet place
For love or breakfast; private, pleasing, lone,
And rich with all contrivances which grace
Those gay recesses: -many a precious stone
Sparkled along its roof, and many a vase
Of porcelain held in the fetter'd flowers,
Those captive soothers of a captive's hours.

XCVIII.

Mother of pearl, and porphyry, and marble,
Vied with each other on this costly spot;
And singing birds without were heard to warble;
And the stain'd glass which lighted this fair grot
Varied each ray;-but all descriptions garble
The true effect, (1) and so we had better not
Be too minute; an outline is the best,-

A lively reader's fancy does the rest.

(1) [Motraye, in describing the interior of the Grand Signíor's palace, into which he gained admission as the assistant of a watch-maker, who was employed to regulate the clocks, says that the eunuch who received them

XCIX.

And here she summon'd Baba, and required
Don Juan at his hands, and information
Of what had pass'd since all the slaves retired,
And whether he had occupied their station;
If matters had been managed as desired,

And his disguise with due consideration
Kept up; and above all, the where and how
He had pass'd the night, was what she wish'd to know.

C.

Baba, with some embarrassment, replied

To this long catechism of questions, ask'd More easily than answer'd,—that he had tried His best to obey in what he had been task'd; But there seem'd something that he wish'd to hide, Which hesitation more betray'd than mask'd; He scratch'd his ear, the infallible resource To which embarrass'd people have recourse.

CI.

Gulbeyaz was no model of true patience,
Nor much disposed to wait in word or deed;
She liked quick answers in all conversations;

And when she saw him stumbling like a steed

at the entrance of the haram, conducted them into a hall, which appeared to be the most agreeable apartment in the edifice:-"Cette salle est incrustée de porcelaine fine; et le lambris doré et azuré qui orne le fond d'une coupole qui règne au-dessus, est des plus riches. Une fontaine artificielle et jail lissante, dont le basin est d'un précieux marbre verd qui m'a paru serpentin ou jaspe, s'élevoit directement au milieu, sous le dôme. Je me trouvai la tête si pleine de sophas, de précieux plafonds, de meubles superbes, en un mot, d'une si grande confusion de matériaux magnifiques, qu'il seroit difficile d'en donner une idée claire."- Voyages, tom. i. p. 220.]

In his replies, she puzzled him for fresh ones;
And as his speech grew still more broken-kneed,
Her cheek began to flush, her eyes to sparkle,
And her proud brow's blue veins to swell and darkle.

CII.

When Baba saw these symptoms, which he knew
To bode him no great good, he deprecated
Her anger, and beseech'd she'd hear him through-
He could not help the thing which he related:
Then out it came at length, that to Dudù

Juan was given in charge, as hath been stated; But not by Baba's fault, he said, and swore on The holy camel's hump, besides the Koran.

CIII.

The chief dame of the Oda, upon whom
The discipline of the whole haram bore,
As soon as they re-enter'd their own room,

For Baba's function stopt short at the door,
Had settled all; nor could he then presume

(The aforesaid Baba) just then to do more, Without exciting such suspicion as Might make the matter still worse than it was.

CIV.

He hoped, indeed he thought, he could be sure
Juan had not betray'd himself; in fact
'Twas certain that his conduct had been pure,
Because a foolish or imprudent act

Would not alone have made him insecure,

But ended in his being found out and sack'd, And thrown into the sea. (1)—Thus Baba spoke i Of all save Dudù's dream, which was no joke.

CV.

This he discreetly kept in the back ground,

For

And talk'd away—and might have talk'd till now, any further answer that he found,

So deep an anguish wrung Gulbeyaz' brow; Her cheek turn'd ashes, ears rung, brain whirl'd round, As if she had received a sudden blow,

And the heart's dew of pain sprang fast and chilly O'er her fair front, like Morning's on a lily.

CVI.

Although she was not of the fainting sort,
Baba thought she would faint, but there he err'd—
It was but a convulsion, which though short
Can never be described; we all have heard,
And some of us have felt thus "all amort,” (2)
When things beyond the common have occurr'd ;-
Gulbeyaz proved in that brief agony

What she could ne'er express-then how should I?

CVII.

She stood a moment as a Pythoness

Stands on her tripod, agonised, and full Of inspiration gather'd from distress,

When all the heart-strings like wild horses pull

(1) [See ante, Vol. IX. p. 200.]

(2) ["How fares my Kate? What! sweeting, all amort ?"

Taming of the Shrew.]