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 S O O H R A B, 
 
 A POEM.
 
 S O O H R A ^, 
 
 9 ipom: 
 
 FREELY TRANSLATED FROxlI TRE ORIGINAL PERSIAN 
 
 OF 
 
 FI R DO USEE; 
 
 JDEING A PORTION OF THE SHJHNAMU OF THAT 
 CELEBRATED POET, 
 
 BY JAMES ATKINSON, 
 
 ASSISXAN']^ SURGEON ON THE BENGAL ESTABLISHMENT, AND MEMBER 
 OF THE ASIATIC SOCIETY. 
 
 PUBLISHED V^'DER THE SAXCTIOX OF TITE COLLEGE 
 or FORT WILLI. mi A 
 
 PaiNTED EY P. PEP.EIRA, AT THE UINDOOSTANEE TRESS.
 
 PK 
 
 DEmCATION. 
 
 TO 
 
 HIS EXCELLENCY THE RIGHT HONORABLE 
 
 FRANCIS, EARL OF MOIRA, K. G. 
 
 GOVERNOR GENERAIi 
 AND 
 
 COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF BRITISH INDIA, 
 
 ^C. S^C, S^c, 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 I AM highly sensible of the honor which 
 you have done me in permitting the followin-g 
 work to be dedicated to your Lordship. The 
 knowledge acquired by your Lordship in the 
 Persian language will enable you to judge of 
 the merits of Firdousee in the original Poem. 
 
 ^ riA Or^O/l
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 I wish that the translation had been more worthy 
 of your Lordship's patronage ; but I am confi- 
 dent that the indulgence which it requires will 
 not be witheld by one so eminently gifted in 
 literature and eloquence, and whose generosity 
 of disposition, is only equalled by the splendor of 
 his rank and the high endowments of his mind. 
 
 I have the honor to be, fl L 
 
 My Lord, ^AnuooS 
 
 Your Lordship's ,^ *r 
 
 Most Obedient Servant, 
 
 J. AtKINSON. 
 CALCUTTA, ^ ^^ '^^^^^ 
 
 Juguii 1, 18U, 5>
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 XHE Skahnamu, from which the Poem of 
 SooHRAB is taken, comprises the history and 
 achievements of the ancient Kin2:s of Persia from 
 Kuyomoors, down to tlic invasion and con- 
 qiiest of that empire by the Saracens, during 
 the reign of Yuzdjird, in 636, It is replete 
 with heroic and chivah'ous adventures, which 
 are Written Avith great strength of genius and 
 fervor of imagination. Of Abooi Qasim Fir- 
 dousee, the author of this celebrated work, httle 
 is satisfactorily known. He v»'as born at Too?, 
 a city of Khorasan, about tlie year 950. The
 
 a HlEFACE. 
 
 following circumstances respecting the origin of 
 the Poem and the life of the Poet, are chiefly 
 derived from the Preface to the copy of the 
 Shahnamu which was collated in the year of 
 the Hijree 829, nearly 400 years ago, by order 
 of Bayisunghur Buhadoor Khan. It appears 
 from that Preface that Yuzdjird, the last King 
 of the Sassanian race, took considerable pains 
 in collecting all the chronicles, histories, anrl 
 traditions, connected with Persia and the So- 
 vereigns of that country, from the time of Kuy- 
 omoors to the accession of the Khoosroos, which 
 by his direction were digested and brought into 
 one view, and formed the book known by the 
 name of Siyurool Moolook, or theBASTAN-NAMU. 
 When the followers of Moohummud overturned 
 the Persian monarchy, this work was found in 
 the plundered library of Yuzdjird. The Preface 
 above alluded to minutely traces its progress, 
 tlirougli different hands in Arabia, Ethiopia,
 
 preface;, iii 
 
 and Hiii'loostan. The chronicle was after- 
 \]itards continuefl to the time of Yuzdjird. In 
 the tenth century, one of the Kings of the 
 Samanian dynasty directed Dnqeeqee to ver-* 
 sify th^t; §:Uensive Avork, but tlie Poet only 
 lived to finish a thousand distichs, having been 
 assassinated by his own slave. Nothing further 
 was done till the reign of Sooltan Mahmood 
 Subooktugeen, in the beginning of the eleventh 
 century. That illustrious conqueror with the 
 intention of augmcnthig the glories of his reign, 
 projected a history of Ihe Kings of Persia, and 
 ordered the literary characters of his court oon-» 
 jointly to prepare one from alt accessible re- 
 cords. While they were engaged upon this la- 
 borious undertaking, a romantic accident, which 
 it is unnecessary to describe, furnished the Sool- 
 tan with a copy of the Bastax-namu, the. exis- 
 tence of which was till then unknown to him. 
 From this work Mahmood selected seven Stones
 
 If ^ PREFACE. 
 
 or Romances, which he delivered to seven Poets 
 to be composed in verse, that he might he abl^ 
 to ascertain the merits of each competitor. Th^ 
 Poet Unsuree, to whom the story of Roostmn 
 and Soohrab was given, gained the pahn, and h^ 
 was accordingly engaged to arrange the whole 
 in veyse. 
 
 Firdousee was at this time at Toos, his native 
 chj^ where he cultivated his poetical talents 
 with assiduity and success. He had heard cf 
 the attempt of Duqeeqee to versify the history 
 of the Kings of Persia, and of the determination 
 of the reigning King, Mahmood, to patronize 
 an undertaking which promised to add lustre to 
 the age in wliich he lived. Having fortunately 
 giicceeded in procuring a copy of the BASTANf ^ 
 If AMu7 ne pursued his studies with vmremitti 
 
 t^=- 
 
 zeal, and soon produced that part of the Poeni 
 
 ■7 ;- ^; -. ■ : . ■ , If 
 
 in which the baUles of Zohak and Fureedooi^ 
 are described. The performance was universiillY;
 
 ' RREFAC12> -H 
 
 read iand admired, and it was not lon^ before 
 bis fame reached the ears of the Sooltan, who 
 immediately invited him to his Com'tyBjiso 
 
 When Firdouaee arrived at Ghuzneen, th^ 
 success of Unsuree in giving a poetical dress to 
 +he Pvomance of Roostuni and Soohrab, was 
 the subject of general observation and praise.? 
 Animated by this proof of Uterary taste, he com- 
 menced upon the story of tlie battles of Isfundiyar 
 and Roostum, and having completed it, he em- 
 braced the earliest opportunity of getting that 
 
 * A singular anecdote is also related in the same Pre- 
 face. When our author reached the capital, he happened to 
 pAss near a garden where Unsuree, Usjudee, and Furrokhee 
 \vere seated. TJie Poets observed him approach, and at 
 once agreed that if the stranger chanced to have any 
 taste for poetry, which they intended to put to the test, 
 ^8 sliotj,ld be adniitted to their friendship. Firdousee 
 
 joined them and hearing their proposal, promised to exert 
 
 ..1.0 o[ 
 Jiis powers.. Unsuree commenced with an extemporane^'
 
 Poem presented to the Sooltan, who had already 
 seen abundant evidence of the transcendent 
 talents of the author. Mahmood regarded the 
 production with admiration and delight. He^ 
 without hesitating a moment, appointed liini 
 to complete the Shahnamu, and ordered his 
 chief Minister* to pay him a thousand misqala 
 
 m ^ ; . : .. 
 
 The light of the moon to thy splendor is weak, 
 TJpjudee rejoined : 
 
 The rose is eclipsed by the bloom of thy cheek ; 
 Then Furrokhee : 
 
 Thy eye-lashes dart thro' the folds of the joshun.f 
 Arid Firdougee : 
 
 Like the javelin of Gu in the battle with Poshun. 
 The Poets were astonished at the readiness of the stranger 
 and ashamed at being- totally ignorant of the stoiy of 
 Gu and Posiiun, wliich Firdousee related as described 
 in the Bastan-namu. They iuimedititely treated him with 
 the greatest kindness and respect. 
 
 ■•" Uhffiud Mymundee. , ri£ 
 
 • — . _ — , _ . , ' ..__ ■ . .!•. ■ ._ :.ja i 
 
 + joshuHj arnijur. . .' ' '"
 
 PREFACE. - Til 
 
 ibr every thousand distichs, and at the same 
 time honored him with the surname of Firdousee, 
 because that he had diifused over his Court 
 the delights of paradise.* Unsuree liberally 
 acknowledg-ed the superiority of Firdousee's 
 genius, and relinquished the undertaking with* 
 out apparent regret. 
 
 The Minister, in compliance with the injunc-< 
 tions of j\Iahinood, offered to pay the sums as 
 the work went on; but Firdousee preferred 
 waiting till he had completed his engagement, 
 and receiving the whole at once, as . he had 
 long indulged the hope of being able to do 
 something of importance for the benefit of his 
 native city. 
 
 It appears that Firdousee was of an indepen- 
 dent spirit, and not of that pliant disposition 
 which was necessary to satisfy iiie expectations 
 and demands of the proud "V^uzeer, who offend- 
 
 * Firdou3 signifies paradise.
 
 viir PJ^.EFACE. 
 
 eli al his unbending manners, did every thing in: 
 his power to ruin his interest with the King. 
 Several passages in his Poems vrere extracted 
 and invidiously commented upon, as containing 
 sentiments contrary to the principles of the true 
 Faith! It was alleged that they proved him to. 
 be an impious philosopher, a schismatic, and a 
 follower of Ulee. But in spite of ail that arti- 
 fice and malignity could frame, the Poet rose in 
 the esteem of the public. Admiration followed 
 h?.m in the progress of the work, and presents 
 Mere showered upon him from every quarter* 
 The Poems were at length completed. The 
 composition of sixty thousand couplets* appears 
 to have cost him the labour of thirty years. Thei. 
 Sooltan was fully sensible of the value and ex- 
 
 . _ — ''*'i!i;iO 
 
 * In a dissertation called Yaminee it is said that 
 
 the ancient Poet Rodukee, who flourished half a century 
 
 before Firdousee, had written one million and three hua* 
 
 drcd verses ! ! !
 
 PREFACE. ix 
 
 cellence of that splendid monument of genius and 
 talents, and proud of being tiie patronizer of a 
 work which promised to perpetuate his name, he 
 ordered an elephant-load of gold to be given to the 
 author. But the malignity of the Minister was 
 unappeased, and he was still bent upon the de- 
 gradation and ruin of the Poet, Instead of the 
 elephant-load of gold, he sent to him 60^000 
 silver dirhums !^ Firdousee vras in the public; 
 bath at the time, and when he found that the 
 bags contained only silver, he was so enraged 
 at the insult offered to him, that on the spot he 
 gaTe 20,000 to the keeper of the bath, 20,000 
 
 * This conduct is more thai) paralleled by the Cardinal 
 Farnese. Annibale Caracci devoted eight years of study 
 and labour in painting the series of pictures in the Farnese 
 Gallery at Rome, which do honor to his nanie and countrr, 
 and when he expected to be rewarded with the munili-. 
 ceuce whicli they meiiled, he received little more thaa 
 SOOjg and to add to the indignity, the amount i.-. said to 
 have heQjfi sent to him in copper money !
 
 ^ PREFACE. 
 
 to the seller of refreshments, and 2D,006 to the 
 slave who brought them. " Tiie Sooltan shall 
 know," he ^iid, "that I did not bestow the 
 labour of thirty years on a work, to be rewarded 
 with dirhums!'' When this circumstance came 
 to the knowledge of the King he was exceedingly 
 exasperated at the disgraceful conduct of the 
 Minister, who had, however, artifice and inge« 
 niiity enough to exculpate himself, and to cast 
 all the blame upon the Poet. Firdousee was 
 cliarged with disrespectful and insulting beha- 
 viour to his Sovereign ^ and Mahmood, thus 
 stimulated to resentment, and not questioning 
 the veracity of the Minister, passed an order 
 that the next morning he should be trampled to 
 death under the feet of an elephant. The un- 
 fortunate Poet, paiiie-struck and in the greatest 
 consternation heard of the will of the Sooltari, 
 He immediately hurried to the presence, and 
 falling at the feet of the King, begged for mer-
 
 PEEFACE, - xi 
 
 ^y, at. the same time pronouacing an elegant 
 euloguinx on the glories of iiis reio-n, and the 
 innate generosity of his heart. Tiie King tpu-j 
 cbed by his agitation, and respecting the brilU-< 
 ancy of his talents, at length condescended to 
 i:-e>:oke the order* 
 
 c),'But the v^ouiid was deep and not to be endur- 
 edG>>uthput a^. pTiurnam\ He went home and 
 wrote a; Satitfeagainst Mahmood, with all the; 
 jijitteniess of reproach which insulted merit 
 could devise,, and iiistantly fled from the court. 
 rHe passed some time at Mazinduran and after- 
 ;W,/a^]ds took refuge at Bagdad, where he was 
 ^ )>igh favour with the Caliph Ul Qadur Billali, 
 -ilifwliose praise he added a thousand couplet3 
 4p,the Shaiinamu, and for which. he receival 
 t%^'Qhe of honor, and 60,000 deenars. He also 
 jYfc^Qte a poem called Joseph during hi© stay, in 
 ?Jtet.Gity^£S'iq -,iij ^; j.c^j^ o^iimu ^R 
 
 ^(. li/J^hmood at leng^ became acquamted with 
 
 b 2
 
 '■JJ^ 
 
 xif preface; 
 
 - ..'•f 
 
 ^i4 falsehvood and treacM;/- of tte WiVzeer,^: 
 \i4jdse cruel persecution trf the \lnbfFeiiding Poet 
 hRdlWftiHred the characta^ ahd refutation (Df his 
 (^6'tfrtW^'df§ra^ His indignatioh'?i#s ex-, 
 treme, and the Minister vras banished for ever 
 from his. presence. Anxious to mtxlie all the 
 reparation in his power for the injustice he 
 had been guilty of, he immediately dispatched 
 to Bagdad, a ''present of 60,000 deenars, and 
 a robe of state, with many apologies for what 
 -had happened. But Firdousee did not live 
 to be gratified by this consoling acknowledg- 
 ment. He had returned to his friends at . 
 TooB, where he died before tlie present from 
 ■the King arrived. His family however scrupu-< 
 lously devoted it to the benevolent purposes 
 which the Poet had originally intended, viz. the 
 erection of public buildings, and the general 
 improvement of his native city. 
 
 This brief biographical notice is the siini of
 
 PREFACE. aiU 
 
 all that is known of the great l'irdousep,.,,T|i% 
 Poet seems to have lived to a considerable age. 
 When he wrote the Satire against Mahmood, 
 according to his own account, he was more than 
 
 seventy. 
 
 When Charity demands a bounteoibs dole. 
 Close is thy hand, contracted as thy soul ; 
 Now seventy years have marked my long career, 
 I,. Nay more, but age has no protection liere ! 
 
 Probably about ten years elapsed during his so- 
 journ at Mazinduran and Bagdad, after he 
 quitted the Court of Ghuzneen, so that he must 
 
 'have been at least eighty when he died. It ap- 
 pears from several parts of the Satire that a 
 period of thirty years were employed in the com- 
 
 cposition of the Shahnamu, from which it must 
 be inferred that he had been engaged upon 
 that work long before the accession of Mah- 
 mood to the throne, for that Monarch sur- 
 
 rovived. Firdouaee ten yeai*s, and the period of
 
 xfv PREFACE, 
 
 rei^Ti was onlv thirty-one. Akhouo-h there- 
 
 be Doching in the preceding memoir toincUf^f 
 
 cate that the poet had eommenced versifyiijg 
 
 the Bastan-na3i:u nine years before the reign 
 
 of Mahraoad, the oircunistance can hardly be 
 
 queslioned. AH Oriental Biography is so 
 
 vague, metaphorical, and undetermined, that 
 
 there is always great diHicully la. arriving at 
 
 the simplest fact, yet it is not at all probable 
 
 that the round number of thirty years was 
 
 falsely assumed by the poet. Notwithstanding 
 
 4he turn which is given by the Pieface just 
 
 mentioned, to the cause of Firdousee's disa,p- 
 
 pointment, in referring it to the rancour of the 
 
 Minister, the conduct of Mahmood was in the 
 
 highest degree ungrateful and insulting. He 
 
 well knew that the Minister sent dirhuws ij^- 
 
 stead of the elephant-load of jgokl^.and^^still 
 
 he suflfered himself to be flatteretjL^jaj^^^j^oled 
 
 into petty resentment against the man ^hp^^Uftc)?
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 in the opening verses of the Poem , imriiortalized 
 his name. The present of 00,000 deenars which 
 ^e afterwards sent to Bagdad seems at any rate 
 to shew that he felt some stings of conscience 
 and that he wished to recover from the disgrace 
 vi^iich attached to him, as a patron of Hteratnre, 
 iV'om so dishonorable a transaction. 
 
 The Shahna:^iu is the finest production of the 
 ^iiid Which Oriental Nations can boast. The 
 
 sreneral character of Persian verse is well known 
 to He excess of ornament and inflation of style, 
 but the language of Firdousee combines a great 
 portion of the energy and grace of western 
 poetry. His descriptions are generally powerful, 
 tlioufrh sometimes diffuse and tedious. His verse 
 is exquisitely smooth and flowing, arul never in- 
 terrupted by harsh forms of construction. He 
 is the sweetest and most sublime poet of Persia, 
 jfii^i/pic grandeur he is above all, and in the 
 sifter passions he is far superior to Jamee or Ha-
 
 fn PREFACE. 
 
 fiz. He is besides the easiest to beundsrstood^ 
 The author of tlie SnAHNAMuhas usually been 
 called the Homer of the Ea?t, but certainly not 
 from any consideration of placins^ the Greek 
 and Persian toirether in the same scale of excel- 
 lence. Sir W. Jones in his Essay on the Poetry 
 of the Eastern Nations, does " not pretend to 
 assert that the Poet of Persia is equal to that 
 of Greece; but there is certainly," he observes 
 " a very great resemblance between the works 
 of those extraordinary men; both drew their 
 images from Nature herself, without catching 
 them only from reflexion, and painting in the 
 manner of the modern poets, the likeness of 
 a likeness ; and both possessed, in an eminent 
 degree, the rich and creative invention which is 
 the very soul of Poetry." Tiiere is another re- 
 semblance, Avhich is however unconnected with 
 their comparative merits ; the heroic Poems of 
 Firdousee are held exactly in the same eslima-
 
 PREFACE. xvli 
 
 tjpn in the East, with reference to the works 
 of other poets, a^ those of Homer are in the 
 
 West. Like Homer too he describes a nida 
 
 .. ■ ' ...J 
 
 age, whei^^ personal strength and ferocious cou*. 
 rage were chiefly valued, and when the tumul- 
 tUQUS passions of the mind had not been softened 
 and harmonized by civihzation, or bvought 
 under the control of reason and reflexion. Fir- . 
 dousee is also as much the father of Persian 
 Poetry as Homer is of the Greek ; but it would 
 be sacrilege to draw a critical comparison be- 
 tween the Shaiinamu and the Iliad ! 
 
 It has been observed by Dr. Hurd in his 
 Letters on Chivalry and Romance, that " there 
 is "a riema.rkable correspondence between the 
 manners of the old heroic times as painted by 
 their o-reat Romancer Homer, and those which 
 a¥e represented to us in the modern books of 
 knight-errantry." The correspendence is how- 
 ever infinitely more striking between tlie man-
 
 xftii PREFACE. 
 
 fei-s described by Firdousee, and those of tke 
 age of European Chivalryv It is well known 
 that the Moors carried into Spain the Fictijons 
 and Romifeifces of Arabia and Pei^siai; Most 
 of bur best tales are derived front 2the same 
 source, but it was not till the 12 th Centwy that 
 Romances of Chivalry began to amuse and de* 
 light the Western world. Allhough the Romwi 
 de la Rose wa>s ihe first consider^ya^.worl^x.f'^ 
 the kind in verse, the Poem which gave^bHf<2 
 and character to all succeeding tales of Chivaby 
 was the Orlando Innamorato of Eloyardo, after- 
 wards improved and paraphrased by Berni. 
 To this production we are indebted for tlljC 
 Orlando Furioso of Ariosto. The Siiahnamu 
 was fmished early in the eleventh centuiy,- gath- 
 ered from the tales and legends, for ages.lriacHp' 
 tionally known throughout the Easi, amirtherie 
 are Camillas, and Bradamantes in it a® -rvaliarit 
 and beautiful as in Yirgiljor .ATiastOv'-sIfi^tlie
 
 PREFACE. ,fi5 
 
 follovrina: Poem the reader will be struck willx 
 many resemblaftces to the classical compositions 
 of the West. '>• *rfr hshfj^ncoM': 
 
 The story of Soohrab is a fair-speGimen of 
 Firdousee's powers as a Poet. It is perhaps 
 one of the most beautiful and interesting; iii 
 the SHAHNA3IU. Had the Poet been able ,t^ 
 depict the nii^r varieties of emotion and pas* 
 feioi^,^^''tTie^^1?iKyiH3 refined workings of the minti 
 imddl'the influence of disappointment, love, and 
 despair, the poem would have been still more 
 deserving of praise. But, as Johnson observes 
 of Milton, " he knew human nature only in 
 Ihe gross, and had never studied the shades df 
 dmracter, nor the combinations of concurring*, 
 ■oi-: the perplexity of contending passions ;?^yTet 
 is there much to admire. Sir William Jones, 
 had planned a tragedy of Soohrab, and inteiided 
 t© have arranged it with a Chorus of the Magi, 
 prFi^e-worshipersj but it was found unfijiishcd
 
 XX . PREFACE. 
 
 Respecting the work now offered to the piib«^ 
 lie it may be necessary to say a few "wordsi 
 T^ rules of poetical translaiiou are now pretty 
 genei'ally understood, and even in European 
 languages, w'hich are Hot essentially dissimilai^ 
 in idiom and imagery, considerable latitude ©I- 
 expression is alwiiys allowed. Tiiose who best 
 
 kjiewf./tliU§b peculiarities of the Persian will ax>t 
 
 ____ __ ^ ____^_,_ 
 
 * It is ver^ extraordinary Iiovv this great Orientalist 
 could hive mistaken the Story so far as the following view 
 of iV- "at the end 6f*his History of Nadir Sliah, demon- 
 strates, v" Riistem, voya^eant sous un nom empntnW^^oW 
 tei^jiye le TiiOT/cn de scduire line, jeune princessc, a qui la' 
 honte fit ensuite exposer le fruit de cet amour infortuHQ^ 
 Sohareb, c'est le nom de cet enfant abandonne, ne conoisr 
 sant point ses parens, entre au service d'Afrasiab, est 
 avan(5e par ce roi aux premieres chargiss de TArmee, et 
 eaftri envoye pour combattre Rustem, qui nfe le'reconnou 
 pour Soil fils qu'apres Tavoir mortellemeht bleJsei^'^ ■ ' 
 
 TkAIXE §UR LA P0ESI5 OfilENXAIiB*
 
 PREFACE. xsi. 
 
 knowledge how requisite it is to adopt a still 
 greyer freedoti^ of interpretation in conveying 
 Eastern notions into English verse. I have^ 
 consequenUy paid more attention td sentimeBt* 
 than words. The translation is much shorter^ 
 than 6ie original, having avoided all the repe**! 
 titioTis and redundancies which I could not pre*^ 
 serve with any degree of success. The Persiarr 
 r^adey may be of opinion, that a clo^r adh^eW^ 
 ence 16 the descriptions and amplifications of 
 the original would have given a better view of 
 Iheriierits of the author, but I was not desirous 
 pf) hazarding the experiment. The pi'ogress of 
 thei'^ale would have been interrupted, ktid; 
 tirineces^arily protracted to double the extent,^ 
 One unsuccessful attempt is a sufficient beacon. 
 Some years ago Mr. Champion published a vo- 
 lume containinfic a translation in EnMish verse 
 of the first parts of the ShahnamuJ^^ I have 
 uev^- been able to procure a copy of that work
 
 xxi! PREFACE; 
 
 a^€an only judge of its merits fram Itie c^pf* 
 o«s extracts which are inserted in Wawn^^§ 
 Tour to Sheeraz (London edition). Thef ict^ 
 much too diffuse, and possess little dHhe spi¥i't Sf 
 Firdousee. Specimens of the Persian PdSt M!^ 
 also been translated into French by Walett'^ 
 Mtg. Hammer, the conductor of the peri6^ 
 dical work published in Germany, calWd Mih^ 
 Sf the East, has recently given to ' ^tic^^ <i&vWt 
 a translation of one of the Tales, iChoosrdo 
 and Sheereen, with the original annexed, ^d-* 
 justed from the only two manuscript copie.'S 
 which he could obtain* In proposing to piiB- 
 ffih iti entire translation, with the text, wfiich 
 he calculates will occupy ten years ! Hammiej* 
 laments the scarcity of valuable MSS, and inw^ 
 deed it seems quite impossible that, in Europey 
 ha -can ever have the opportunities and advaH^^ 
 tages required in an Editor of such ah Mtferiaiv© 
 work. The text which Ue publishes may cou«
 
 . PREFACE, , xjBia 
 
 sequently be taken from one that has no greater 
 claim to correctness than those commonly circu- 
 lated in, the East* -The translation he has given 
 appe^j:s> tt^ihe quite literal, and is written in tli^ 
 sai)a)^ ^jniB^sure as the Persian,5c, JO' which lart^ 
 guage^the German is said to have a great affinityj^ 
 and may in consequence bear repetition and difFu** 
 sion. ■ The English language, on the contrary^ 
 ^•jQQ.cqp^ise, vigorous, and comprehensive, ip 
 ?td^i,\-jp|if the prolixity of delail and jElpivyjs^y am- 
 plipcation of the Persian, and I am of opinion 
 tb^l a literal translation of Firdousee would 
 never be read with pleasure or satisfaction, 
 
 Sc>me apology may be demanded, for ^iJie 
 Ifin^Jtb of the notes. I was anxious.^^Q,iU^^tj-a|(e 
 the Poem by analogous passages from ;oua:iit:^]<jpi, 
 poets, as w-ell as to shew that tlie chaster produc- 
 tions of the East are more meritorious, and 
 KOfli^e closely resemble those of the West,^tJlan 
 
 "^*^iie^nie S iiSist^'s Bath Guide. ' ' " ' ' ' ^'^''^
 
 xxlv PREFACE. 
 
 has heen commonly imagined* With what suc- 
 cess the reader must decide* 
 
 The original text, now first printed, is taken, 
 from a manuscript corrected under the superin* 
 tend en ce of the learned Mr.. Lumsden,. Pro« 
 fessor of the Arabic and Persian languages in 
 the College of Fort William, and kindly lerit 
 to me by that gentleman with the laudable 
 view of promoting the diffusion of Oriental 
 literature. It was carefully collated from twenty 
 seven manuscript copies, by a body of natives 
 of acknowledged acquirements, whom he had 
 selected for the purpose of preparing a complete 
 Edition of the Shahnamu, which it was calcu- 
 lated would be comprised in eight folio volumes. 
 The first vokime appeared in 1811, but the 
 publication of the second, which will contain 
 the stoiy of Soohrab, has been suspended. 
 When we consider that at present all the 
 manuscripts of the Shahnamu extant are so
 
 IPREFACE. 
 
 xxv 
 
 exceedingly incorrect, and many of them with 
 interpolations and omissions to the extent^^of 
 from ten to twenty thousand verse*?, the impor- 
 taBce of the work, liberally undertaken to rescue 
 the great Poet of Persia for ever from the ignor- 
 
 /;ance and vanity of transcribers, may ^ be Sup- 
 posed to ensure its completion, I trust ll^fit 
 
 ^ nothing may occur to operate against ' the fim.l 
 accomplishment of this desirable object. ; lt>rHl 
 be as highly creditable to the industry and eru- 
 dition of the Editor, as it is peculiarly worthy 
 of the patronage and munificence of the Honor- 
 able Court of Directors, vmder whose fostering 
 care and protection the languages and iitei'aluli'e 
 
 of Asia have been studied with such distin- 
 guished success, r..^ ^ 
 
 ^dt
 
 S O O H R A B, 
 
 a poem. 
 
 HERE Scythian wilds in sullen grandeur lie. 
 And hovering mists obscure the azure sky^ 
 
 Verse 1. Where Scythian xcilds^ S^c.~\ Ancient Scythua em- 
 braced the vhole of Tooran and thr; northern part of Persia. 
 The Tooranlans are the Scythians of the Greek Historians, who 
 arc said, about the year B. C. 639, to have invaded the kingdom 
 of the Medes. 
 
 For now the Parthian King, 
 In Ctesiphon had gathered all his host, 
 Against the Scijlhian^ whose incursions wild. 
 Have wasted Sogdiana. Miltov. 
 
 Tooran, which is the ancient name of the country cf Toorkis- 
 tan, appears from Des Guignes, to be the source and fountain of 
 
 \
 
 2 SOOIIRAB, 
 
 With venturous speed o'er plains and forests drear. 
 The mi'^'hty Roostum chaced the panting deer : 
 And oft exulting saw his quivering dart^ 5 
 
 plunge through the glossy skin and pierce the heart — • 
 
 all the celebrated Scythian nations, which under the name of 
 Goths and Vandals subsequently overran the Roman empire. 
 Iran and Tooran, according to the Oriental Historians, compre- 
 hended all that is comprised in upper Asia, with the exception 
 of India and China. Every country beyond the pale of the 
 Persian empire was considered barbarous and ^'j^j ^^^jl Iran 
 and Tooran is often understood in the same manner as Urub oo 
 Ujum, Arabs and Persians, or rather Barbarians, the Arabians 
 pluming themselves on a similar distinction. Thus also among 
 the Hebrews, Jews and Gentiles. The great river called by the 
 Arabs and Persians, Jihoon and Amou, and by t!»r Greeks and 
 Romans, Bactrus and Oxus, divided these two great countries 
 from each other. 
 
 V^EiisE 4. The might i/ Roosf urn chaced the pa7ifing deer.'] The 
 original is j^S Gor. A wild Ass, the Onager, an Elk, a Goat- 
 hart. Hunting the Gor appears to have been a favorite sport in 
 Persia. Buhram the Sixth was surnamed Gor, in consequence of 
 his being peculiarly devoted to the ohacecf this animal, and which
 
 A FOEM. 
 
 Tired of the chace at lengLh, he sought the shade. 
 Which near a stream emhcwering trees dlsplay'd; 
 There heaped the kindling fire with crackUnj^ wood. 
 With eager haste prepared the savoury food ; lO 
 
 at last, cost Mm his life. D"Herbelot. 
 
 ^^•^ jf J^'J^ J^/^ 3^- W '^J Jjf JJ'^ '^■''^' ^^ 
 " When he arrived in Tooran he came to a forest abounding 
 with deer." In the Romance or Division of the Shahnama im- 
 mediately preceding the present Poem, Raostum is fighting against 
 the Tooranians, and pursues the flying army, led by Afrasiab, 
 with great carnage. Afrasiab had offered the diadem to any 
 chief who should conquer Rocstum, that Champion having ^vith 
 ills warrior-friends made a formidable incursion into his king- 
 dom, under the pretense of hunting. Rocstum defeats Afrasiab, 
 but it does not appear from Firdousee how he separated from his 
 companions to hunt alone as described in the opening verses. 
 His espousing the daughter of the King of Sumungan must have 
 happened during this excursion, otherwise there would be a 
 considerable gap in the arrangement of the Poems. 
 
 Verse 9. There heaped the kindling Jire, Sfc.'] There is no 
 mention in the original, how the flame was produced. But iu hit 
 journey to Muziiiduian we have the foUowiug lines: 
 
 A 2
 
 SOOKRAB, 
 
 And when his thirst and hunger were represt, 
 O'erpowering* sleep composed his limbs to rest. 
 
 e>:i.^*«j ^j^j LiJliU jj^jjy Lz^^jj ji ^5^J ' j:^ J^J 
 
 He struck a light with the point of his arrow. A similar circum- 
 stance is described with equal simplicity in Virgil, but pompously 
 translated by Dryden. 
 
 Ac primum silici scintillam excudit Achates, 
 Suscepitque ignem foliis, atque avida circum, 
 Kutrimenta dedit, rapuitque in fomite flamaiam. 
 
 iEneid. Lib. 1. /. 174. 
 First good Achates with repeated strokes, 
 Of clasliing flints, their hidden fire provokes ; 
 Short flame succeeds ; a bed of withered leaves^ 
 The dying sparkles in their fall receives ; 
 Caught into life^ in nery fumes they rise, 
 And. fed v:>ith stronger food, invade the skies. 
 In the preceding part of the Shahnamu it is said that Hoshung^ 
 the second King of Persia of the Peshdadian Dynasty, v/as the 
 first who brought fire out of stone, and that he founded the 
 religion of the fire-worshippers, considering it as the light of 
 God. He established the worship of the Creatorj
 
 A POEM. S 
 
 The Warriors steed, for strength and form renown'd, 
 Stray'd o'er the plain with flowery herbage crown'd^ 
 Encumbering arms no more his sides opprest, 15 
 
 No folding mail confin'd his ample chest. 
 Gallant and free, he left the Champion's side. 
 And cropp'd the mead, or sought the rippling tide; 
 When lo! returning from the woodland chace, 
 A band of horsemen rambled near the place, fjo 
 
 And saw surprized superior game astray ; 
 At once, resolved to seize the noble prej^ 
 With sudden start they from the thicket sprung. 
 And round his neck the noose entangling flung ; 
 
 Saying, this is the light, this is the Almighty, 
 If ye are wise ye will be its worshippers. 
 
 Verse 13. The Warriors steed^ ^c] (.A^ '^^^•^ish, lighten^, 
 ing. The name of Roostum's horse. 
 
 Verse 15.. No folding mail ySfc.'] The armour called ^1^-«»^ 
 Burgustuan almost corered the horse, and was usually made of 
 leather and felt-cloth.
 
 6 SOOIIRAB, 
 
 In vain he raging spurns the smoking ground ; 25 
 
 In vain the tumult echoes all around ; 
 
 They bear him oiT, and view v^^ith ardent eyes. 
 
 His matchless beauty and majestic size; 
 
 Then soothe his fury^, anxious to obtain, 
 
 A bounding steed of his immortal strain. so 
 
 When RoosTUM woke and raiss'd his favorite horse. 
 The loved companion of his glorious course ; 
 Furious he rose, and, gathering sword and shield. 
 And quivered stores, he strode aci'oss the field i 
 
 Verse 33. Furious he rose and gathering szoord and shield'] 
 In this hunting excursion he is completely armed, being supplied 
 with spear, sword, shield, mace, bow and arrows. Like the 
 Knight-errants, of after times, he seldom even slept unarmed. 
 Single combat and the romantic enterprizes of European Chivalry 
 may indeed be traced to the East. Roostum was a most illustri- 
 ous example of all that is pious, disinterested and heroic. The 
 adventure now describing is highly characteristic of a Chivalrous 
 age. In the Dissertation prefixed to Richardson's Dictionary, 
 mention is made of a famous Arabian Knight-errant called Abu 
 Mahommud Albatal, " who wandered every where ia quest of
 
 A FOEM. 7 
 
 Harness and reins were o'er his shoulders slung, 35 
 At every step his ponderous armour rung, — 
 *■' Burthen'd, on foot, a dreary waste in view, 
 " Where shall I bend my steps, what path pursue ? 
 '^ The scoffing Turks will cry, ' behold our might! 
 "■ ' We won the trophy from the Champion-knight!' " 
 Then looking round with anxious eye to meet. 
 The broad impression of the courser's feet. 
 The track he hall'd, and following, onward prest. 
 While grief and rage revolved within his breast; 
 
 adventures, and redressing grievances. He was killed in the 
 year 738." 
 
 Verse 40. The scojing Turks, ^-c] Firdousee uses the 
 term Turk and Tooranian indifferently. 
 
 VtRSE 42. The broad impression of the courser's feet. "^ See 
 the Story of the Horse in Zadig, which is doubtless of Oriental 
 origin. In the irpper parts of Hindoostan, it is said that the 
 people are exceedingly expert in discoTering robbers by tracing 
 the marks of their horse's feet. These mounted robbers are called 
 
 0^ y^ Quzzaks. The Russian Cossack is probahly derived from 
 the same word.
 
 SOOHRAB, 
 
 O'er vale and wild-wood led, he soon descries, 45 
 
 A regal city's shining turrets rise. 
 
 At SuMUNGAN the valiant Chief was known. 
 
 And grateful homage brought him to the throne : 
 
 Verse 47. ^t Sumungnn, Sic.'] This ^vas, according to 
 Firdousee, an independent principality, probably of no consider- 
 able extent, in the neighbourhood of Tooran, and beyond the 
 limits of Iran. D'llerbelot simply mentions it as the country of 
 a Princess, whom Roostum married. In Reniieirs Map there 
 is a place written Sumenjan, about 60 miles to the South-east 
 of Balkh in Great Bucharia. Ebn Haukal, the Arabian traveller, 
 comprehends Sumungan in the province of Balkh, but says 
 nothing of its relative situation. 
 
 Verse 48. And gratefulhotna^e, Sfc.'] The renown of Roos- 
 tum had filled every Eastern region with admiration. The King 
 of Sumungan must have often witnessed his glorious successes 
 against the common tyrant of Tooran. On hearing of the 
 Champion's approach, he himself heads the ceremonious pro- 
 cession to meet him, called in Persian the Jv-viLw.i Istiqbal. 
 This custom is derived from the earliest ages of Persia, and has 
 been continued down to the present times v/ith no abatement of
 
 A POEif. 
 
 The Kin^ respectful met his welcome guest, 
 With strength and wisdom more than human blest ; so 
 But RoosTUM frowned, and with resentment fired. 
 Spoke of his wrongs, the plundered steed required. 
 
 Its porrtp or splendor. Mr. Morier thus speaks ot the pfogresa 
 of the late Embassy to Persia. 
 
 " An htlqbal composed of fifty horsemen of our Mihmandar's 
 tribe^ mot us about three miles from our encampment; they were 
 succeeded as we advanced by an assemblage on foot, who thre\r 
 a glass vessel filled with sweetmeats beneath the Envoy's horse, a 
 teremony which we had before witnessed at Kauzeroon^ and 
 which we again understood to be an honour shared with the 
 King and his sons alone. Then came two of the principal Mer- 
 chants of Shiraz, accompanied by a boy, the son of Mahomed 
 Nebeb Khan, the new Governor of Buskere. They, however, 
 incurred the Envoy's displeasure by not dismounting from their 
 horses, a form always Observed in Persia by those of lower rank,' 
 when they meet a superior*. We were thus met by three 
 Istiqbals during the course of the day." Again. *' As we ap* 
 
 * The King of Sumungan considered himself as inferior to Roostum and therefore 
 dismouuted to receive him. 
 
 B
 
 10 SQOIIRAB 
 
 " My honored guest!'* the wondering Khig replied, 
 
 " Shall Roostum's wants or wishes be denied? 
 
 " But let not anger^ headlong, fierce^ and blind, 55 
 
 '' O'ercloud the virtues of a generous mind. 
 
 " If still within the limits of my reign, 
 
 " The well known courser shall be thine again ; 
 
 proached Teheran, we were met by frequent Isliqbals, in the 
 principal of which was NoRooz Khan, one of the Kings relations, 
 and master of the ceremonies." Morier's Journey to Persia, 
 p. 97 and 184. 
 
 Verse 55. But let not anger, ^'c.~\ Firdousee never misses 
 an opportunity for moral reflexion. 
 
 Wrath and Impatience, are of no avail ; 
 But heavenly Gentleness has power to charm, 
 A serpent from its nest. 
 Thus Shakspeare, 
 
 What would you have ? Your gentleness shall force, 
 More than your force move us to gentleness, 
 
 ■ Sit you down, 
 
 And take upon command what help we have»
 
 A POEM. 11 
 
 « Then cease to nourish useless wrath, and share, 
 " With joyous heart my hospitable fare." 60 
 
 The son of Zaul, abashed, his rage subdued. 
 With calm contented look the Monarch view'd. 
 The ready Herald by the Kings command. 
 Convened the Chiefs and Warriors of the land; 
 And cheerful song and music's magic power, 65 
 
 And sparkling wine, beguiled the festive hour. 
 
 And Homer,, 
 
 O let not headlong passion bear the sway ; 
 •Diie honors to the seed of Jove belong, 
 Due honors calm the fierce and bend the strong. 
 Verse 61. The son of Zaul, ^'c.'] Zaul, the son of Saum 
 Nureeman, was surnamed Zur. Saum, Zaul, andRoostum, were 
 the most famous Heroes of Persia, and lived under the reigns of 
 Manuchuhur, of Buhuman, and of Afrasiab. 
 
 Verse 64. Convened the Chiefs.^ c^c.] Thus Alcinous con- 
 venes the Chiefs of Phaeacia in honor of Ulysses. 
 
 Verse 65. And cheerful So7ig, Sfc.'] The original gives to 
 the Singers '^l/^ f^T" ''^ black eyes and cheeks like roses. 
 These women are generally known by the term iJ^J Looleean, 
 
 B2
 
 12 SOOHRAB, 
 
 The dulcet draughts o'er Roostum's senses stole. 
 And melting strains absorbed his peaceful soul. 
 Night deepen'd round — at rest the Champion lay. 
 And dreams prolonged the pleasures of the day. 70 
 
 perhaps referring to their beauty , as Looloo signifies a pearl, a gem, 
 a jewel, though Looloo is also the name of a people or tribe in Persia, 
 Thus Hafiz, 
 
 Oh ! these wanton damsels, batterers, and disturbers of the city. 
 Verse 66. Aiid sparkling wine, <^-c.] iJ^J i «^JjWS Griefs 
 removing wine. The Nepenthe of Homer» 
 
 I'vSfv a'KmVy 
 
 Odyssey, B. 4, L 230. 
 Charmed with that virtuous draught th' exalted mind, 
 All sense of woe delivers to the wind. Fope. 
 
 Thus Anacreon, Ode XXV*. 
 
 "EC^sciv at fxs^ifx.vcii. 
 For when wiue transports the breast, 
 All our cares are lull'd to rest. Fawjces. 
 
 * According to the Edition by Barnes.
 
 A POEM. IS 
 
 Not long had sleep her silken pinions spread. 
 Around the Hero's venerable head; 
 When sudden light the dusky gloom dispell'd^ 
 And slow advancing near him^ he beheld, 
 A female form ; and next in beauty briglit, 75 
 
 The Monarch's daughter struck his wondering si^ht; 
 Clear as the sun, in radiant charms arrayed. 
 Dark glancing eyes her winning power displayed. 
 
 Verse 76. The Monarch's daughter, tSfc] Female beauty 
 has always been a darling subject Avith the Poets of all nations, 
 and they have generally embellished it with all their powers of 
 description. Perhaps the first full length picture, of classical authors- 
 is contained in the exquisite Ode of Anacreon, beginning Aye, 
 ^cay^uQuv a^igs^ In that description there are many points which 
 approximate very closely to the taste of the Persians. 
 
 h.'KCtksig T£ 'ACil /xfAa/v^;-. 
 Paint her jetty ringlets straying, 
 Silky twine in tendrils playing. MooaE. 
 
 To p,E76O?V0'J ^6 /U,V] /X9i
 
 14. SOOHRAB, 
 
 Her cypress-form entranced the gazers view! 
 
 Her waving curls the heart resistless drew ! so 
 
 BMCpix.^bJV I'rvv y.shctfv^v. 
 
 Let her eye-brows sv»ectly rise, 
 
 In jetty arches o'er her eyes, 
 
 Gently in a crescent gliding-, 
 
 Just commingling, just dividing. Moore. 
 
 This accords exactly with the Persian Poets, for with them, 
 the eye-brows joining each other is a peculiar beauty. The 
 Enchantress Alcina in Ariosto, and the Armida of Tasso, are 
 beautiful arapUQcations of this description of Anacreon's mistress. 
 They are more voluptuously enchanting than any thing of the 
 kind which ancient times can boast. In comparing the Greek 
 and Persian notions of female beauty and its attributes, we find 
 no important disparity, but a much closer resemblance than 
 might be expected, considering the physical difference between 
 the two countries. For the imagery of every genuine Poet 
 must be derived from what he is accustomed to see, from the 
 natural objects and circumstances by which he is surrounded. 
 Hence it is that every country must have what Dr. Johnson
 
 A POEM. 15 
 
 Glowing with warmth, in youths iuxuriant bloonv. 
 And gales of heavenly fragrance fill'd the room. 
 
 calls, ^^ traditional imagery, and hereditary similes." The Odes 
 of Hafiz have all the rich imagery of the Teian bard, besides 
 an abundance of beautiful epithets, unknown to the Greek, 
 drawn from the varied productions of a still more genial climate. 
 When a Poet is particular, as in the Ode above quoted, he cannot 
 fail to be intelligible; because, as the Painters say, he comes down 
 to the canvas, and therefore must be understood. Now no dis- 
 tinct impression cin be made by the description of Venus, or her 
 Cestus, which is the same thing, beginning, 
 
 H, Hxi azo (^Vt^ecQiv (hjcoLro •a.bgcv, &c. 
 
 Iliad, B. 14, l. 214. 
 She from her fragrant breast the Zone unbraced, 
 With various skill and high embroidery graced, 
 In this was every art, and every charm, 
 To win the wisest and the coldest warm. 
 Fond love, the gentle vow, the gay desire, 
 The kind deceit, the still surviving fire ; 
 Persuasive speech, and more persuasive sighs, 
 Silence that spoke and eloquence of eyes !
 
 16 SGOHRAB, 
 
 RoosTUM amazed the nymph divine addrest> 
 And ask'd what cares disturbed her virgin breast.. 
 
 This is very beautiful, but it is all imagination, sentiment, and 
 feeling ; it conveys no defined notion of form, and admits 
 of no comparison. On the contrary, Alcina and Armida, are 
 placed before our eyes, like the lovely being whom Anacredn 
 describes. The descriptions in Firdousee are not so regular 
 as in these examples, they are more wild, and not under tiie direc- 
 tion of so refined a taste, but they are essentially in the same 
 spirit, and, as it will be presently shewn, the imagery is highly simi- 
 lar to that of our best Poets. The following description of Rood- 
 abu, when first seen by the father of Roostum, has great sweetness 
 and harmony :
 
 A POEM. 17 
 
 " thou/' she softly sigh'd, '' of matchless fame ! 85 
 " With pity hear, Tuhmeena is my name! 
 
 m Mf*.immMm 
 
 
 V^ V 
 
 j\^ jUi ^Uj j^j] jJ 
 
 t-:>»-j' j^ ti^»;' "i-^-i LS^v:* ^~'<' T^J 
 
 Lumsdek's Shahnamu, Vol. l,p- 17S, 
 
 If thou would'st make her charms appear, 
 Think of the Sun so bright and clear ; 
 
 And brighter far, -^ith softer iJghtj 
 
 * 
 
 The maiden strikes the dazzled sight. 
 Think of her skin, Tvith -^vhat compare I 
 Ivory was never half so fair ! 
 Ker stature like the Sabin tree ; 
 Ker eyss ! so full of witchery, 
 C
 
 18 SOOHRAB, 
 
 " The pangs of love my anxious heart employ^ 
 
 " And flattering- promise long-expected joy ; 
 
 " The suit of Kings regardless I resign, 
 
 'J And only hope to be for ever thine 1 90 
 
 Glow like the Nirgis* tenderly. 
 Her arching brows their magic fling, 
 Dark as tlie raven's glossy wing. 
 Soft o'er her bloonjlng cheek is sproadj 
 The rich pomegranate's vivid red. 
 Upon her bosom, white as snow, 
 Two vermil buds, in secret, blow. 
 Her musky ringlets, uncoufin'd, 
 In clustering meshes roil behind. 
 Love ye the Moon ? Behold her face, 
 And there the lucid planet trace. 
 If breath of musky fragrance please ! 
 Her balmy odours scent the breeze ; 
 Possess'd of every sportive wile, 
 'Tis heaven, 'tis bliss, to see her smile ! 
 This imagery is all familiar to European taste, not excepting 
 
 * ijSji The Narcissus, to which the eyes of beautiful women are usually compared.
 
 A FOEM. 19 
 
 ^' The savage monsters of the echoing v.'ood, 
 " The howlin;^' Daemons, hell's infuriate broody, 
 
 even the allusion to the moon*, which has usually been considered 
 peculiar to the Poetry of Asia. Firdousee says of Tuhraeena, 
 
 Her cheeks were two roses mixed with lilies, which is, at least 
 equal to Anacreou's, 
 
 Fodd Tu ycfMxri (j-i'l,''-?, 
 
 Roses mixed with milk. 
 P'c5c5^it7uAoc, Rosy-fingered, is common in Homer. Gray has 
 got, " rosy-bosomed," and the Persians have /♦'•X'lJ.i Rosy» 
 
 form. ^L\..«jjvj| A bosom like the pomegranate, is superior 
 to Ariosto's, " due pome acerbe," two untipe apples. Spenser 
 has a similar idea, in his Fairy Queen, 
 
 Like young fruit in May^ B. 2, c. 3- 
 
 Pope haSj 
 
 % " Who is she that looketh forth as the rnorning, fair as the Mson, clear as the Sun." 
 
 Solomon's Song, 
 " She came in all her beauty, like the Mion from the cloud of the East." Ossi an. 
 
 '■ The noble Sister of Poplicola, 
 
 " Ihe Moon oi Rome.'^ SHAKtrsARS, 
 
 C2
 
 20 SOOKRAB, 
 
 *' Yield to thy single arm ! With wild amaze^ 
 *' I've hsten'd, sigh'd^ enamoured of thy praise 
 
 The sleepy eye that speaks the melting soul ! 
 Firdousee has the black beaming eye, «L->l_py^ full of sleep, 
 and languishing sensibility. \ should be disposed to conclude fron^ 
 the epithet Po5oSaK7uAo^ above alluded to^ that, in the days of Homer, 
 the Greek women, like the women of Asia, were accustomed to 
 tinge the ends of their fingers with a crimson dye. This practice is 
 common all over Bengal, Hindoostan, Persia, Turkey, and as fair 
 west as the shores of the Mediterranean. Lady Wortley Montagu, 
 speaking of the Greek and Turkish ladies at Adrianople, ob- 
 serves; '' the ladies dye their nails a rose-colour; but I own 
 I cannot enough accustom myself to this fashion to find any 
 beauty in it," But in the note to the first line of the second 
 book of the Odyssey, edited by Clarke, the epithet is refer- 
 red in the scholia simply to the colour of the dawn, and is 
 there said, by Eustathius, to be used allegorically for a ray 
 of the Sun. Er^v Ve <jv v^^c, dxidvKoi^ y.xrct x)\Xviyo^ia.v^ al rs Vihf<i 
 cMTmQ. Eustath. Pope understood it in the same manner, and 
 has translated the line which contains, (Jiavv) coJaSaxluAc;? Hw?. 
 Soon as Aurora, daughter of the dawn, 
 Sprinkled with rosgate light the dewy lawn.
 
 A POEM. ,21 
 
 '' Then did I vow, thus powerful glory diarmSj 95 
 ^' No other spouse should bless my longing arms. 
 
 Although the Critics and Commentators are silent on ths sub« 
 ject, it is probable that Homer's acquaintance with the East, 
 furnished him with the metaphor. Rosy-bosom and rosy-form, 
 beautifully imply bloom and fragrance, but the application of 
 rosy-fingered is not so obylous, -vvirhout v,e admit the allusion 
 to the custom, just stated. Pope in his letters, to Lady 
 Wortley Montagu, regrets that he had not the advantage 
 of translating Homer in Asia, where the manners of the country 
 must have afforded him so many illustrations of the Poet; 
 
 But independent of particular similies applied to different fea- 
 tures, it is curious to observe, how strangely they are sometimes ap- 
 plied to express the combined effect of a beautiful woman. Thus 
 in Solomon's Song, " I have compared thee, O my Love I to a 
 company of liorses in Pharaoh's chariots." Thus also Theocritus 
 in the Epithalamium of Helen, 
 
 She resembles ihe hor^.e in the chariots of Thessaly. Yet none 
 but a Hindoo Foot perhaps e?t:r thought of comparing a lovely 
 l^oraan to a ^oose]
 
 2^ SOOIIRAB, 
 
 *' Indulgent Heaven, propitious to my prayer^ 
 *' Now grants my wislij and terminates my care !'* 
 
 '• Nor whh Llie goose the smiling fair, 
 ^^ In graceful motion can compare." 
 See the Cloud Messenger, elegantly translated from the 
 Sanscrit, by K,. II. Wilson, Esq. note, jscr^e 15. 
 
 Verse 79. Her Cypress-form, ^"c] Theocritus in his 
 eighteenth Idylfiuin compares Helen to the Cypress, 
 
 But with us, the Cypress is uniformly consecrated to sorrc-vv, 
 amongst the Asiatics to joy and gladness. 
 
 VriiSE 80. Her waving rAirls.)S)C.'\ i^J^yc^ jj^Xi jij Insnaiing 
 ringlets. Thus Shakspeare; ■ 
 
 Here in her hairs, 
 The painter plays the Spider, and hath M'oven 
 A golden mesh to entrap the hearts of men, 
 Faster than gnats in cobwebs : But her eyes I 
 YF.r-si:; 8-. uind gales of hcavejily fragrance, Si'c.~\ Beauty 
 liiid fragrance are amongst the Poets inseparable. The Persian-s 
 exceed even the Greeks in their love of perfume, though Anacre^ 
 on thoii.<^ht it so indispensable a part of Beauty, that ia diyectiis^g
 
 A POEM. 23 
 
 The damsel paused, while Roostum's mien exprest. 
 The soften'd feelings of his manly breast. 100 
 
 the Rhodian Artist to paint the mistress of his heart, he wislies 
 CTen her fragrance to be pourtrayed. 
 
 O' h H'/,^cg (X.V ^vvviTXi, 
 
 And if your art can rise so high, 
 Let breathing odours round her fly. 
 VrTisE 89. The suit of Kings regardless I resig7>.'\ Thus 
 Eloiiiaj but with enthusiasm less virtuous than Tuhmeena's, 
 Not Ca:sar"s Empress would I deign to prove, 
 No make me mistress to the man I love. 
 Veuse 93. With xjLild amaze, 
 
 Fvc ILloi'd, sfgWd, enamoured of thy praise.'^ I have not 
 ventured to translate the whole speech, as parts of it verge on the 
 v/onderful. There would be no difficulty, however, in adducing para- 
 llel passages from European poetry. She speaks of his sword thus. 
 
 The ravenous eagle hovering o'er his prey, 
 Siarts at thy gleaming sword, and Hies av/ay. 
 Of his javelin,
 
 24 SOOHRAB, 
 
 He called her near, vrith graceful step she came. 
 Her crimson cheek confessed her glowing flame. 
 
 ULIP..1XLBULU^J i9»tm 
 
 The very clouds rain blocd, throilgh fear. 
 She uses au argument too, which no doubt the simplicity of 
 ancient manners warranted, though in modern days, it might 
 be considered a violation of maiden delicacy. 
 
 Perhaps a boy our wedded-love may crown^ 
 Whose strength, like thine, may gain the world's renown. 
 But Tuhmeena preserved all the decorum, in this romantic attach- 
 ment, which the custom cf the times required. To disarm sus- 
 picion, she was attended by a female slave, carrying a lamp, 
 which was perfumed with amber. 
 
 As a proof of her innocence Tuhmeena declares to Roostum, 
 
 No stranger has ever seen me, or even heard the sound of my voice. 
 It may be ebserved here, that the,seclusion in which women of rank, 
 continue in Persia, and other parts of the East, is not, by them, 
 considered intolerable or even a hardship. Custom has not only 
 rendered it famiiiar, but happy. It has nothing of the unpro-
 
 A POEM. 25 
 
 The Warrior pleased, the Monarch -father sought ; 
 The spousal-rites eug'ag-ed his prudent thoug-ht ; 
 And soon the King his beauteous daughter blest, 105 
 And led her blushing to the stranger-guest. 
 
 fitable severity of the cloister. The Zunanas are supplied with 
 every thiag that can please and gratify a reasonable wish, and 
 it is well known that th« women of the East have influence 
 and power, more flattering and solid, than the free unsecluded 
 beauties of tlie western world. 
 
 Verse 95. T^en did I vow, Sfc.^ Distinguished valour and 
 achievements in war have always gommaaded admiration, and 
 there are many instances in which women have, like Tuhraeena, 
 fallen in love with a hero's glory. Josephus has recorded that the 
 King's daughterbetrayedthe city Saba, in Ethiopia, into the hands 
 of Moses, having become enamoured of him by seeing from the 
 walls, the valour and bravery which he displayed at the head of 
 the Egyptian army. Dido was won by the celebrity of iEneas, 
 Kotzebue has drawn Elvira enamoured of the fame and glory 
 of Pizarro. Her passion is described with great strength and 
 feeling. When at last she discovers the savage, the merciless 
 disiiosition of the coucjuerorj she thus addresses him. ^ Ti>iuk, 
 
 D
 
 23 SOOMRAB, 
 
 His generous soul with gentle pity moved. 
 Gave to her circling arms the man she loved; 
 The marriage-bower received the happy pair. 
 And love and transport shower'd their blessings there. 
 
 When ruddy morning o'er the mountain's head. 
 Had tinged the glittering vales with streaks of red ; 
 
 est thou that mij love will survive thy tamel No! thy gloTj h 
 my idol ! I novo find thee a deception^ and Elvira is lost to thee 
 for everl" 
 The lovely Desdemona affords another instance. 
 
 0th. Her father loved me ; oft invited me j 
 
 Still questioned me the story of my life, 
 
 From year to year ; the battles, sieges, fortunes, 
 
 That I had passed. 
 
 I ran it through even fror-i my boyish days, 
 
 Wherein I spoke of most disastrous chances. 
 
 Of moving accidents by flood and field, 
 
 She wished she had not heard it ; yet she wished, 
 
 That heaven had made her such a man : she thanked me j 
 
 She loved me for the dangers I had passed ; 
 
 And I loved iier that she did pity them. Shakspears,
 
 A POEM. 27 
 
 The ChajTip'on rose^ and from his sinewy arm. 
 His bracelet drew, the soul-ennoblino: charm ! 
 Therij as he held the wonderous gift, with pride, 115 
 He thus address'd his love-devoted bride 1 
 
 Verse 104. The spousal rifes, <-Vc.] The marriage cerp- 
 mony was performed conformably to the laws of the couatry. 
 There was nothing of, 
 
 Conjugium vocat : hoc praetexit nomine culpam. 
 
 VlUGIL. 
 
 Verse 114. His bracelet drew, ^'c.~\ 
 
 Jo CLiyA^ U^f" j^^ ^ji-* {^^^ ^ji ^ji-* 15-V. /♦-^•^j iSjij'-H 
 
 I have here translated ^^ bracelet. It seems by the text 
 
 that the Mohru of Roostura was celebrated throughout the 
 
 ■worldfor its wonderful virtues. The Mohri Sooleman, ^^>o~xl--j4-« 
 Solomon's Seal, was a talisman of extraordinary power, said 
 
 to be capable of rendering objects invisible, and of creating 
 
 every kind of magical illusion*. But Mohru is more properly 
 
 an amulet or spell against misfortune. The wearer of one of 
 
 them imagines himself safe under every situation of danger. 
 
 * Josephus relates that !ic saw a certain Jew named Eleazar draw the devil out of an 
 old woman's iT)'^tril. by the application of So/swa.'r'i Si'j.' to her uosfj in the pvt-sencc 
 of the EiDpcror Vespasian. 
 
 D 2
 
 '28 SOOHRAB, 
 
 '' Should gracious Heaven increase the nuptial joy, 
 " And make thee mother of a blooming boy ; 
 " Around his arm this mag-ic-bracelet bind, 
 *' To fire with virtuous deeds his ripening' mind_, 120 
 
 The application of the magical instrument to the mouth -wag 
 often inclispens'able. Thus Angelica in Orlando Furioso ; 
 
 Del dito se lo leva, e a mano a mano, 
 
 Se'l chiude in bocca, e in men, che non balena, 
 
 Cosi da gli occhi di Ruggier si cela, 
 
 Come fa il Sol, quando la nube il vela. 
 
 Canto XI, St. 6. 
 
 Then from her hand she took with eager haste, 
 And twixt her lips, the shining circlet placed. 
 And instant vanished from Rogero's sight ! 
 Like Phoebus when a cloud obscures his light. Hoole. 
 Hatira placed the talisman in his mouth when he plunged into the 
 caldron of boiling oil. [See Hatim Ta'ee, a Persian Romance, 
 full of magic and the wild and marvellous adventures of Knight- 
 errantry.] Aristotle speaks of the ring of Battus Avhich inspired 
 the wearv-r with gratitude and honor '. Faith in rings and 
 amulets prepared at particular seasons, under certain mysterious 
 forms and circumstances, is an ancient superstition, but in Persia,
 
 A POEM. "2^ 
 
 *' The strength of Saum will nerve his manly form, 
 '' In battle furious as the mountain storm ; 
 '' Thus shall his bright career imperious claim, 
 *'^ The unfading honors of immortal fame V\ 
 
 nnd India, there is hardly a man without his ^jj^ Bazooband, 
 or bracelet, to preserve him from the influence of Daemons. " Th« 
 women of condition, in Persia, hare small silver plates of a circular 
 form, upon which are engraved sentences from the Koran ; these, 
 as well as the Talismans, they bind about their arms with pieces 
 of red and green silk, and look upon them as never failing 
 charms against the fascinations of the devil, wicked spirits, 
 &c." Francklln's Tour to Persia. Roostum had also a magic 
 garment, or cloak, called according to the Boorhani-kata 
 i^^j^ Buburean. Though this garment is mentioned, in the 
 original, at the place where Roostum follows the footsteps of 
 Ruksh, no use is made of It In the course of the Poem. Some say 
 that he received It from his father Zaul, and others, that it ^S 
 made of the skin of Akwan Deo ; others again say that it M'as 
 made of the skin of a leopard, or some similar animal, which 
 Roostum killed on the mountain Sham. It had the property of 
 resisting the impression of every weapon, it was proof against fi.r.ej
 
 SOOHRAB, 
 
 Ardent he said^ and kissed her neck and face, 12s 
 
 And lingering held her in a fond embrace. 
 
 The winged moments crowned with pleasure flew; 
 Too soon, alas '. the parting hour she knew ; 
 
 and would not sink in water. Something like tke charm in the 
 Curse cf Kehama. 
 
 I charm thy life, 
 From the weapons of strife, 
 Ffom stone and from wood, 
 From fire and frcn: fiocd, 
 From the Serpent's tooth, 
 And the beasts of blood. 
 jJif Bubur is an animal of the tyger kind^ said to be superior in 
 strength to the Hon. The famous heroes of antiquity usually 
 wore the skins of wild beasts. Hercules wore the skin of the 
 Nemaean lion. The skins of panthers and leopards were worn 
 hy the Greek and Trojan chiefs. Virgil says of Acestes, 
 occurrit Acestes, 
 Horridus in jacalis, et palie Libystidcs ursse. 
 
 jEx. B. f, V. S5. 
 Of a rough Libyan bear the spciis hs were. Diayueh.
 
 Clasped in his arms, Avith'tnany a streaming tear, ' 
 She tried, in yain, to win his deafen'd ear; 150 
 
 Still tried, ah fruitless struggle! to impart. 
 The swelling anguish of her bursting heart. 
 The fiery war-horse neighing' at their side. 
 Drowned the soft sorrows of the weeping bride ; 
 Impatient, rearing, now he feels the rein, 135 
 
 And rapid thunders o'er the sounding plain. 
 
 But when returned to Zabul's friendly shade. 
 None knew what joys the Warrior's steps delayed ; 
 Still, fond remembrance, with endearing thought. 
 Oft to his mind the scenes of rapture brought. i40 
 
 •Verse 137. But when returned to Zabul^ s friendly shade.l^ 
 Zabul, or Zabulstan, the name of a prov'uicej bordering oa 
 Hindoostan, which some place ia the number of those now com- 
 posing the countjy of Sind. It abounds in rivers, forests, 
 lakes, and mountains. It was also called Roostumdar^ The 
 ancient Persians considered Zabulstan and Seestan, or Segestan, 
 as one principality, where Roostum usually resided with his fa. 
 piily, and which they held in appanage from the Kings of Persia,
 
 38 SOOHRAB, 
 
 When nine slo^r-cirding months had rolFd away^ 
 Sweet-smiling" pleasure hailed the brightening da.y. 
 Awonderous^boyTuhmeena's tears supprest. 
 And lull'd the sorrows of her heart to rest ; 
 To him, predestined to be great and brave, 145 
 
 The name Soohrab his tender mother gave ; 
 
 Segestan is the Drangiana of the Greeks. It was formerly the 
 residence of many Persian Kings. One of its cities, Gazna^ pro- 
 duced the celebrated Mahmood, the patron of Firdousee, whence 
 the surname Gaznavee. 
 
 Verse 139. Still, fond re/nembrcmce, Sfc.'\ In the Argo- 
 nautics of Apollonius Rhodius, the tender parting of Jason and 
 Jlypsipyla, is very similar to that of Roostum and Tuhmeena. 
 
 Verse 143. A zoonderous boy, (Sfc] In the heroic ages of 
 Persia, as in the early periods of every nation, feats of personal 
 activity and muscular strength, constituted the most prominent 
 features of a champion, and accordingly Firdousee has thought 
 it necessary to give to his hero, extraordinary size, and gigantick 
 breadth of limb. Hercules had almost completed his eight month 
 before he strangled the serpents, which Juno had sent to devour 
 Jiimi but Soohrab when a month old was like a child of twelve;^
 
 A POEM. S3 
 
 And as he grew, amazed the ^therin^ throng", 
 View'd his hug*e limbs, his sinews large and strong. 
 
 His infant years no soft endearment claimed ; 
 Athletic sports his eager soul inflamed ; 150 
 
 His war-like aspect, and majestic grace. 
 Betrayed the offspring of a glorious race. 
 
 Few happy years had passed, with downy fiight. 
 When he, his mother's wonder and delight. 
 With glistening eye, and youthful ardour warm, 155 
 Filled her foreboding bosom with alarm. 
 "■ O now relieve my anxious heart ! declare, 
 " From V, horn I sprang and breatlie the vital air. 
 
 owing no doubt to the efficacy of the bracelet ! When three years 
 old he -nas fond of warlike pursuits, and when ten, there was 
 not a man in that country who could contend with him in 
 battle. In wrestling, and other violent exercises, he was un- 
 equalled. It was at this early age that he questioned his mother 
 respecting his father. Firdousee has thus, with a view of making 
 him great^ made him a prodigy. But Homer is not guiltless of si- 
 milar eitravagance, for he says cf the giants Otus and Ephiultes,
 
 34 SOOHRAB, 
 
 '' Should friend or foe demand my father's name^ 
 
 " Shall coward silence testify my shame? igo 
 
 " If still concealed, you falter, still delay^ 
 
 " A mother's blood shall wash the crime away." 
 
 " Then frown no more on me \" she trembling- cried, 
 
 '' And patient hear to whom thou art allied. 
 
 '" A glorious line precedes thy destined birth, i65 
 
 ^' The mightiest heroes of the sons of earth. 
 
 '' The deeds of Saum remotest realms admire, 
 
 '' And Zaul, and Roostum thy illustrious sire 1" 
 
 The ■wonderou? youths had scarce nine •vviaters toldj 
 When high in air, tremendous to behold, 
 Nine ells aloft they reared their towering head, 
 And full nine cubits broad their shoulders spread j 
 Proud of their strength, and more than mortal size. 
 The gods they challenge, and affect the skies. 
 
 Odyssey, B^ xi. 
 
 Pope is of opinion that this story is only given as a tradition, 
 
 and Longinus brings it forward as an instance of true sablimity ! 
 
 Vekse 137. The deeds of ^wvi-i &!c.'] Sa.um, Saum Suvvar, 
 
 or Saum Nureeman, was the soa of Kuliurman, He is said to
 
 Before his view she then with ea^er haste. 
 
 The ^ift of gold, and sparkling rubies placed, 170 
 
 From Zabul sent. "" Will these thy wrath remove, 
 
 '' The costly pledges of paternal love ? 
 
 *■'■ Behold this bracelet-charm, of sovereign power, 
 
 '" To banle fate in daD2:er's awcful hour. 
 
 '' But when, by this peculiar signet known, 175 
 
 '' Thy eager father claims his glorious son. 
 
 hare vanquished or tamed a great number of animals and terrible 
 monsters, amongst which -vvas one remarkable for its ferocity. 
 This furious animal was called Soham, on account of its being 
 of the colour and nature of fire. According to fabulous history, 
 he made it his war-horse, in all his engagements against the 
 Daemons. Saum Avas General of the armies of Feridoun. He 
 was the grand-father of Roostum.* 
 
 * When Zaul was born, his hair -ts-as entirely white. Saum was astonished, 
 and considering him the offspring of a D«mcn, prayed to be relieved from the 
 curse which had thus fallen upon him. He exposed the infant to beasts of prey 
 upon the mountain Alburz, remote from any human dwelliug. Zaul was protected 
 and nourished thereby the Symoorgh, a fabulous monster. Some time afterwards Saum 
 had a dream, in which he was severely reproved for his cruelty, but at the same time 
 assured of the safety of the child. He rose in gr:at alarm and repaired to the mountain, 
 
 E2
 
 36 SOOHRAB^ 
 
 " Doomed from her only joy in life to part, 
 
 "'' O think what pang's will rend thy mother's heart : 
 
 " Still live in peace, avoid th' impending blow ; 
 
 ^' Afrasiab is Roostum's deadliest foe. 180 
 
 ^' When known to him, whom Scythian regions dread, 
 
 " Revenge will fall upon thy guiltless head." 
 
 The youth replied. '' In vain thy sighs and tears, 
 
 '^ The secret breathes and mocks thy idle fears. 
 
 Verse 180. Afrasuih is tioostutn's deadlier foe.^ Afrasiab 
 ■was sovereign of all the country beyond tlie Jiliooa or Oxus, 
 formerly called Tooran. He was descended from Feridoun, and 
 consequently pretended to the empire of Persia. Whenever 
 
 where he recovered Zaul from the Symoorgh, and then returned home with him. 
 The Symoorgh gave a feather to Zaul, which on being thrown into fire, would instantly 
 cause the monster-nurse to appear, and extricate him from any calamity with which 
 he might be embarrassed. The astrologers of Munnoocliuhur foretold wonders of 
 the new Champion, When Zaul grew up, he fell in love with Roodabu, the 
 daughter of the King of Kabul, and requested liis father to consent to his marriage. 
 The Astrologers recommended the alliance and prophecied the birth of Roostum. 
 •' From fhis union will be horn an invincible warrior; one who will subdue the 
 world. lie willconjuer the Dsmon-klngdom of Mazinduran, on the boidtrs of 
 the Caspian. The whole cavth will be purified by his power."
 
 A POEM. 37 
 
 '' No human power can fate's decrees control;, 185 
 " Or check the kindled ardour of my soul. 
 '' Then why from me the bursting truth conceal ? 
 *' My father's foes even now my vengeance feel; 
 
 an opportunity offered he crossed the Oxus, and invaded that 
 country. Zaul and Roostum vrere the Cliampions who uniformly 
 resisted his progress and drove him back to his own kingdom. 
 
 Virgil speaks in a iitnilar manner of Augustus. 
 
 Hujus in adventum jam nuncet Caspla regna, 
 Responsis horrent Divum,ct Mzolia tellus, 
 
 Et septem gemini turbant trepida ostia NiU» 
 Nee vero Alcides tantum tcllurii obivit ; 
 
 Fixerit aripidem cervam licet, aut Erymaathj 
 
 I 
 
 Pacarit nemora, et Lerijam tremefecerit aucu. 
 
 v£nitd. L.6, v. *95. 
 At his foreseen approach already quake, 
 
 The Caspian kingdoms and Mxoiian lake, 
 
 Nile hears him knocking at his seven-fold gateSj 
 
 And seeks his hidden spring — 
 
 Not Hercules more lands or labours knew, 
 
 Not though the brazen footed hind he slew ; 
 
 Freed Erymanthus from the foaming boar, 
 
 And dipped his arrows in Lernasangore. Pryden. 
 
 TheSymoorgr. above-mentioned is similar to the Ippogiif of Ariosto, and the Griff n 
 of Romance.
 
 33 SOQHRAB, 
 
 *' Even now in wrath the Turkish warriors rise, 
 
 " And sounds of desolation strike the skies; 190 
 
 " The Tyrant-king% hurled from his ivory throne, 
 
 " Shall yield to Roostum the imperial crown, 
 
 *■' Then Scjthia, aided by my conquering- brand, 
 
 " Shall drive the proud oppressor from the land 1 
 
 Verse 191. The Tyrani-lcing^ <^-c.] This Is Ivyc-ka 00s, 
 the second King of Persia of the dynasty called Kyeanides, 
 He succeeded Kye-kobad, about six hundred years B. C. Ac- 
 cording to Firdousee he was a foolish tyrannical Prince. He 
 appointed Roostum Captain-General of the armies, to which 
 the Lieutenant-Generalship and the Administration <)f the state 
 ■was annexed, under the title of u^_,»^,-^ L^k'T" *'^^ Champion of 
 the world. He also gave him a taj, or crown of gold, ivhich 
 Kings only were accustomed to wear, and granted him the 
 privelege of giving audience seated on a throne of gold. 
 
 It is said that Kye-ka^oos applied himself much to the study 
 of Astronomy, and that he founded two great Observatories, the 
 one at Babel, and tlic other on the Tigris. Many historians 
 make him contemporary with David and Solomon, and conse- 
 quently with Lockman, renowned lor his wisdom, and they
 
 A POEM. S& 
 
 "■' Father and Son^ in virtuous league combined^ 195 
 *' No savage despot shall enslave mankind; 
 " When Sun and Moon o'er heaven refulc'ent blaze. 
 ^' Shall o'iimmering' Stars obtrude their feeble rays ? 
 
 High flush'd he spoke^ with youthful pride elate. 
 Bent to destroy the Monarch's glittering state. eoo 
 
 g!vp him a reign of 150 years. D'Herbelot. Kaoos erected two 
 palaces upon the mountain Alburz, and embellished them with 
 wonderful magnificence. [^Shahnamu, Vol. l,page 509.] This 
 was for au extraordinary purpose. He was persuaded by Iblees 
 to explore the heavens, supported on a throne, secured upon 
 the backs of four eagles. He ascended to a great height, but 
 the eagles became fatigued, and the royal aironaut landed in 
 a thick forest, where he remained a considerable time, before 
 he was found by the indefatigable Rocstura and his army,, 
 Perhaps his reputed fondness for astronomical studies gave riSfe 
 to the fable of this aerial excursion. 
 
 Verse 197. Whe/i Sun and Moon, Sfc."] 
 
 E/ 71 'itcL^xKKuacei ^^tOccv [).tyaq cchiog ag^tav. 
 
 Inscription on the statue of Epicharmus. 
 As the bright Sun out-shines the scarry train.
 
 40 SOOHRAB, 
 
 But more his distant father's love to claim, 
 
 Hk surest guide the sounding- voice cf fame. 
 
 A powerful courser first demands his care. 
 
 Of strength and speed to meet the toils of war, ^ 
 
 He views the royal stalls, in vam, and turns, 205 
 
 Indignant round, with wild impatience burns; 
 
 But when at length they bring the destined steed. 
 
 From RuKusH bred, of lightening's winged speed; 
 
 In Percy's Collection, there is an old Song -wWcIi contains, a 
 
 similar idea. 
 
 Ye meaner beauties of the night, 
 
 Which satisfy our eyes ! 
 
 More by your number than your light, 
 
 I/ike common people of the skies, 
 
 What are ye when the Moon clotli rise ? 
 
 Thus Lucretius, speaking of Epicurus. 
 
 Qui genus humanum ingenio speravit, et omneis 
 
 Restinxit, Stellas exortus uti aerius Sol. 
 
 Whose vast mincT, 
 
 Triumphant rose o'er all men, and excelled, 
 
 As, in the heavens, the Sun excels the Stars. 
 
 G OOP's Transl.
 
 A POEM. 41 
 
 llejoiced lie springs and with a nimble bound. 
 Vaults in his seat and wheels the courser round; i\^ 
 Grasps his huge javelin with a hero's might. 
 And pants with ardour for the fields of figlit. 
 
 Soon o'er the realm his fame expanding spread. 
 And sratheriniT thousands hasten'd to his aid. 
 Joyful iha King beheld the warrior-train, '215 
 
 Successive throng and darken all the plain ; 
 His ample stores the numerous hosts divide, 
 VVhile promised conquest fires their martial pride. 
 
 Afrasiab now hails with ardent joy. 
 The bold ambition of the Warrior-boy ; 110 
 
 Twelve thousand veterans selects with care, 
 And sends them succours to iho. coming war; 
 
 Verse 23S. Imperial piwienL^, cSt.] Amongst the nations 
 of the East nothing can be done M'ithout presents bctvceen the 
 parties, whether the negotiation be of a political, comniercial, 
 or of a domestic nature. Jlomer speaks of presents, but they 
 are only proffered condltionallj^, as in the ninth Iliad, wliere 
 U!\ sses and Ajax eadeavour to conciliate Achilles. 
 
 F
 
 42 SOOHRAB, 
 
 But treacherous first his martial Chiefs he prest. 
 
 To lock the secret close within their breast. 
 
 " Now hear my vengeance ! With unhallowed rage^ 
 
 '' Father and Son shall dreadful battle wage ! 
 
 '' Unknown the youth shall Roostum's force withstand; 
 
 ''■ And soon o'erwhelm the bulwark of the land. 
 
 '" RoosTUM removedj the Persian throne is ours ! 
 
 " An easy conquest to confederate powers ; 230 
 
 " And then secured by some propitious snare, 
 
 " SooHRAB himself our galling bonds shall wear. 
 
 " Or should the Son by Roostum's falchion bleed, 
 
 [' The father's horror at that fatal deed^ 
 
 Ten weighty talents of the purest gold, 
 
 And twice ten rases of refulgent mould ; 
 
 Twelve steeds unmatched in fleetness and in force. 
 
 And still victorious in the dusty course, 
 
 All these, to buy thy friendship, shall be paid. Pope. 
 
 But in the East the presents precede the negotiation, and are 
 of two kinds. Those made to a superior, and those to an 
 inferior. The articles sent by Afrasiab appear to comprehend 
 botli, for the Khilat, or honorary robe of state, is usually given
 
 A POEM. 43 
 
 '' Will rend his soul, and 'midst his sacred grief, 235 
 '^ KAjOOs in vain will supplicate relief." 
 
 The troops advance with guilty speed and bring. 
 Imperial presents to the future King; 
 In stately pomp the embassy proceeds ; 
 Ten loaded camels^ ten unrivalled steeds, 240 
 
 A golden crown, and throne, whose jewels bright. 
 Gleam in the sun and shed superior light. 
 A robe of state. All these the tyrant sends. 
 And fraudful thus the glorious aim commends. 
 " If thirst of empire urge thee to the field, 215 
 
 '' Accept the aid my conquering legions yield ; 
 *' Led by two Chiefs for valour long renowned, 
 " Their deeds in arms through all the world resound. 
 "^ Nay more, auxiliar powers will share the toil, 
 '" But thine the glory, thine the regal spoil ! 250 
 
 to inferiors, while the present of the crown and throne seems 
 to acknowledge superior or at least equal dignity and rank, 
 in Soohrab. 
 
 Verse 247. Led bi/ txso Chiefs^ 4c-] Hodman and Barm A>r. 
 
 F2
 
 44 . SOOHRAB, 
 
 *"' Stretch thy victorious arm and reign alone^ 
 *' The mighty lord of Persia's gorgeous throne 1'' 
 
 Elate with promised fame^ the youth surveys. 
 The regal vest_, the throne's irradiant blaze. 
 Salutes the Chiefs, and views on every side, 255 
 
 The lengthening ranks with various arms supplied. 
 The march begins— the brazen drums resound. 
 His moving thousands hide the trembling ground ; 
 O'er Persia's verdant land he wields the spear. 
 And blood and havoc mark his groaning rear. 260 
 
 Verse 2-19. Nui; more^ anxiliar jjozoerft, ^c.'] These were 
 forces from Chliiaj amounting to three hundred thousand chosen 
 men I 
 
 Verse 257. The march begins, ike brazen drums resound.'^ 
 {j^y Koos is a tyrabal or large brass drum, which is beat ia 
 the palaces or camps of Eastern Princes. 
 
 Verse 2G0. And blood and havoc marked his groaning rear.'] 
 It appears throughout the Shahnamu that whenever an army w as 
 put in motion, the inhabitants and the country, whether hostile 
 or friendly were eciually given up to plunder and devastation.
 
 A POEM. 45 
 
 To check the Invader's horror-spreading course^ 
 The Barrier- fort opposed unequal force; 
 That fort whose wails extending wide contained^ 
 The stay of Persia^ Knights in battle trained. 
 Soon as IIujeer -he dusky crowd descried^ 2G5 
 
 He on his own. presumptuous arm relied. 
 And left the fort ; his steed, with thundering pace. 
 Seemed like a mountain moving from its base. 
 
 Every thing in their progress was burnt and destroyed. 
 Verse 2(52. The Barner-furt, S^'c] -V;^-' J -^ The wliite for- 
 tress. Ill Ilfinnell there is a place called Suiab pass^ m tlic 
 mountainous chain of the Caucasus. On the southern side of 
 the range, in Lieut. Macartney's Map of the Punjab and coun- 
 tries west-ward of the Indus, recently compiled and about to 
 be published, there is a fortress marked Killa Beezu, ^d^ (t-sLi 
 ■which signifies white fortress, close to the Surab pass hiid down 
 by llennelL This therefore appears to be the deiile through 
 ■which Soojirab invaded Iran. 
 
 .Verse 265. SoonasIIuJeerp Sfc.'] IIujeer was the Governor 
 of the fort*
 
 4S SOOIIRAB, 
 
 Vaianting he spoke : '^ What hostile power appears, 
 " With threatening aspect and protended spears ! 270 
 " What Chieftain dares our war-hke realms invade }'* 
 *' And who art thou ?'" Soohrab indignant said. 
 " Know I am he with nervous power to tame, 
 *' The lion's rage, the brave Hujeer my name ! 
 
 Vers'e 2G8. Seemed Wee a mountain moving from its bascJl 
 
 Jj^ . J ' '^J^ C) JJ L^y J^ The simile of a moving mountain 
 occurs in the Iliad. Hector with his white plumes, is compared 
 to a moving mountain topt with snow. Book xiii. But Virgil 
 lias added considerably to this image. The Trojan hero moves 
 towards Turnus, 
 
 Quantus Athos, ant quantus Eryx, ant ipse coruscis, 
 Quum fremit iliclbus quantus, gaudetque nivali, 
 Vertice se adtollens pater Apenninus ad auras. 
 Thus translated by Dryden, jEn. L. xW, I. 701. 
 
 Like Eryx or like Athos, great he shows. 
 Or father Apennine, when white with snows. 
 His head divine obscure in clouds ho hides, 
 And shakes the sounding forest on his sides !
 
 A POEM. 47 
 
 ^^ Thy head shall soon^ dissevered by my sword, 275 
 *■' Gladden the sight of Persia's mig-hty lord ; 
 *' While to the do^s thy carcase shall be given, 
 *' Or bleach beneath the parching blasts of heaven. 
 The youthful Hero frowning heard the boast. 
 And springing up^ his lifted javelin tost; 280 
 
 Full on his middle fell the forceful blow. 
 And almost crushed the half-exhausted foe. 
 Repeated strokes ensued. With proud disdain, 
 SooHRAB now hurled him staggering on the plain ; 
 And quick dismounting, on his heaving breast, 285 
 He grimly stood, and firm his dagger prest — — 
 But, as he raised the sanguinary blade. 
 Trembling, for life, the craven boaster prayed. 
 That mercy granted eased his coward mind. 
 Though, dire disgrace, in Scythian bonds confined ! 
 
 Vekse 277. rVhile to the dogs, Sfc.'] The original is u^^J 
 Kurgus, a bird which feeds on dead carcases, a vulture. 
 
 Verse 279. The youthful Hero, <^c.] The circumstances 
 in Soolirab's first encounter somewhat resemble the first engage- 
 ment of young Ascanius with the boaster JVumanus.
 
 4& SOOHRAB, 
 
 When GooRD-AFREED, a peerless warrior-dame^ 
 Heard of the conflict and the Hero's shame. 
 Her foaming" palfrey speedful she bestrode ; 
 Her vermil cheek with deeper crimson glowed. 
 The burnished mail her tender limbs embraced, 295 
 Beneath her helm her clustering locks were placed; 
 Poised in her hand an iron javelin gleamed. 
 And o'er the ground it sparkling lustre streamed ; 
 Now with a thunderina: clan^ she fierce descends. 
 And 'midst the foe her course impetuous bends. 300 
 Fearless of soul, demands with haughty tone. 
 The bravest Chief, for war-like valour known. 
 
 Verse 295. The hurnished muU her tender limhf; embraced.'] 
 Thus hid in arms she seemed a goodly Knightj 
 
 And fit for any war-like exercise; 
 But when she list lay down her armour bright, 
 
 And back resume her peaceful maiden's guise; 
 The fairest maid she was that ever yet, 
 Prison'd her locks within a golden net, 
 Or let them waving hang with roses fair beset. 
 
 Fletcher's Purple Island^ Cant. x.
 
 A POEM. ' 49 
 
 To try the chance of light. In shining arms, 
 
 Agahi SooHRAB the glow of battle warms ; 
 
 With scornful smile^^ '' Another deer !" he cries, 305 
 
 Speeds to my victor-toils^ another prize \" 
 
 The damsel saw his noose insidious spread. 
 
 And soon her arrows whizzed around his head; 
 
 Furious he burned, and high his buckler held. 
 
 To ward the storm, by growing force impell'd ; 310 
 
 Saw with what power the twanging bow she drew. 
 
 While still hsr darts with hissing fury flew. 
 
 Now o'er her back the slacken'd bow resounds ; 
 
 She grasps her lance, her goaded courser bounds. 
 
 Driven on the youth with persevering might — • 315 
 
 Unconquer'd courage still prolongs the fight. 
 
 The stripling Chief avoids the threaten'd blow. 
 
 Reins in his steed, then rushes on the foe; 
 
 Verse 307. The damsel saw his noose insidious spread."] 
 Herodotus speaks of a people confederated with the army of 
 Xarxes who employed the noose. *' Their principal dependence 
 in action is upon cords made of twisted leatherj which they use 
 
 G
 
 50 SOOHRAB, 
 
 With outstretch'd arm, he bending backwards hung". 
 And gathering' streng'th, the pointed javelin flung; 320 
 Firm through her girdie-belt the weapon went. 
 And glancing down the polish'd armour relit. 
 Soon like a ball, hurled with superior force. 
 She tumbled headlong from her foaming horse ; 
 Yet unsubdued, she cut the spear in two, 323 
 
 And from her side the quivering fragment drew. 
 Then gain'd her seat, and headlong urged her steeds- 
 Bat strong and fleet Soohrab arrests her speed; 
 Strikes off her helm, and sees — a woman's face. 
 Radiant with blushes and commanding grace ; 330 
 Her shivered mail, her swelling bosom bare. 
 Her sparkling eyes, and wild dishevelled hair. 
 Proclaim her sex, increase her dazzling charms. 
 And fill the conqueror's breast with love's alarms. 
 
 in this manner: when they engage an enemy, they throw out 
 these cords, having a noose at the extremity ; if they entangle 
 in them either horse or man, they without difficulty put them to 
 jdeath." Beloe's traasl. Polyhym. Sec. 85.
 
 A POEM. 51 
 
 *■' If Persian damsels thus in arms enga^, 53S 
 
 " Who shall repel their warriors' fiercer rage ?'* 
 Stopp'd in his wrath, 3'et ere his reason flies, 
 Th-e ready toils secure his lovely prize. 
 " Seek not to fly, thou heavenly maid 1" he cried, 
 " Such beauty seldom swells the victor's pride." 340 
 Raising her full black orbs serenely bright. 
 In all her charms she blazed before his sight ; 
 
 Verse 341. Raising her full black orbs serenely bright^ 
 In all her charms she blazed before his sight.'] 
 Goord-afreed engaging Soohrab is exactly the Clorinda of Tasso 
 engaging Tancred in the third Canto of Gierusalemtne Liberata. 
 
 Clorinda in tanto ad incontrar V assalto 
 
 YX di Tancredi, e pon la lancia in resta, 
 
 Ferirsi a le visiere, e i tronchiinalto 
 
 Volaro, e parte nuda ella ne resta ; 
 
 Che, rotti i lacci a I'elmo suoj d'un salto, 
 
 (Mirabil colpo) ei le balzo di testa: 
 
 E le chlome derate al vcnto sparse, 
 
 Giovane donna in mezo 'I campo apparse. 
 
 Lampeggiar gli occhi
 
 5 J SOOHRAB, 
 
 Expert in wiles each syren -art she knew. 
 And thence exposed her blooming face to vlc-vf. 
 
 Percosso il Cavalier non ripercote ; 
 
 Ne SI dal ferro a riguardarsi attende, 
 
 Come a, guardar i begli occhi, e le gote, 
 
 Ond' Amor Tarco inevitabil tende. 
 
 Sianzas sxi and xxir. 
 Mean-while, her lance at rest, the warrior-dame, 
 Wltli eager haste t' encounter Tancred came. 
 Their vizors struck, the spears in shivers flew; 
 The virgin's face was left exposed to view. 
 The thongs that held her helmet burst in twain, 
 Hurled from her head, it bounded on the plain ; 
 Loose 3q the wind, her golden tresses flowed, 
 And DOW a maid confessed to all she stood; 
 
 Keen flash her eyes 
 
 Til' enamoured warrior ne'er returns a blow, 
 
 But views with eager gaze her charming eyes, 
 
 FroTTi whence the shaft of love unerring flies. IToole. 
 
 Warrior dames have afforded numerous Episodes to the Poets 
 
 from the earliest times. Penthesilea aided the cause of Priam 
 
 Sn tlie Tnian war. Sue was killed in battle by Achilles who
 
 A POEM. 63 
 
 ** These curling tresses seen by either liost, sib 
 
 *' A woman conquer'd^ whence the glorious boast ? 
 
 was so affected by her beauty, when she was stripped of iicr 
 armour, that he shed tears. Artemisia, according to HerCdotus, 
 assisted Xerxes in his expedition against Greece. Every body is 
 acquainted with the noble description of Camilla in the eleventh 
 ^neld. 
 
 Quales ThreiciE cum flumina Thermodontis 
 Pulsant, et pictis bellantur Amazones arrais : 
 S3U circum Ilippollten. J^xeid. L. xi, I. C59. 
 
 So fought the Thracian Amazons of old, 
 When Thermodon with bloody billows rolled, 
 Such troops as these in shining arms were seen, 
 When Theseus met in fight their maiden queen. Drydew. 
 The Italian Poets, and our own Spenser, have not failed to take 
 advantage of these examples, and hence the beautiful and interest- 
 ing descriptions of female heroism with which their works abound. 
 Where is the antique glory now become, 
 
 That whilorae wont in women to appear ? 
 Where be the brave atchieveicents done by some ? 
 Where be the battles, "where the shield and spear? 
 
 Spenser's Fairy Queen.
 
 S4 , SOOIIRAB5 
 
 *' Tfiy startled troops will know with clamorous grlef^, 
 
 "' A woman's arm resists their towering Chief; 
 
 " Better preserve a warrior's fair renown, 
 
 '' And let our strug'g'le still remain unknown, 350 
 
 '' For wha with wanton folly would expose, 
 
 *"' A helpless maid, to ag-gravate her woes ! 
 
 "■ The fort is thine, and I thy will obey, 
 
 "■ And thine the honors of thii dreadful day.'* 
 
 Raptured he gazed, her smiles resistless move, 355 
 The wildest transports of ungoverned love. 
 Her face disclosed the charms of heaven to view. 
 Eyes like the fawn, and cheeks of rosy hue — — 
 Thus vanquished, lost, unconscious of her aim. 
 And only struggling- with his amorous flame, SGO 
 
 The Warrior-maids, Marpesia, Hippolyte, Lampeto, and Penthe- 
 silea, are amongst the first described by the Historians and Poets 
 ©f the West, and they are all of Asiatic origrn. The Amazons 
 arc said to hare inhabited the country now called Armenia. Marpesia 
 conquered the inhabitants of Caucasus, in consequence of which 
 the mountain was called Marpesius Mons. Goord-afreed may 
 taercfore be considered an indigenous character, and not derived
 
 A POEM. 5S 
 
 He rode behind as if compelled by fate. 
 
 And heedless saw her gain the castle-gate. 
 
 Safe with her friends^ escaped from braad and spear, . 
 
 Smiling" she stood^ as if unknown to fear. 
 
 — The father now with tearful pleasui'e wild, .365 
 
 Clasps to his heart his fondly -foster'd child; 
 
 The crowding warriors o'er her eager bend. 
 
 And grateful prayers to favoring heaven ascend. 
 
 Now from the ramparts, with majestic air. 
 She loud exclaims : " Presumptuous 'King I forbear;' 
 " Why vex thy soul, and useless strife demand ! . 
 ^' Go, and in peace enjoy thy native land. 
 Ei'ierce he rejoins : '' Thou beauteous tyrant! say, 
 *' Though crown'd with charms, devoted to betray. 
 
 from Western Poetry, although from tkc circumstance of Longinus 
 having been minister and preceptor to Zenobia, it may be sus- 
 pected that the works of Homer and Virgil were known in the East. 
 Verse 346. A woman conquered, whence (he giorious boast? J 
 namque et si nullum msirorabile nomcn, 
 F«minea in poena est, nee habet victoria laudera. 
 
 JEsjuiv. L. 2 J /. 5S3.
 
 35 SOOHRAB^ 
 
 " When these proud walls in dust and ruins laid, 375 
 " Yield no defence^ and thou a captive maid, 
 ''<• Will not repentance through thy bosom dart, 
 '^ And sorrow soften that disdainful heart ?" 
 Quick she replied : " O'er Persia's fertile fields, 
 "^ The savage Turk in vain his falchion wields ; 3S0 
 *' Even now the King this bold invasion hears, 
 " And mighty Roostum clad in arms appears ! 
 '*■ Destruction wide will glut the slippery plain, 
 " And not one man of all thy host remain. 
 
 *Tis true a soldier can small honor gain, 
 And boast no conquest from a woRian slain I Dryden. 
 VtRSE 359. Thus vanquished^ lost, «^c.J 
 
 AvT ccairi'SoiV ciitafTuv^ 
 
 QuLi 7-1/^, haM rig acx, 
 
 Aaacreon. Ode II.
 
 A POEM. 57 
 
 *^ Avert the fate which o'er thy head impends, 385 
 ^' Return^ return, and save thy warrior-friends 1" 
 
 O'er whelmed with shame, defrauded of his prey^ 
 His kindled fury hardly brooks delay. 
 But now around the shades of evenini^ fall. 
 And shield from instant doom the lea^'uer'd wall. 390 
 '' Soon as the beams of early morning- glow, 
 '' Our arms shall £:ive the last tremendous blow.'* 
 This said, at distance from the hostile power. 
 He brooding waits the slaughter-breathing hour. 
 
 Meanwhile Guzd'um with gathering woesopprest. 
 His distant Monarch trembline: thus addrest. 
 
 Beauty fell to woman's share. 
 She that's beauteous need not fear, 
 Sword;, or llamej or shield, or spear! 
 Bdauty stronger aid affords, 
 Stronger far than flames or swords; 
 Stronger far than swords or shields, 
 Man himself to Bkauty yields. , Fawkt?. 
 
 Verse 305. Meanwhile Gazer um, ^c.^ The father of Coord- 
 
 H
 
 58 SOOHRAB, 
 
 '' Prom Scythia's barbarous realmS;, with foot and 
 
 horse, 
 ^' A stripling- warrior holds his bloody course. 
 ''^ His lion-breast unequalled strength betrays, 
 '" And o'er his mien the sun's effulgence plays ; 400 
 *' His powerful arm all human might defies, 
 " His voice like thunder rends the vaulted skies ; 
 " SooHRAB his name ; like Saum Suwar he shows, 
 ^' Or RoosTUM, terrible amidst his foes. 
 " The bold Hujeer lies vanquished on the plain, 40§ 
 '' And drags a captive's ignominious chain ; 
 " Myriads of troops besiege our tottering wall, 
 '•' And vain the effort to suspend its fall. 
 " Haste, arm for fight, this Tartar-power withstand, 
 '" Let sweeping vengeance lift her flickering brand ; 
 '^ RoosTUM alone may stem the roaring w^ave, 
 ^^ And prompt as bold his groaning country save„ 
 
 afreed, o\\ whom the charge of the fort devolved in consequence 
 of the defeat of Ilujeer.
 
 A POEM. 59 
 
 '' Meanwhile in fiig'ht we place our surest trust, 
 *' Ere the proud ramparts crumble in the dust." 
 
 Swift flies the messeng'er through secret ways, 415 
 And dark disguised the dreadful tale conve3's— 
 Then passed^ concealed in night's embowering shade. 
 The mournful heroes and the warrior-maid. 
 
 Ere the bright sun with vivifying' ray. 
 Gleams o'er the landskip and renews the day ; 420 
 The flaming troops the lofty walls surround. 
 With thundering crash the bursting gates resound. 
 SooHRAB terrific o'er the ruin, views. 
 His hopes deceived, but restless still pursues. 
 An empty fortress mocks his searciiing eye, 425 
 
 No steel-clad Chiefs his burning wrath defy ; 
 No warrior-maid reviving passion warms. 
 And soothes his soul with fondly-valued charms. 
 Deep in his breast he feels the amorous smart. 
 And hugs her image closely to his heart. 430 
 
 " Alas ! that Pate should thus invidious shroud, 
 '" The moon's soft radiance in a gloomy cloud; 
 
 112
 
 60 SOOHRAB^ 
 
 '' Should to my eyes such winning' grace display, 
 
 "^ Then snatch the enclianter of my soul away ! 
 
 " The beauteous roe my toils enclosed in vain, 43a 
 
 ^' Now I the victim drag; a galling- chain ; 
 
 '' Vanquished by her, I mourn the fatal strife : 
 
 '' Dark, dark and bitter, frowns my morn of life. 
 
 *"' A fair unknown my tortured bosom rends, 
 
 [' Whelms every hope, and every joy suspends." 440 
 
 Verse 439. A fair z/nknozcn my tortured bosom re?Hh.~\ 
 Love at first sight, and of the most enthusiastic kind, is the 
 passion described in all Persian poems, as if a whole life of love 
 were condensed into one moment. It is all wild and rapturons. 
 It has nothing of a rational cast. A casual glance from an un. 
 known beauty often affords the subject of a poem. The Poets 
 whom Dr. Johnson has denominated metaphysical, such as 
 Donne, Jonson, and Cowley, bear a strong resemblance to the 
 Persians on the subject of love. 
 
 Now, sure, Avithin this twelve month past, 
 I've loved at least some twenty years or more 5 
 Th' account of love runs much more fast, 
 Thau that witli wliich cur life does score:
 
 A POEM. 61 
 
 Impassioned thus Soohrab incessant sighed. 
 And sought, in vain, o'er-mastering- grief to hide. 
 
 So, though my life be short, yet I may proTe, 
 
 The great Metiiusalem of love ! ! ! Cowlet. 
 
 The Odes ofKafiz also, with all their spirit and richness of expres- 
 sion, abound in conceit and extravagant metaphor. There is how- 
 ever something very beautiful in the following lines: 
 
 which may be paraphrased thus : 
 
 Zephyr, thro' thy locks is straying, 
 Stealing fragrance, charms displaying j 
 Should it pass where Hafiz lies, 
 From his conscious dust would rise, 
 Flowrcts of a thousand dyes ! 
 Sir W. Jones inquofing this distich, seems to have neglected the 
 peculiar turn of the thought, and has translated the second, line, a 
 hundred thousand powers will spring from the earth that hides his 
 corse! But the passage implies that even the «.9/ies of the Poet will 
 still retain enough of sensibility to be affected by the presence, or 
 by any token, of his beloved. Cowley has a similar notion, but- 
 he pursues and arapliEes it till it becomes ridiculous.
 
 6* SOOIIIIAB^ 
 
 Can the heart bleed and throb from day to day,, 
 And yet no trace its secret pangs betray ? 
 
 'Tis weil, 'tis well with them say I, 
 Whose short-lived passions witli themselves can di& j 
 
 Whatever parts of me remain, 
 Those parts will still thf* love of thee retain ; 
 
 Mj affection no more perish can, 
 Than the first matter that compounds a man ! ! 
 Hereafter, if one dust of me, 
 Mix'd with another's substance be ; 
 'Twill leaven that whole lump with love of thee! I 
 
 Let nature if she please, disperse, 
 My atoms over all the universe ; 
 At the last they easily shall, 
 Themselves know, and together call ; 
 For thy love, like a mark, is starapt on all I ! 
 
 All-ovf.r love. 
 I do not think there is any thing In the whole compass of Persian 
 Poetry in worse taste, or more extravagant, than this specimen 
 from one of our standard Poets. 
 
 Verse 443. Ca7i the heart bleed and throb from day to dat/, 
 And yet no trace Us secret pangs betray ?'\
 
 A POEM, 63 
 
 Love scorns control, and prompts the labouring sigh^ 
 Pales the red lip, and dims the lucid eye ; 
 His alter'd mien alarmed the Scythian Chief, 
 Keenly he mark'd his heart-corroding grief; 
 
 Moore lias translated the following thought from La Fosse. 
 In vain the lover tries to veil 
 
 The flame which in his bosom lies ; 
 His checks' confusion tells th€ tale. 
 
 We read it in his languid eyes : 
 And though his words the heart betray, 
 His silence speaks e'en more than they. 
 Thus Shakspeare : 
 
 Fire that is closest kept, burns most of all ; 
 1 they love least,, that let men know their love. 
 Again, The grief that does not speak. 
 
 Whispers the o'er fraught heart, and bids it break. 
 And Dryden : 
 
 Silent he wept, ashamed to shew his tears. 
 Verse 447. His alter'd mien alarmed the Scylluan Chief.'] 
 Literallj', Hooman was not at first aware that Soohrab was 
 wounded in the liver. In this organ, Oriental, as well as the 
 Greek and Roman Poets J place the residence of love. Thus
 
 64 SOOHRAB, 
 
 And scowling' knew such deep repinings prove. 
 
 The hapless thraldom of disastrous love. 450 
 
 With hollow heart he gained his private ear^ 
 
 And thus persuasive dried the gushing- tear. 
 
 *' In ancient times, no hero known to fame, 
 
 " Not dead to glory e'er indulged the flame ; 
 
 Theocritus, Idyll, xiii, speaking of Hercules lamenting the loss 
 
 of Hylas : 
 
 XuXsTog ya^ sera '^sog vjxaj aix-oacsv. 
 For in his liver love had fixt a wound. 
 
 Thus Horace : 
 
 Cum tibi fervens Amor 
 
 Saeviet circa Jecur ulcerosum. 
 
 Thus also Anacreon in the beautiful Ode of Cupid benighted : 
 
 ToLvvei ^s, nxi [x,e rvKTei 
 
 Msaov Vi%x^y co(j7:£^ oigi^og' 
 With that he bent the fatal yew. 
 And to the head an arrow drew, 
 Loud twanged the sounding string, the dart^ 
 
 Pierced through my Liver. Fawkes, 
 
 And Shakspeare : 
 
 Alas their love may be called appetite, 
 No motion of the Liver, but the palate*
 
 A POEM. es 
 
 " Tho' beauty's smiles mig'ht charm a fleeting' hour, 
 *' The heart unsway'd repell'd its witching" power, 
 " A warrior Chief to trembling love a prey ? 
 " What ! weep for woman one inglorious day ? 
 " Our progress mark! from Scythian hills we came, 
 " Through seas of blood to gain immortal fame ; 5Q0 
 " And shall we now the tempting conquest shun, 
 '' When our brave arms this Barrier-fort have won ? 
 
 Verse 457. A zcarnor Chief to trembling love aprexf?'] 
 No time shall see a brave man do amiss, 
 And what's the noble cause, what makes this madness ? 
 Wiiat big ambition blows this dangerous fire ? 
 A Cupid's pujQFj is it not, woman's breath? 
 By all your triumphs in the heat of youth, 
 When towns were sacked, and beauties prostrate laj^j 
 When my blood boiled, and nature worked me high, 
 Clytas ne'er bowed his body to such shame : 
 The brave will scorn the cob-web arts — The soulSj 
 Of all that whining, smiling, cozening, sex, 
 "Weigh not one thought of any man of waf« LeE. 
 
 I
 
 06 SOOHRAB, 
 
 " Why linger here, and trickling sorrows shed, 
 
 " *Till mighty KA|Oos thunders o'er thy head! 
 
 *' Canst thou for love's effeminate control, 463 
 
 " Barter the glory of a warrior's soul ? 
 
 " Rise, lead the war, prodigious toils require, 
 
 " Unyielding strength, and unextinguished ire ; 
 
 " Pursue the triumph with tempestuous rage, 
 
 *' Against the world in glorious strife engage ; 470 
 
 ^* The fickle sex will then with blooming charms, 
 
 ^' Adoring throng to bless thy circling arms 1" 
 
 Verse 465. Canst thottfor love's effeminate controLI 
 Heph. Why is it then we love ? 
 Clyt. Because unmanned — 
 
 O that a face should thus bewitch a soul, 
 
 And ruin all that's right and reasonable ! 
 
 Where is there room for glory ? , LtE. 
 
 You dream, you sleep away your hours. 
 
 In desperate sloth, 
 
 Up, up, for honor's sake ! 
 
 Drtden's All for Lovb»
 
 A POEM. «7 
 
 No more the tear his faded cheek bedewed, 
 Ag'ain ambition all bis hopes renewed ; 
 Swell'd his bold heart with long forgotten zeal, 475 
 The noble wrath which heroes only feel ; 
 Fiercely he vowed at one tremendous stroke. 
 To bow the world beneath the Tyrant's yoke ! 
 
 Burning alone to rule this nether sphere. 
 The welcome tidings charmed the despot's ear. 480 
 
 The King of Kings, this dire invasion known. 
 Had called his Chiefs around his ivory throne : 
 
 Nay but this dotage of our general's, 
 
 O'erflo\\rs the measure : those his goodly eyes, 
 
 That o'er the files and musters of the war, 
 
 Have glowe:! like plated Mars, now bend, now turn. 
 
 The office and devotion of their vie^y, 
 
 Upon a '• woman 1'' Shakspeare. 
 
 Verse 480. The Kekome tidings charmed the despoVs ear.] 
 
 Afrasiftb, to whomSoohrab had communicated the progress o^the 
 
 invasion, 
 
 12
 
 68 SOOHRxiB, 
 
 Besought their aid and prudent choice to form. 
 
 Some sure defense againt the threatening storm. 
 
 With one consent they urge the strong request^ 485 
 
 To summon Roostum from his rural rest. 
 
 Instant a warrior-delegate they send. 
 
 And thus the King entreats his patriot-friend. 
 
 '"' To thee all praise, whose mighty arm alone, 
 **■ Preserves the glory of the Persian throne ! 490 
 
 " Lo ! foreign hordes our happy realms invade ; 
 '' Ths tottering state requires thy powerful aid ; 
 *' A youthful Champion leads his ruthless host, 
 *■*■ His savage country's widely-rumoured boast. 
 " The Barrier-fortress sinks beneath his sway, 495 
 '* IIujEER is vanquished, ruin tracks his way. 
 " Strong as a raging elephant in fight, 
 '' No arm but thine can match his furious might. 
 ** Mazindur.in thy conquering prowess knew ; 
 *' The Dyi3M0N-KiNG thy trenchant falchion slew ; 500 
 
 Verse 499. Mazinduran thy conquering prowess knewj 
 The Dcemon-king thy iremhant fukhian sletv^']
 
 A FOEM. ^ 
 
 '' The rolling heavens abash'd with fear behold, 
 '' Thy biting svvord^ thy mace of burnished gold I 
 
 The province of Maziaduran, of which the principal city is 
 AthoI, comprehends the whole of the Southern coast of th© 
 Caspian sea. It was known to the ancients by the name of 
 Hyrcania. At the period to which the tQXt refers, the country- 
 was in the possession of Daemons or beings of supernatural 
 endowments. Ka.oos, on his accession to the throne, was told 
 of the delightful climate of Mazinduran, of the hills and Tallies 
 being covered with the most fragrant flowers, and the air filled 
 with the melodious notes of the nightingale. The laughing 
 years rolled round with delight, and it was observed that thos3 
 who had never seen Mazinduran could never have tasted real 
 and heartfelt enjoyment. Charmed with this description, Ka,oos 
 was determined to conquer that country. Zaul and all his 
 warriors attempted to dissuade hin» from the perilous attempt, 
 as the kingdom was guarded by charms and enchantment, which 
 neither strength nor wisdom could dissolve. Karoos wa% inflexible, 
 and immediately prepared to march against Mazinduran, leaving 
 ^aul and Roojtum in charge of Iran. When the army ap- 
 proached the oity he ordered Gu to attack and destroy what* 
 «yef obstructed his progress, Man, womJiQ and child, were put
 
 ro SOOHRAB, 
 
 *' Ply to the succour of a Kin^ distress'd, 
 
 'J Proud of thy love, with thy protection blest. 
 
 to death. In the meantime the King of Maziaduran seat for tho 
 White Daemon to repel the invaders. When ih.e White D^mon 
 ftrdred, by his magic art, he caused the heavens to be covered 
 with impenetrable darkness, which enabled him with his myriad? 
 to surround the army of Kajoos, to plunder and take all th© 
 Persian warriors prisoners. In this dilemma, full of grief and dis- 
 traction, Kaioos sends to Zaul to request his assistance. Zau\ 
 directs Roostum to undertake the enterprize, hut aa the road 
 ■which KajOos had gone, was long and tedious, he chose a shorter, 
 though beset with the most tremendous dangers, and infested 
 with wild beasts and Dasmons. This journey is called the \j;^^-^ 
 tj^ Huft-Khan, in which are described the seven labours o^ 
 Roostum. In these labours he overcomes a lion, and an enormous 
 dragon ; he resists the blandishments of an enchantress, a kii;id of 
 Circe; kills Arzung Deo, and conquers the White Daemon. In the 
 seventh labour, the description of the Damons in their hellish 
 abo'les has much of the energy and spirit of Milton. Roostum 
 views them asleep in their dreary caverns. His conflict with tho 
 White Daemon is finely described and with the fervor of a 
 genuine Poet. KaiOos^ noyf released from prison, concluding
 
 A POEMo 71 
 
 When o'er the nation dread misfortunes lower, f o$ 
 Thou art the refuge, thou the saving power. 
 The Chiefs assembled claim thy patriot care ; 
 Be thine alooe the conduct of the war ; 
 
 that ihs King of Mazinduran had lost his only support !ii tTi« 
 overthrow of Arzang and the Wliite Djemon, requires him to 
 acknowledge his authority. The King of Masiuduran refuoSS,' 
 and a furious battle ensues between the two powers. Roostun* 
 kills the Daemon-king, whose army becomes obedient to the con» 
 querors. Awalad, who had given Roostum considerable aid in 
 his progress to Mazinduran, is raised to the throne, as a reward 
 for his fidelity and services, Ka|00S and his warriors then retura 
 to Iran. 
 
 Verse 501. The rolling heavens^ Sfcl 
 
 tijJi) jjbjj Jk— -vjblj jj j.J^j 
 Thy mace makes the Sun weep, a.nd thy sword inflames the Stars. 
 (Lit. the planet Venus.) Although this is a strong hyperbele, 
 there are numberless parallel passages, containing equally ex- 
 travagant personification, in our own Poets. For exaraplej; 
 *' The Stars are ashamed of tuy presence, and turn aside their 
 ^ sparkling eyes." Cssiak.
 
 ft SOOIIRAB, 
 
 ^'^ And while no whisper breathes the direful tale, 
 
 " O let thy Monarch's anxious prayers prevail." sro 
 
 The fragrant page now closed^ with earnest look. 
 The King to Gu in hurried accent spoke. 
 " Speed day and night O speed thy labouring horse, 
 " Outstrip the tempest in thy rapid course ; 
 *^ To RoosTUM swift his country's woes convey, 513 
 •*■ Speed day and night, nor dread the toilsome way." 
 
 Soon he arrived, where Zabi^l bowers exhale. 
 Ambrosial sweets and scent the balmy gale. 
 
 Swift Severn's flood, 
 
 Affrighted with their bloody looks^ 
 
 Ran fearfully among the trembling reeds, 
 
 And hid his crisped head in the hollow bank ! 
 
 ShakspearBo 
 Verse 511. The fragrant page, Sfc."] The paper upon which 
 the letters of royal and distinguished personages in the East 
 are written is usually perfumed, and covered with curious devices 
 In gold. The degree of embellishmeat is regulated according 
 to the rank of the party.
 
 A POEM, 73 
 
 RoosTUM amidst his brave companions stood. 
 Awhile remote from scenes of war and blood ; 520 
 And when the warrior joined the martial rin^, 
 (Tiic sacred Envoy from the Persian King-) 
 He with respect and patriot thoug'hts inspired. 
 Asked what the IMonarch, v/hat the state required. 
 But Gu to Roostum's private mansion hied, 525 
 
 There told his mission, there the Champion tried. 
 Struck with amazement, '' What ! and now on earth, 
 ^*' A Warrior -knio'lit of Saum's excelling worth ! 
 ^■' From Scythia too ! There once affection smiled, 
 ^' And there Tuhmeena trains my dailing child ; 53.0 
 
 Veuse .530. And there Tuhmeena trains my darling chiid."] 
 It ought to be remarlted that in the abridged Shahnarau. by 
 Shumsheer Khan, there is an important deviation from the origiaal 
 in this.pajt of the story. In that work, Tuhmeena in acknowledg- 
 ing the receipt of the jewels which Roostum hadsent to her. fear- 
 ful of being deprived of her child, denies the birth of a son. This 
 sets his he.Tit entirely at rest, as daughters are never looked upon 
 ■with much regard iu the East, and have been frequentlv destroyed 
 ^mongit several tribes and nations, astheRajapootS; Hindoos; and 
 
 K
 
 74 SOOHRAB, 
 
 " But tender youth forbids him yet to share, 
 
 " The horrid toils of sanguinary war ; 
 
 " Yet when mature^ in manhood's joyous prime, 
 
 ^' His deeds will live through all succeeding time. 
 
 ^^ Come join in mirth/' aloud the Champion said, 535 
 
 ';" Why tremble here by coward thoughts dismayed ; 
 
 the ancient Arabians. Perhaps this alteration, without authority, 
 Was made with the idea of giving greater probability to the 
 texture of the story. But here, Roostum recalls to his mind, 
 and dwells upon, the promising qualities of his Son, in a very 
 natural strain of reflexion and ^tenderness. His suspicions are 
 evidently excited, but his own reasoning shews to him th© 
 impossibility of the invader of Iran being his son, 
 
 " I sent to his mother for him gold and jewels • she informed n.e
 
 A POEM. 75 
 
 " liGt plans of Vv'ar another day decide, 
 "■ We soon shall quell this Scythian hero's pride. 
 ^' What dang"er tlireatens ! whence the dastard fear ! 
 " Rest, an J at leisure share a warrior's cheer." 510 
 
 In vain the Envoy prest the Monarch's grief; 
 The matchless prowess of the stripling Chief; 
 How brave Hujeer had felt his furious hand; 
 Wliat thickening woes beset the shuddering land ; 
 RoosTUM resolved, delayed the parting day^ 545 
 
 And mirth and feasting rolled the hours away ; 
 Morn following morn beheld the banquet bright, 
 JMusic and wine prolonged the genial rite ; 
 No thought of Ka.oos touch'd his swimming brain. 
 Rapt by the witchery of the melting strain. 550 
 
 of his rapid growth and improvement. But the beloved of mj 
 soul is not yet equal to the fatigues of battle." 
 
 The abstract of the tale given by Lord Teignmouth at the 
 end of his Life of Sir W. Jones, is taken from the Abridge- 
 ment just mentioned. 
 
 Verse 550. Rapt hij tlit zoUclicry of the melting strain.'] 
 
 Four days were consumed in uninterrupted feasting. This seems 
 
 K2
 
 76 SOOIIRAB, 
 
 The trumpet's clang, on fragrant breezes borne^ 
 Now loud salutes the fifth revolving morn ; 
 Tiie softer tones which charmed the jocund feast^ 
 And all the noise of revelry, had ceased. 
 The generous horse, with rich embroidery deckt, 553 
 Whose gilded trappings sparkling light reflect. 
 Bears with majestic port the Champion brave_, 
 And high in air the victor-banners wave. 
 Prompt at the^ martial call Zooara leads. 
 The veteran knights through Persia's verdant meads. 
 
 But foaming wrath the senseless Monarch swayed. 
 His friendship scorned, his mandate disobeyed. 
 Beneath dark brows o'ershadovving deep, his eye. 
 Red gleaming shone, like lightening thro' the sky ; 
 And when the warriors met his sullen view, 565 
 
 Frowning revenge, still more enraged he grew— 
 
 to hare been an ancient practice previous to the commencement 
 of any important undertaking, or at setting out on a journey. 
 
 V£RSK 559. Zooara was the brother of Roostumj and had 
 the immediate superintendence of the Zabul troops.
 
 A POEM. 77 
 
 lioud to the Envoy thus he fiercely cried, 
 
 *' Let instant death sabdue that traitor's pride :" 
 
 But Gu retiring added to the flame. 
 
 And both were branded with revolt and shame. 570 
 
 Then Toos, with grief, received the stern command. 
 
 And close advancing- seized the Champion's hand ; 
 
 Conid daring insult, thus deliberate given, 
 
 Escape the rage of one to frenzy driven ? 
 
 No, from his side the nerveless Chief was flung, 575 
 
 Bent to the ground. Away the Champion sprung. 
 
 Verse 568. ^* Lei instant death subdue that traitor'' s pride."'] 
 The original is, 
 
 '^ Seize and inflict updn him the punishment of thedar." Accord- 
 ing to the BooRHANi-KATA dar is a tree upon which felons are 
 hanged. But the general acceptation of the term is breaking or 
 tearing the body upon a stake. The dar was probably a state- 
 punishraent in those days. 
 
 VcasE 571. Then Toos, Sfc-I Toos was a Prince, the son 
 ofNouder. Some Historians say he was the brother and some 
 the uncle of Kye-ka,oos.
 
 7i SOOKRAfi, 
 
 ^' Ungrateful King ! thy tyrant acts disgrace, 
 " The sacred throne^ and morC;, the human race. 
 " 'Midst clashing swords thy recreant life I saved, 
 '*" And am I now by Toos contemptuous braved? sso 
 " On me shall Toos, shall Ka,oos dare to frown? 
 ^' On me, the bulwark of the regal crown ? 
 " Go and thyself Soohrab's invasion stay, 
 ^' Go seize the plunderers growling o'er their prey ! 
 *'' Know thou hast roused a warrior great and free, 585 
 " Who never bends to tyrant Kings like thee ! 
 
 Verse 579. ^Midst clashing sv:ords thy recreant life I savedJ^ 
 In this speech Roostum recounts the services Avhich he had 
 performed for Ka,oos. He speaks of his conquests iu Egypt, 
 China, Hamawuran, Room, Sooksar, and Mazinduran. Thus 
 Achilles boasts of his unrequited achievements in the cause of 
 Greece. 
 
 Iliad, B. ix, I. 32S. 
 I sack'd twelve ample cities on the main, 
 Aad twelve lay smoking on the Trojan plain. Pope.
 
 A POEM. y? 
 
 *' What 1 trembling shrink at thy imperious nod! 
 
 " Slave to no Prince I only bow to God. 
 
 " Whatever wrath from thee, proud King ! may fall, 
 
 '' For thee I've fought, and 1 deserve it all. soo 
 
 *' The regal sceptre might have graced my hand, 
 
 '' I kept the laws, and scorned supreme command. 
 
 "■ When Kye-kobad on Alburz mountain strayed ; 
 
 " I drew him thence and gave a warrior's aid ; 
 
 " Placed on his brows the long-contested crown, 595 
 
 ^^ Worn by his sires, by sacred right his own ; 
 
 '' Strong in the cause, my conquering arms prevailed, 
 
 " Wouldst thou have reign'd had Roostum's valour 
 
 failed ? 
 " When the W^ite D-EMon raged in battle-fray, 
 '' Wouldst thou have lived had Roostum lost the 
 
 ^ay ?" COO 
 
 Veu?e 593. JVfioi Kye-kobad on Jlbiir::: mountain strayed.l 
 AlburZj according to Mr. Kinneir's Map of Persia, is the chain of 
 mountains which divide Gliilan and Mazinduran from Irak. Kye- 
 kobad was the first Kiiij of the dynasty called Kyeanides, and
 
 «<^ SOOIIRAB, 
 
 Then to his friencls: " Be wise and shun your fate, 
 "■ Ply the wide ruin which o'erwhehns the state ; 
 '^ Persia no more its injured Chief shall view" — 
 He ceased and sternly froin the court withdrew. 
 
 The Warriors now with sad forebodings wrung, 505 
 Torn from that hope to which they proudly clun^. 
 On GoDURZ rest^ to soothe with g-entle sway3 
 The frantic King, and Roostum's wrath allay. 
 With bitter grief they wail misfortune's shock. 
 No shepherd now to guard the timorous flock. oiO 
 GoDURZ at length, with boding cares imprest. 
 Composed the fury in the royal breast. 
 ^' Hast thou forgot when near the Caspian, war 
 *' With all its horrors drove thee to despair ? 
 
 of the race of Ferldoun. Wo, was withdrawn from, his rcfcge on 
 the mountain Alburz, and placou on the throne of his ancestors 
 by the extraordinary valour and magnanimity of Roostumj in 
 defiance of the pretensions of Afrasiab who had overrun the 
 country. Alburz is also famoua for a number of temples of the 
 Ma-i.
 
 A POEM. SI 
 
 ff When mighty Roostum struck the dreadful blow, 
 " And nobly freed thee from the savag-e foe ? 
 " Did Daemons huge escape his flaming brand ? 
 '' Their reeking limbs bestrevv'd the slippery strand. 
 " Shall he for this resign his vital breath ? 
 "^ What ! shall the hero'§ recompence be d^ath ? 523 
 '^ But who will dare a threatening step advance, 
 " What earthly power can bear his withering glance ? 
 *■' Should he to Zabul fired with wrongs return, 
 '' The plunder'd land will long thy fury mourn ! 
 " This direful presage all our warriors feel, 625 
 
 "■ For who can now oppose the invader's steel ! 
 " Kings must be taught when passion scorns control, 
 '^ That wisdom's mild decrees should rule a ^Monarch's 
 soul." 
 
 Verse G28. TJial xjcisdotn's mild decrees, &:cr\ 
 J i^» fc^j L> j^ AA." J t-& jy ^ 
 
 " Kings ought tc be endowed with judgment and discretion ; no 
 advantage can arisQ frpniJ impetuosity juid F&ge." Godurz was 
 
 h
 
 b9. SOOHRAB, 
 
 Karoos relenting heard with anxious eai*^ 
 And gToundless wrath gave place to shame and fear ; 
 '' Go then/' he cried, '' his generous aid implore, 
 I' And to your King the mighty Chief restore \" 
 
 When GoDURZ rose and seized his courser's rein^ 
 A trowd of heroes formed his joyful train ; 
 To RoosTUM now, respectful homage paid^ '63S 
 
 The rOyal prayer he anxiously conveyed. 
 The Chief w ith stern inexorable pi'ide. 
 The Tyrant's prayer and liumble suit denied. 
 '" His glorious crown, his life to me he owes^ 
 " And this reward the thankless King bestows! 640 
 '' But all is past, to heaven alone resigned, 
 [' No human cares shall more disturb my mind 1'* 
 
 one of tlie greatest Generals of Persia, he conquered Judea, and 
 took Jerusalem under the reign of Lohurasp, of the first dynasty 
 of Persia, and sustained many v/ars against Afrasiab under the 
 Kings of the second dynasty. He was the father of Gu, who is 
 also celebrated for his valour in the following reigns. The 
 opinion of this venerable and distinguished ■warrior appears to
 
 A POEM. SJ 
 
 Then Godurz thus, consummate art inspu'ed,, 
 
 His prudent tongue with all that zeal required : 
 
 ^^ When RoosTUM dreads Soohrab's resistless power, 
 
 '^ Well may inferiors fty the trying hour \ 
 
 " The dire suspicion now pervades us all, 
 
 ^' Thus unavenged shall beauteous Persia fall ! 
 
 *' Yet generous still, avert this lasting shame, 
 
 ^^ O still preserve thy country's glorious fame I 650 
 
 have had considerable weight and influence witli Kaioos. By tho 
 persuasion of his friends, he interferes betw.eeu the King aucj 
 Roostum, like Nestor, 
 
 To calm their passions with the words of age. Iliad. 
 
 The language is strong, and breathes more of independence than 
 might be supposed in au address to a Persian despot. But Ka oos 
 was a weak Prince. He is every where called Jx-< i^v' etnp^y- 
 brained! and treated with very little ceremony. 
 
 Verse 649. Yet goterous stiUj avert this lasting shctme-l Thus 
 Ulysses to Achilles : 
 
 But if all this relentless thou disdaiDj 
 If honor and- if interest p)ead iu vain 3 
 L2
 
 «i SOOIIRAB, 
 
 '^ Or wilt thou, deaf to all our fears excite^ 
 
 ^' Forsake thy friends and shun the pending fight ? 
 
 " And worse, O grief! in thy declining days, 
 
 ^' Forfeit the honors of iminortal praise?" 
 
 The blasting censure set his sjul on fire, ($55 
 
 But patriot firmness calmed his burning ire. 
 
 ^*^ To toil familiar, nursed in var's alarms, 
 
 " Did ever Roostum shun the din of arms ? 
 
 " Tho' frowns from Ka.oos I disdain to bear, 
 
 '' My threaten'd country claims a warrior's care." 666 
 
 Sullen he said, and joined the circling throng. 
 
 And public good absolved the private wrong. 
 
 From far t]iQ King' the generous Champion view'd. 
 And rising mildly thus his speech pursued: 
 " Since various tempers govern all mankind, 665 
 
 '' Me Nature fashion'd of a froward mind ; 
 
 Yet some redress to suppliant Greece afford, 
 
 And be, amongst her guardian gods, adored. 
 
 If no regard thy suffering country claim, 
 
 Hear thy own glory, and the voice of fame. Pope.
 
 A POEM. ZS 
 
 '^ Anil what the heavens spontaneously bestow, 
 
 *' Sown by their bounty must for ever grow. 
 
 '' Thy lon^ delay my anxious soul inflamed, 
 
 " My boisterous passions frantic vengeance claimed; 
 
 '' But when by reason's soothing voice supprest, 
 
 " Grief and repentance all my heart possest. 
 
 " O let me now my keen contrition prove, 
 
 " Again enjoy thy fellowship and love; 
 
 '' And while I strive these insults to atone, (J75 
 
 ^' Still be the pride and glory of my throne/' 
 
 Verse 665. Since various tempers, ^"c] Ka,oos in ackno-^-- 
 ledging the violence of his disposition, uses a singular phrase : 
 
 ^yAJ jSj\ asU- m'^^ ^"*:r-^ 
 
 *^ When you departed in anger, O Champion! I repented; ashes 
 fell into my mouths A similar metaphor is used in Hindoos- 
 tanee : If a person falls under the displeasure of his friend, he 
 says, Mere k|hane men khak puree, ashes have fallen into ray 
 toeat : meaning that his happiness is gone.
 
 «5 so OUR A B, 
 
 RoosTUM with awefiii dignity replied^ 
 
 ^' I stand obedient^ be the battle tried !" 
 
 The Monarch quick commands the feast of joyj 
 
 And social cares his buoyant mind employ. $80 
 
 Within a bower^ beside a crystal spring-. 
 
 Where opening flowers refreshing" odours fling. 
 
 Cheerful he' sits^ and forms the banquet-scene. 
 
 In regal splendor on the crowded green ; 
 
 And as around he greets his valiant bands, 685 
 
 Showers golden presents from his bounteous hands • 
 
 yij"<"» '— % 4 
 
 Verse 681. Wiihin a hozcer, 4'c.] The beautiful arbourS 
 referred to in the text are often included witliln the walls of 
 Eastern palaces. They are fancifully fitted up, and supplied 
 Tvith reservoirs, fountains, and flower ^trees. These romantic 
 garden-pavilions are called Kiosks in Turkey, and are gciicrally 
 situated upon an eminence near a running stream. 
 
 Verse 686. Shorsers golden presents from Ms botinccoKii 
 hands.^ Milton alludes to the custom m Paradise Lost: 
 Where the gorgeous east with richest hand 
 ShoAvers on hor Kings barbaric pearl and gold, 
 la the note on this passu^-c hj Yv'arbVijtonj it is saiiJl to ha^e beea
 
 A POEM, JT 
 
 Voluptuous damsels trill the sportive lay. 
 Whose sparkling' giances beam celestial day ; 
 
 an eastern ceremony, at the coronation of their Kings, to po-vrder 
 them with gold-dust and seed-pearl. The expression in Firdowsee 
 is iiJwoi^jj he showered or scattered gems. It was usual at 
 festivals, and the custom still exists, to throw money amongst the- 
 people. In Hafiz the term used is jw nisar, which is of the 
 same import. Clarke in the second volume of his TrayelS, speaks 
 of the four principal Sultanas of the Seraglio at Constantinople 
 being poisdered with diamonds I " Long spangled rohes, open in 
 frootj with pantalo6ns embroidered in gold and sUver, and co- 
 
 Tered by a profusion of pearls and precious stones, displayed 
 their persons to great advantage. Their hair hung in loose and 
 very thick tresses, on each side of their cheeks, falling quite 
 down to the waist, and covering their shoulders behind. ThoSa 
 tresses were quite powdered with diamonds, not displayed accor* 
 ding to any studied arrangement, but as if carelessly scattcrccU 
 by handfuls, among their flowing locks." Vol. 2, p. 1 1. 
 
 Verse C87. Voluptuous damsels trill the sportive /ty,.] 
 Softly sweet in Lydian measures, 
 Soon he soothed his soul to pleasures. Dr.yDi:y.
 
 8S §0OHRAB, 
 
 pill'd willi delight the heroes closer join. 
 
 And quaff till midnight rich ambrosial wine, 690 
 
 Theocritus introduces a Greek singing-girl in Idyllium, xv. 
 at the festival of Adonis. But Anacreon more than five centuries 
 before the Christian sera alludes to the quires of singers in India, 
 ift the close of hi$ thirty-second Ode, 
 
 Tet still unnumbered, still remain, 
 The nymphs of Persia and of Spain, 
 And Indians, scorched by Titan's ray. 
 Whose charms have burnt my heart away, pAWKES, 
 The original says, the nymphs of Gades, now Cadiz, and those 
 on the Bactrus and the Indus. The women of Gades were cele- 
 brated for their agility of body and voluptuous manners. The 
 Abbe Raynal thus describes the dances peculiar to the East, 
 *' Les danses sont presque toutes des pantomimes d' amour; le 
 
 plan, le dessein, les attitudes, les mesures, les sons et les cadences 
 dc ces ballets, tout respire cette passion, &c.'' The description 
 ■which Lady W. Montagu gives of the Turkish dance at Adri-
 
 A POEM. 89 
 
 Soon as the Sun had pierced the veil of night. 
 And o'er the prospect shed his earhest light ; 
 
 anople Is more highly-coloured. The Persian text however 
 simply speaks of music and singing. Dancing is of Cdiiisa 
 implied, as on festive occasions in ancient times, they were 
 generally combined. In the Arabian Nights the Kaliph is repre- 
 sented at his feasts surrounded by troops of the most beautiful 
 females playing on various instruments. Deraodocus sings and 
 plays at the banquet of Akinous, who thus boasts of the renown 
 of his subjects in dancing and singing. 
 
 To dress, to dance, to sing, our sole delight, 
 The feast or bath by day, and love by night. Pope. 
 And the following passage in the seventeenth book of the 
 Odyssey 13 an additional proof that it "ivas customary in Greece 
 to have music at meals. 
 
 Long as the minstrel swept the sounding wire, 
 He fed, and ceased when silence held the lyre. Pope. 
 The sacred writings also furnish many illustrations of tlils subject. 
 Vkuse 689. Filled vcilh delight the heroes closer join^ 
 
 Jnd quaff till midnight rich ambrosial wine. 'I 
 The original plainly says 4^ju>»J c>-«*^-« ^ they were all iatoxi- 
 
 M
 
 90 SOOHRAB, 
 
 Ka,oos impatient bids the clarions sound. 
 
 The sprightly notes from hills and rocks rebound ; 
 
 catedl Homer's heroes are more celebrated for eating than 
 drinking, and the bravest always had the largest share ! The an- 
 cient as well as the modern Persians, it appears, were passionately 
 devpted to wine. The following lines from the Saqee-namu of 
 Hafiz will shew their adoration of it, defended by their notions 
 of the uncertainty of life ; 
 
 Thus paraphrased : 
 
 Saqee ! ere our life decline, 
 Bring the ruby-tinted >> ine ] .
 
 A POEM. SI 
 
 The hosts assembling crowd the mountain's brow, 695 
 
 And following- thousands shade the vales below ; 
 
 In steely armour numerous legions bend ; 
 
 And troops of horse the threatening lines extend. 
 
 Beneath the tread of heroes fierce and strong. 
 
 By war's tumultuous fury borne along, 700 
 
 ') 
 
 Sorrow on my bosom preys, 
 Wine alone delights my days ! 
 Bring it, lot its sweets impart, 
 Rapture to my fainting hearty 
 Saqee ! fill tlie bumper high — 
 Why should man unhappy sigh ? 
 Mark the glittering bubbles swim. 
 Round the goblets smiling brim ; 
 Now they burst, the charm is gone 1 
 Fretful life will soon be done ; , 
 Jumsheed's regal sway is o'er, 
 Kye-kobad is now no more. 
 Fill the goblet, all must sever, 
 Drink the liquid gem for ever ! 
 Thou shalt still, in bowers divine^ 
 Quaff the soul-expandiug wine I 
 M2
 
 fl« SOOHRAB, 
 
 The firm earth shook ; the dust in eddies driven. 
 Whirled high in air, obscured the face of heaven 
 
 Verse. 701. Thefiym earth shook, Sfc.'] 
 
 Belli trepido concussa tumuitu, 
 Horridaj contrimuere sub altis jctherls auris. 
 
 De Rer. Nat. B. 3. 81G. 
 With the ragp of war, 
 All shook beneath the aitherlal vault of heaven. 
 Verse 701. The dust in eddies driven.l 
 Thus Homer : 
 
 "Q; ^^x, Twi/ uxo 'boc(t'i "AmGcxkoz Oi^vvr' usXX^; 
 'Ef%op(,evwv jxaAa 5' uy.u heir^^ccov 'sj^lioio. Iliad, 3. 13. 
 
 So Avrapt In gathering dust, the Grecian train, 
 A moving cloud swept on and hid the plain. Pope. 
 
 And Virgil : 
 
 Hie subltam nigro glomerarl pulvere nubem, 
 Prospiciunt Teucrij ac tenebras insurgere campls. 
 
 .-Eneid, B. IX. 33. 
 The Trojans view the dusty cloud from far, 
 And the dark menace of the distant war, 
 
 Blackening the fields, and thickening thro' the skies. 
 
 Prydek.
 
 A POEM. 93 
 
 The spangled slippers glitter'd o'er the fields. 
 
 And iightening-s flashed from gold-encircled shields ; 
 
 In the Ilermosura de Angelica of the famous Loj e de Vega there 
 is a boautlful simile, descriptive of the hostile troops of the Moors 
 and Spaniards, which may be well applied to the motley appear- 
 ance of a Persian army : 
 
 Como en el triangular cristal se mira. 
 De varies y diversos tornasoles, 
 Campo, cielo, cludad, o mar ; y admira 
 Ver tan diversos nubes, y arreboles ; 
 Assi la esquadra que entra y se retira, 
 De Moros Africanos, y EspHnoles 
 A la vista, que juntos confundian, 
 Jardin florida en Mayo parecian ; 
 And In English thus : 
 
 As in the prism we plea<;cd survey, 
 
 Rich prospects through the crystal playj 
 
 The fields, the cities, clouds, and sea, 
 
 Appear commingling variously ; 
 
 Thus moving o'er the battle-plain, 
 
 The Moors are mixed with Knights of Spain ;
 
 g4 soon 11 AB, 
 
 Thou wouldst have said the clouds had burst in sho\yers^ 
 Of sparklhig- amber o'er the martial powers. 
 Thus close embodied they pursued their way. 
 And reached the Barrier-fort, in terrible array. 
 
 The field, confus'dly bright and gay, 
 Looks like the garden's pride in May. 
 In the Goolistan of Sadee there is a similar thought: 
 
 An assembly mixed together like a bed of roses and tulips. 
 
 Veuse 703. The spangled slippers, S)C.~\ In his descriptions of 
 battle-.£nray Firdousee seldom omits j^^-ai^^^ golden slippers. 
 
 ^'' From the.nuraorous javelins, banners, golden shields and 
 golden slippers, thou vrouldst have said that ebony-coloured 
 
 clouds were showering down Sandaraca." 
 
 Veuse 705. Thou zcouldst have said, Sfc.'] This mode of ex- 
 pression, so frequent in Firdousee, and which makes the reader a 
 spectator of the scene described, is constantly to be met w ith in
 
 A POEM. 95 
 
 The startled Scythians saw with dread surprize. 
 O'er the vast plain successive myriads rise ; 7iO 
 
 While withering' terror every bosom quell'd, 
 SooHRAB unmoved the coming storm beheld ; 
 
 Homer. Longinus has pointed out its peculiar force and ])pauty- 
 and gives the following observations on the subject. " A \Qry 
 '' powerful dramatic efficacy arises from a change of persons, wliich 
 *' frequently makes the hearer, or reader, imagine himself engaged 
 " in the very midst of danger: 
 
 '' Thou wouldst have thought, so furious was their fire! 
 
 " No force could tame them, and no toil could tire* 
 
 Iliad, xv. 811. 
 <* where the discourse is addressed to an individual : as in this 
 *' example also : 
 
 " Thoic hadst not known with whom Tydides fought. 
 
 iLIADi V. 85." 
 
 Verse 70G. Of sfiarJdingamhery Sfc,'] The original h (j^jj^^'--^ 
 Sunduroos, sandaraca; for which I have substituted, amber. 
 Sunduroos is the Arabic name for Gum Juniper. 
 
 * These lines are from Pope's translation. The quotation from Longinus it em- 
 ployed by Wakefield to illustrate th.c same apostrophe in Homer.
 
 96 SOOHRAB, 
 
 Cheer'd his associate-chiefs, but pale with fright, 
 HooMAN fell back and basely shunn'd the sight. 
 The stripling warrior fearless gazed around, 715 
 
 And took the cup with wine nectareous crowned ; 
 O'er him no dreams of woe insidious stole. 
 No thought but joy engaged his ardent soul. 
 
 The royal legions now restrained theh* course. 
 Tents and pavilions, countless foot and horse, 720 
 Clothed all the spacious plain, and gleaming threw. 
 Terrific splendors on the Scythian view. 
 But when the Sun had faded in the west. 
 And night assumed her ebon-coloured vestj 
 
 Verse 723. T/ie rM^eso/ z»ar,4-f.] It appears that in Roostum's 
 time there was nothing dishonorable in the character of a spy. 
 The adventure of Diomed and Ulysses in the tenth book of the 
 Iliad shews a similar concluslo-a with respect to the Greeks. 
 Alfred entered the hostile camp of the Danes, " under the dis- 
 guise of a harper, and so entertained them with his music and face- 
 tious humours, that he met withaweicome reception." Hume.
 
 A POEM. 97 
 
 The mighty Chief approached the sacred throne, 725 
 
 And generous thus made danger all his own : 
 
 " The rules of war demand a desperate task, 
 
 " To watch this dreadful foe I boldly ask ; 
 
 " With wary step the wonderous youth to view, 
 
 " And mark the heroes who his path pursue." 730 
 
 The King assents. In deep disguise arrayed. 
 
 The lurking Champion wander'd thro* the shade ; 
 
 And cautious standing near the palace-gate. 
 
 Beheld Sooiirab enthroned in regal state. 
 
 HooMAN and Barman, near the hero placed, 733 
 
 In joyous pomp the full assembly graced. 
 
 A hundred valiant Chiefs the throne surround. 
 
 And all elate the leader's praise resound. 
 
 His warlike kinsman smiling on his right, 
 
 Viewed the imperial banquet with delight ; 740 
 
 Verse 739. His rcarlihe kinsmati, ^r.] This was Z'mda^ 
 ruzura, the brother of Tuhmecaa. He had immediate charge of 
 Soohrab from his infancy, and initiated him in martial exercises, 
 
 N
 
 &1 sgg;:ra3, 
 
 Ke'wUa to martial feats the stripling trained. 
 
 Whose Monarch-sire o'er northern Scythia reigned ; 
 
 To him Tuhmeena gave her only joy. 
 
 And bade him shield the bold adventurous boy : 
 
 " But in the dreadful strife should danger rise ! 7^15 
 
 " Present my child before his father's eyes ! 
 
 "■ By him protected, war may rage in vain, 
 
 '' The' never more he'll bless these arms again!" 
 
 As ZiND retired he marked the listener nigh. 
 
 Watching the festal train with curious eye ; 750 
 
 And well he knew^ amongst his Scythian host. 
 
 Such towering stature not a Chief could boast ^ — 
 
 " What ipy is here, close shrouded hy the night ? 
 
 '' Art thou afraid to face the beams of light ?" 
 
 But as he strove to grasp the stranger fast — 755 
 
 FcH'd to the earth, he groaning breathed his last ; 
 
 WUH P H.lT.JgtMtg 
 
 Verse 756. FelVd to the earth he groaning breathed his tast.^ 
 The deaih of Zinda-ruzum deprived the stripling of the only 
 person who had an interest in introducing him to his father.
 
 A POEM. 99 
 
 Unseen he perish'd, fate decreed the blow. 
 To add freah keenness to a parent's woe. 
 
 The lio'hted torches now displayed the dead. 
 Stiff on the ground his graceful limbs were spread ; 750 
 Sad sight to him who knew his guardian care. 
 Now doom'd a kinsman's early loss to bear ; 
 Anguish and rage devour his breast by turns. 
 He vows revenge^ then o'er the warrior mourns ; 
 " The ravenous wolf has watched his helpless prey, 765 
 " Sprung o'er the fold and borne its flower away ; 
 " Unsheathed my sword shall dire revenge pursue, 
 " And Persian blood the thirsty land bedew." 
 Frowning he paused, and check'd the spreading woe. 
 Resumed the feast and bid the nectar flow ! 770 
 
 Verse 767. Unsheathad mtj sword^ Sfc.'\ The expression is 
 peculiar : 
 
 *' I shall take off the noose from my saddle»strapj aad ba 
 <' revenged upon the Irajiiaus for the death of Zind.'* 
 
 N2
 
 100 SOOHEAB, 
 
 RoosTUM returns involved in shades of night. 
 Where Gu coaimands the foremost ranks of fight; 
 Thence hastening forwards, on the Monarch waits. 
 The power and splendor of the foe relates : 
 " Circled by Chiefs this glorious youth was seen, 775 
 " Of lofty stature and majestic mien ; 
 '*■ No Scythian region gave the hero birth : 
 *' Some happier portion of the spacious earth; 
 " Tallj as the graceful cypress he appears ; 
 " Like Saum the brave his warrior-front he rears !*• 
 Then having told how, while the banquet shone^ 
 Unhappy Zind had sunk^ without a groan ; 
 He forms his conquering bands in close array. 
 And restless waits the slow approach of day. 
 
 Verse 775. Circled ly Chiefs, ^c] 
 Girt with many a baron bold. 
 Sublime their starry fronts they rear, 
 In the midst a form divine ! Grat, 
 
 Beneath a sculptured arch he sits inthroned, 
 
 The peers encircling, form an aweful round. 
 
 Popji'8 Od/ssey,
 
 A POEM. lOl 
 
 When now the San his golden buckler raised ; 785 
 And sacred light thro' heaven diffusive blazed ; 
 SooHRAB in mail his nervous limbs attired. 
 For dreadful wrath his soul to vengeance fired. 
 With anxious haste he bent the yielding cord. 
 Ring within ring, more fateful than the sword ; 790 
 Around his brows a regal helm he bound ; 
 Ilis dappled steed impatient stampt the ground. 
 Thus armed, ascending where the eye could trace. 
 The hostile force and mark each leader's place. 
 He call'd Hujeer, the captive Chief address'd, 795 
 And anxious thus, his soul's desire express'd : 
 *' A prisoner thou, if freedom's voice can charm, 
 " If dungeon darkness fill thee with alarm, 
 " That freedom merit, shun severest woe, 
 '^ And truly answer what I ask to know ! i800 
 
 "" If rigid truth thy ready speech attend, 
 " Honors and wealth shall dignify my friend," 
 " Obedient to thy Avish," Hujeer replied, 
 [[ Truth thou shalt hear, whatever chance betide."
 
 lo^ S00HRA3, 
 
 *^ Then say what heroes lead the adverse host^ sos 
 " Where they command, what dignities they boast ; 
 " Say where does Karoos hold his king-ly state> 
 *'' And mighty Roostum wield the bolts of fate J 
 " View €£)LeT[\ with care_, thek names and power display, 
 '' Or instant death shall &ndi thy vital day." 8i3 
 
 V'erse 807. Say where does Karoos hold his kingfi/ state! 
 And mighiy Roostum wield the bolts of fate ?'\ Similar descrip- 
 tions of Chiefs and encampments are common amongst the epic 
 poets of the West. In the third book of the Iliad, Helen describes 
 to Priam on the walls of Troy the leaders of the Grecian 'army. 
 Upon, this passage Pope says, " it is justly looked upon as an 
 episode of great beauty, as well as a master-piece of conduct in 
 Homer ; who by this means acquaints the readers with the figure 
 axvd qualifications of each hero in a more lively and agreeable 
 manner." Firdousee is entitled to equal praise for his address 
 in introducing the description of the Persian army.* The objec- 
 
 * In Warton's History of Engliih Poetry, it is, mentioned in a note, on the autho- 
 rity of Reioeslus, that the Aiabs had translated Homer, and Pindar, amongst other 
 Greek books, so far back as the year 750 of the Christian «ra, and according to Abal- 
 faragius, into Syriic in 770. It thetcfoie becomej a questioa whether Hamer was
 
 A POEM. W^ 
 
 " Where yonder splendid tapestry extends, 
 " And round pavilions bright infolding' bends, 
 " A throne triumphal shines with sapphire rays^ 
 " And golden suns amidst the banners blaze ; 
 
 tion which Sc&ligsr makes in asking ** liow it happens that 
 Priam, after nine years' siege, should be jret unacquainted witk 
 the faces of the Grecian leaders," does not obtain here. No» 
 thing can be more natural and unforced than the passage as it 
 occurs in the Persian pcref . The following is the opening of 
 the parallel passage in Hoai«Tj 
 
 0;iQ oh i;h 'Axuioq civvi^ '»5v$ re (le'yag rs, &c. 
 
 Iliad, B. iii. 167, 
 But lift tliy eyes and say what Greek Is he, 
 (Far as from hence these aged orbs can see,) 
 So tall, so aweful, and almost divine 1^* 
 
 Xi 
 
 The King of Kings, Atrides you survey 
 
 known in Arabia, beyond a few lettered individuals. It would appear that he waj 
 not, as, "every part of the Grecian liteiature did not equally gratify their taste, 
 " The Greek Poetry they rejected, because it inculcated polytheism and idolatry, 
 " which were inconsistent with their religion. Or perhaps it was too cold and 
 " too correct for their extravagant and romantic conceptions." Waiton. ItiscerUJj 
 that the Arabs were sgkly anxious about the Greek philosophers.
 
 tot SOOHRAB, 
 
 *' A hundred el-ephants surround the gate—* " gis 
 " There royal Ka,oos holds his kingly state. 
 
 <* Great in the war, and great in arts of sway." 
 This said, once more he viewed the warrior-trainj 
 " WJiat's he whose arms lie scatter'd on the plain I'' 
 Then Helen thus : ^^ Whom your discerning eyes, 
 *^ Have singled out is Ithacus the wise. 
 *^ See! bold Idomeneus superior towers, 
 
 " Amidst yon circle of his Cretan powers^ 
 " Great as a Qod V* VoTt. 
 
 Chapman's translation is quaintly expressed ; 
 Sit then, and name this goodly Greekj so tall and broadly spred ; 
 Who than the rest, that stand by him, is higher than the head : 
 The bravest man I ever saw and most majesticall ; 
 His only presence makes me think him king among;st them all ! i 
 
 Thus also the well-known imitation in the third book of Gieru- 
 lalemme Liberata : 
 
 Erminia il vide, e dimostrollo a dito, 
 
 Al Re pagano, e cosi a dir riprese : 
 
 Goffredo e quel, che nel purpureo ammantoj 
 
 Ha di Regio, e d'Augusto in se cotanto.
 
 A POEM. 105 
 
 " In yonder tent which numerous guards protect^ 
 " Where front and rear iiiustrious Chiefs collect ; 
 
 Dimmi chi sia colui, c'ha pur vcrmigllaj 
 La sopravesta, e seco a par si vede. 
 E' Baldovin (risponde) e ben si scopre, 
 Nel volto a lui fratel, ma piii ne I'opre. Stanza l.vi. 
 
 Full on the Chief Erminia cast a look, 
 Then shew'd him to the King, and thus sho spoke : 
 *' There Godfrey stands in purple vesture seen, 
 '^ Of regal presense and exalted mien.'* 
 '^ Say who is he who stands by Godfrey's side, 
 *' His upper garments with vermilion dyed?" 
 ** 'Tis Baldwin brother to the Prince (she cried,) 
 *' In feature like but most in deed allied." Hooi.e. 
 
 But Soohrab was more peculiarly interested in the description of 
 those warriors amongst whom he expected to meet his father. 
 On this account particularly, as M-ell as v.ith regard to its general 
 fitness, I do not tjiink that this passage ia inferior, and perhaps 
 it may be equal, to that in Homer v.hich has given rise to so 
 many inaitations. 
 
 Verse 811. Where ijoniler sjilcyuUdtapcstri) extends.'] The 
 tents and pavilions of eastern Princes v.ere exceedingly inagui- 
 
 O
 
 106 SOOKRAB, 
 
 "■ AVhere horsemen wheeling seem prepared for fight, 
 " Their golden slippers glittering in the light;, sso 
 '' Toos lifts his banners, deck'd with royal pride^ 
 " Feared by the brave^ the soldier's friend and guide. 
 
 " That crimson tent where spear-men frowning 
 standj 
 "'■ And steel-clad veterans form a threatening t)and_, 
 '' Holds mighty GodurZj famed for deeds of war; 825 
 " His lion banners lash the sounding air/^ 
 
 '' But mark that green pavilion, girt around, 
 '" By Persian nobles, speaks the Chief renowned ; 
 '' Fierce on the standard, worked with curious art^ 
 *' A hideous dragon writhing seems to start ; 830 
 
 ficcnt ; tliey wefre often made of silks and velvets find ornamented 
 "with pearls and gold. The tent of Nadir Slaah was made of 
 scarlet broad-cloth and lined with satin richly figured over with 
 precious stones. 
 
 Verse '821. Toos Ilfls his banners, dccJc'd vcith roji^al pride. "^ 
 They were adoraed with the figure of an elephant to denote his 
 royal descent*
 
 A VOLyj. 107 
 
 '■ Throned in his tent the warrior's form is seen^ 
 '■' Towering' above the assembled host between ! 
 ' A g'cnerous horse before him snorts and neighs, 
 '' Tlie trembling' earth the echoing- sound conveys. 
 '• Armed elephants abreast obedient wait, 835 
 
 -' Stretch their long trunks and swell the warrior's 
 
 state. 
 '' W' hat Chief illustrious bears a port so high ? 
 ^'' iMark how his standards flicker thro' the sky !'* 
 
 Thus ardent spoke Soohrab. Hujeer dismayed, 
 l^iused ere reply the dangerous truth betrayed. sio 
 Trembling for Roostum's life the captive groan'd ; 
 Basely his country's glorious boast disowned. 
 And said the Chief from distant China came—* 
 vSooHRAB abrupt demands the hero's name; 
 
 VERSt. 832. TorDcn'ng above the assembled host bctiocen.'\ 
 
 Iliad, B. 2. 4S^. 
 Tho King of Kings, majestically tall, 
 I'ovtiii o'er the aruiles and outshines them alL Poi'F, 
 
 O 2
 
 108 SOOHRAB, 
 
 The name unknown^ gdef wrings his aching' heart. 
 
 And yearning' anguish' speeds her venom'd dart; 
 
 To him his mother gave, the tokens true. 
 
 He sees them all and all but mock his view. 
 
 When gloomy fate descends, in evil hour. 
 
 Can human wisdom bribe her favoring power? 850 
 
 Yet gathering hope, again with restless mien. 
 
 He marks the Chiefs who crowd the warlike scene. 
 
 " Where numerous heroes horse and foot appear, 
 *■' And brazen trumpets thrill the listening ear, 
 '' Beh/E>ld the proud pavilion of the brave ! 555 
 
 '' With wolves emboss'd the silken banners wave. 
 '- Tiie throne's bright gems with radiant lustre glow, 
 '' Slaves rank'd around v/ith duteous homage bow. 
 *' What mighty Chifftan rules his cohorts there ? 
 '' His name and lineage, free from guile, declare !'* 
 
 " Gu, son of GoDURZ, long a glorious name, 
 "■ Whose prowess far transcends his father's fame.'* 
 
 Vf.rsk 861. Gii, son nfGodurz, ^"c] Tlis text says that Iiq 
 was also the son-in-law of Iloostum.
 
 A POEM, 109 
 
 " Mark yonder tent of pure and dazzling 'vvhite, 
 " Whose rich brocade reflects a quivering light ; 
 " An ebon seat surmounts the ivory throne ; 8G5 
 
 '' There frowns in state a warrior of renown. 
 
 '' The crowding slaves his aweful nod obey, 
 
 ^* And silver moons around his banners play ; 
 
 *' What Chief or Prince has grasp'dthe hostile sword ?" 
 
 *' Freeburz the son of Persia's mighty lord !" r7o 
 
 Again : " These standards shew one champion more, 
 
 '' Upon their centre flames the savage boar; 
 
 '^> .The salTron-hued pavilion bright ascends, 
 
 '' Whence many a fold of tasselled fi-inge depends ; 
 
 Verse 872. Upon their centre Jlames the savage boar.l The 
 word /j> Guraz signifies a -vrild bonr, but thi; acceptation is 
 not very accordant to Mussulman notions, and consequently it 
 is not supposed, by the orthodox, to hare that meaning in tlie 
 text. However it can have no other. It is curious that the 
 namo of the Warrior, Guraz, should correspond with the bearings 
 on the standard. This frequently obtains in the heraldry of 
 Europe.
 
 110 SOOHRAB, 
 
 ^' Wlio there presides ?'* '' Guraz, from heroes spruno^^^ 
 '*■ WhDse praise exceeds the power of mortal tongue ; 
 '' Endued with strength and nerves that never tire, 
 '' No pain or labour damps his martial fire." 
 
 Thus anxious he explored the crowded field. 
 Nor once the secret of his birth revealed ; sso 
 
 Heaven will'd it so. Press'd down by silent grief, 
 Surrounding objects promised no relief. 
 This world to mortals still denies repose. 
 And life is still the scene of many woes. 
 Again his eye, instinctive turn'd, descried, 335 
 
 The green pavilion and the warrior's pride. 
 
 Verse 880. Nor once the secret of his birth j'evealecL'] FIr« 
 dousee considers this to be destiny ! It would have been natural 
 in Soohrab to have gloried in tlie fame of his father, but, from an 
 inevitable dispensatiouj his lips are sealed on that subject ! and he 
 inquires for Roostum as if he only wanted to single him out 
 for the purpose of destro) ing him. The people of I'ersia are all 
 fatalists.
 
 A POEM. lU 
 
 A^^ain he cries : " O tell his glorious name ; 
 '' Yon irallant horse declares the hero's fame V* 
 But false Hujeer the aspiring' hope repell'd, 
 Crush'd the fond vvish^ the soothing' balm witheld. soo 
 *' Thou sayest that Roostum leads the host to arms, 
 *' W th him has battle lost its boisterous charms ? 
 ^' Of him no trace thy guiding' hand has shewn ; 
 " Can power supreme remain unmark'd, unknown ?'*■ 
 *' Some rural feast, perhaps, constrains his stay, SP9 
 " Or Zabul bowers invite prolonged delay !" 
 " Ah ! say not thus ; the Champion of the world, 
 " Shrink from the kindling war with banners furl'd ! 
 
 Verse 897. Ahl sat/ not thus, S{c.~\ The continued anxiety 
 and persevering filial duty of Soolirab are described with great 
 success. The case is unparalleled. Telemachus at once declares 
 the object of his inquiries : 
 
 My sire T seek, Avhcre-o'er the voice of fame. 
 
 Has told the glories of his noble name. 
 
 The great Ulysses. Pope. 
 
 But Soolirab is dark and niysierlous, and, a? Firdou?ee sovs in 
 another place, the unconsrinus pron?.o(» r of his own dcjtrnction^
 
 112 SOOIIRAB, 
 
 '' It cannot be ! Say where his lightnings dart ! 
 
 " Shew me the Warrior, all thouknowest impart; 900 
 
 ^' Treasures uncounted shall be thy reward, 
 
 •' Death changed to life, my friendship more thaa 
 shared." 
 
 To whom HujEER evasive thus replies : 
 
 '' Thro' all the extended earth his glory flies ! 
 
 " When dreadful battle clothes the fields with fire, 905 
 
 ^' Before his rage embodied hosts retire V' 
 
 " And where didst thou encountering armies see ? 
 
 " Why Roostum's praise so proudly urge to me ? 
 
 *' Let us but meet and thou shalt trembling know_, 
 
 " How fierce that wrath which bids my bosom glow; 
 
 " If living flames express his boundless ire, 
 
 " O'erwhelming waters quench consuming fire ! 
 
 Verse 906. Before his rage embodied hosts retire.'] Literally, 
 *' He possesses the strength of a hundred strong men ; in battle, 
 opposed to him, what is a man, a lion, or an elephant? The world 
 never saw his equal. Behold him once, and thou wilt say that 
 Dcither daemon nor dragon can escape his fury '."
 
 A POEM. . lis 
 
 " And deepest darkness, glooms of ten-fold night, 
 " Fly from the piercing beams of radiant light/* 
 
 The coward shrunk with undissembled dread, ois 
 And thus communing with himself, he said ; 
 '' Shall I regardless of my country guide, 
 '^ To Roostum's tent this furious homicide ? 
 '*■ And witness there destruction to our host ? 
 '' The bulwark of the land for ever lost ! 920 
 
 '' What Chief can then the Scythian's power restrain ! 
 ^' Ka.oos dethroned, the mighty Roostum slain ! 
 ^' Better a thousand deaths should lay me low, 
 " Than living yield such triumph to the foe. 
 " Should this fell Turk my blood indignant shed, 925 
 *' No foul dishonor can pursue me, dead ; 
 " No lasting shame my father's age oppress, 
 " Whom seventy sons of martial courage bless !*' 
 
 Verse 927. No lasting shame my father'' s age oppress y 
 Whom seventy sons of martial courage bless,'] Hujeer wasthesoa 
 of Godurz. A family of the extent mentioned in the text is not 
 of rare occurence amongst the Princes of tbe East. The present 
 
 P
 
 114 SOOHRAB, 
 
 Then thus aloud : '' Can idle words avail ? 
 
 *' Why still of RoosTUM urge the frequent tale ? 930 
 
 " Why seek pretences to destroy my life ? 
 
 "^ Strike, for no Roostum views th' unequal strife 1* 
 
 SooHRAB confused, with hopeless anguish mourned. 
 Back from the lofty walls he quick returned. 
 And wept unseen. 935 
 
 Now war and vengeance claim. 
 Collected thought and deeds of mighty name ! 
 The jointed mail his vigorous body clasps. 
 His sinewy hand the shining javelin grasps; 
 
 King of Persia had, In 1809, according to Mr. Morier, sixfi/Jioe 
 ^' sons! As they (the Persians) make no account of females, it is 
 *' not known how many daughters he may have ; although he is 
 " said to have an equal number of both sexes. It sometimes happens, 
 " that many of his women are delivere:! on the same night, and 
 *^ (if wemigkt give credit to a Persian) one of these happy coinci- 
 ** dences occurred during our fibode in the capital, when in one 
 " night six of his women were brought to bed, four of sons and 
 " two of daughters." Morier's Journey to Persia, page 226.
 
 A POEM. 115 
 
 Against the foe he leads his Scythian powers, 940 
 
 And o'er the plain with clang terrific scours ; 
 
 Pull on the centre drives his daring horse ; 
 
 The yielding Persians fly his furious course ! 
 
 As tiaiid deer impetuous spring away. 
 
 When the fierce lion thunders on his prey. 945 
 
 On Ka,oos now his proud defiance falls. 
 
 Scornful to him the stripling warrior calls ; 
 
 Verse 942. Full on the centre, 8fc.'] The i^^J Qulub-gah, 
 is the centre or heart of the army, where the Sovereign or Chief 
 of the troops usually remains. 
 
 Verse 944. As timid deer impetuous spring awatf.'\ Firdou- 
 see is generaly very brief in his similes. J^'^J^ and O^^j^ 
 Like a lion, like a wolf, occur repeatedly. Thus in the fourth 
 book of the Iliad, the Greeks and Trojans are characterized in 
 two words, Av^oi ug, like wolves, which Pope has translated : 
 
 As o'er their prey rapacious wolves engage. 
 But in this place the Persian poet is more circumstantial. 
 
 *' The chiefs fled from him like deer from the claws of a lion. 
 
 P2
 
 116 SOOHRAB, 
 
 " And why art thou misnamed of royal strain ? 
 
 " Whet work of thine befits the dreadful plain ? 
 
 " This thirsty javelin seeks thy coward breast; 950 
 
 " Thou and thy thousands doom'd to endless rest. 
 
 *' True to my oath^ which time can never change, 
 
 "■ On thee, proud King ! I hurl my just revenge. 
 
 ^' The blood of Zind inspires my burning hate, 
 
 " And dire resentment hurries on thy fate ; 955 
 
 *' Whom canst thou send to try the desperate strife ? 
 
 " What valiant Chief, regaidless of his life ? 
 
 *' Should GoDURZ^ Toos, and KoostUxM^ all combine, 
 
 " Thou art the prize, the blazing field is mine !'* 
 
 No prompt reply or whisper'd thought ensued — 960 
 Swift rushing on with daemon-strength endued. 
 
 Verse 950. This thirsty javelin seeks thy cozcnrd hrcasty 
 Thou and thy thousands doomed to endless rest."] This haughty 
 manner was common amongst the heroes of antiquity. *' And 
 the Philistine said to David ; come to me, and I Mill give thy 
 flesh to the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field." 
 Samuel, xvii, 44. This is like the boast of Hujeer, page 47.
 
 A POEM. 117 
 
 SooHRAB elate his javelin waved around. 
 
 And hurled the bright pavilion to the ground ! 
 
 With horror Ka.oos feels destruction nigh. 
 
 And cries : '' For Roostum's needful succour fly ! sss 
 
 '' This frantic Turk, triumphant on the plain, 
 
 '' Withers the souls of all my warrior-train." 
 
 That instant Toos the mighty Champion sought, 
 
 And told the deeds the Scythian Chief had wrought ; 
 
 " 'Tis ever tlius, the brainless Monarch's due ! 970 
 
 '' Shame and disaster still his steps pursue 1" 
 
 Thus saying, from his tent he soon descried. 
 
 The wild confusion spreading far and wide ; 
 
 In haste he arms and mounts his bounding steed. 
 
 The thickening rage demands redoubled speed ; 075 
 
 These denunciations are frequent in Homer as well as Firdousee. 
 Thus Diomed to Glaucus. 
 
 E', Uti; kct ^oruv, &c. Iliad, B. vi, 142. 
 If the fruits of earth, 
 Sustain tfey life and human be thy birth ; 
 Bold as thou art, too prodigal of breath, 
 Approach and enter the dark gates of death I Pops,
 
 118 SOOHRAB, 
 
 The leopard's skin he o'er his shoulders throws. 
 The regal girdle round his middle glows. 
 
 Verse 975» The regal gh^dley Sic.'\ This girdle was the gift 
 of the King as a token of aflfectioK and gratitude. Jonathan 
 gives to DaTvd, among other things, his girdle : *' Because he 
 loved him as bis own soul." 1. Samuel, xviii. 3. 
 Thus Homer : 
 
 Ohauq /xfv fw^ij^ia 5/5» (poivfjf/ Qiamov. Iliad, vi. 219. 
 
 (Eneus a belt of matchless worth bestowed, 
 That rich with Tyrian dye refulgent glowed. Pope. 
 And Virgil : 
 
 Euryalus phaleras Rhamnetis, et aurea bullis, 
 Cingula, Tiburti Remulo ditissimus olim, 
 Quae mittit dona, hospitio quum jungeret absens, 
 Casdicus : ille suo moriens dat habere nepoti. 
 
 iENEiD, ix. 359. 
 Nor did his eyes less longingly behold, 
 The girdle belt with nails of burnished gold ; 
 This present Casdicus the rich bestowed, 
 On Romulus, when friendship first they vowed. 
 And absent, joined in hospitable ties : 
 He dying to his heir bequeathed tTie prize. Dryden.
 
 A POEM.., 119 
 
 High wave his glorious banners ; broad revealed. 
 The bossy dragons glare along the field ; 
 Soon as he met Soohrab's disdainful glance, 080 
 
 He frowning shook his death-devoting lance. 
 And proudly braved him, reckless of his might. 
 By single combat to decide the fight- 
 Smiling SooHRAB the venturous challenge took. 
 And rushing forwards thus undaunted spoke, 985 
 
 " From all apart, by cither host survey'd. 
 *' Oiirs be the strife which asks no mortal aid.'^ 
 RoosTi?^! considerate view'd him o'er and o'er. 
 So wonderous graceful was the form he bore ; 
 And mildly said: '' Experience flows with age, gso 
 " And many a foe has felt my conquering rage ; 
 *' Inured to war, superior strength and art, 
 *' Have borne my spear thro' many a daemon's heart ; 
 
 Verse 992. Inured to war, ^c] The foUowhig boast of 
 Ulysses is less questionable ; 
 
 Stand forth ye Champions who the gauntlet wield, 
 Or ye, tbe swiftest racers of the field !
 
 120 SOOHaAB, 
 
 " If now on thee should changeful fortune smile, 
 " Thou needst not fear the monster of the Nile ! 995 
 " But soft compassion melts my soul to save, 
 " A youth so blooming with a mind so brave V* 
 
 The generous speech Soohrab attentive heard. 
 His heart expanding glowed at every word : 
 " Art thou then Roostum, whose exploits sublime, lOOO 
 " Endear his name thro' every distant clime r" 
 " I boast no station of exalted birth, 
 •' No proud pretensions to distinguished worth ; 
 
 Stand forth, ye wrestlers, who these pastimes grace„ 
 I wield the gauntlet, and I run the race ! 
 
 In such heroic games I yield to none. 
 Again: Pope's Odyssey, B. vili. 
 
 Behold Ulysses ! no ignoble name, 
 
 Earth sounds my wisdom, and high heaven my fame. B. ix. 
 Verse 995. Thou needd not fear the monster of the Nile.'] 
 A Crocodile in war, with Firdousee, is a figure of great power 
 and strength*
 
 A POEM. 121 
 
 " To him inferior, no such powers are mine, 
 
 *' No oiTspring I of Neerum's g'lorious line •'' 1005 
 
 The prompt denial dampt his fdial joy. 
 All hope at once forsook the Warrior-boy ; 
 His burning soul despair and rage excite—* 
 Now first with spears they wage the doubtful fight ; 
 Then sword to sword ; continuous strokes resound, loio 
 Till glittering fragments strew the dusty ground. 
 Each grasps his massy club with added force ; 
 The folding mail is rent from either horse ; 
 Their shattered corslets yield defence no moi'c— « 
 At length they breathe, defil'd with dust and gore \ 1015 
 
 Verse 1005. No offspring I of Neervm''s gloriovs liac.~\ It is 
 difficult to account for this denial of his name, as there appears tv> 
 be no equivalent cause. But all the famous heroes, described in 
 the Shahnamu, are as much distinguished for tlieir address and 
 
 cunning, as their bravery. 
 
 Verse 1012. Each grasps his massy dub, ^'c] The original is 
 j^ Umood, which appears to have been a, weapon made of iron, 
 Umood also signifies, a column, a beam.
 
 122 SPOIIRAB, 
 
 Their gasping throats vrith parching thirst are dry. 
 Gloomy and fierce they roll the lowering eye. 
 And frown defiance. Son and Father driven. 
 To mortal strife ! are these the ways of Heaven > 
 The various swarms which boundless ocean breeds, 
 I'he countless tribes whicli crop the flowery meads. 
 All know their kind, but hapless man alone. 
 Has no instinctive feeling for his own ! 
 Compell'd to pause, by every eye surveyed, 
 Roostum with shame his wearied strength betrayed ; 
 FoiPd by a youth in battle's mid career. 
 His groaning spirit almost sunk with fear! 
 Recovering strength, again they fiercely meet ; 
 Again they struggle with redoubled heat ; 
 With bended bows they furious now contend, io30 
 And feather'd shafts in rattling showers descend; 
 Thick as autumnal leaves they strow the plain. 
 Harmless their points and all their fury vain. 
 Now RoosTUM grasps the stripling's girdle-thong. 
 With n^i'ves to drag a mountain peak along, 1035
 
 A POEM. 123 
 
 And strives to hurl him from his fiery steed— 
 But fate forbids the gallant youth should bleed ; 
 
 Unmoved he bears the stroke destruction aims, 
 AVhile frustrate wrath the Champion's soul inflames. 
 Again tliey pause. Soohrab resentful wields, loio 
 His ponderous mace, the terror of the fields ; 
 With gather'd streng^th tiie quick-descending- blow. 
 Wounds in its fail, and stuns thQ unwary foe ; 
 Then thus contemptuous : " All thy power is gone ; 
 " Thy courser's strength exhausted as thy own; 10-I5 
 " Yet with compassion I thy wounds behold; 
 ^' O seek no more the combat of the bold V 
 He ceased, and midst the hostile legions sped. 
 And rushing furious heap'd the ileids with dead; 
 
 Verse 1032^ 
 
 Thick as autumnal leaves that strow the brooks 
 
 In Vallombro3a, where the Etruiciau shades. 
 
 High over-arclictlj imbovver. PJilton", 
 
 Verse 1045. Thij courser's strength exhausted as ihij Owivi.] 
 
 '^ The horse underneath thee may be said to be an ass.'* 
 Q2
 
 121 SOOHRAR, 
 
 With fierce 4elight he rode on every side ; 1030 
 
 The thirsty earth with streaming gore was dyed. 
 While thus along- the scattered lines he raged^ 
 RoosTUM apart the Scythian host engaged ; 
 But when his Monarch's danger struck his thought. 
 He swift returned to where the Stripling fought. 1055 
 Grieved to the hearty the mighty Champion view'd. 
 His hands and mail with Persian blood imbrued I 
 And thus controU'd his flaming brand : " O stay, 
 "^ This dreadful slaughter till returning day ; 
 '' Night-shadows thicken o'er the slippery plain, 106O 
 ^'^ The morrow's Sun shall mark our strife again; 
 ^' In wrestling match'd again behold our might!" 
 He said, and darkness closed the bloody fight. 
 
 Thus as the skies a deeper gloom displayed. 
 The Youth's renown was hastening into shade ! 1065 
 
 Verse 1062. In loreslling ^udcJiedy Sfc.'] Wrestling is a fa- 
 vorite sport in the East. From Homer down to Statins, the Greek 
 and Roman poets have introduced wrestling in their Epic poems. 
 Wrestlers, liks the Gladiators at Romej are exliibited iii Indi^
 
 A POEM. 125 
 
 The gallant heroes to their tents retired. 
 The sweets of rest their wearied limbs required 5 
 SooHRAB delighted with his brave career. 
 Describes the fight in Hooman's anxious car; 
 
 on a variety of occasions. Prize wrestlers were common In almost 
 every European nation. The old poet Drayton in his Poly- 
 Olbion alludes to this manly exercise in England. 
 This isle in wrestling doth excel. 
 With collars be they yoked, to prove the arm at length, 
 I^ike bulls set head to head, with meer deliver strength : 
 Or by the girdles grasp' d, they practice with the hip, 
 The forward, backward, falx,themar, the turn, the trip:* 
 When stript into their shirts each other they invade. 
 Within a spacious ring, for the beholders made. 
 According to the law. 
 Verse 1063. He said, and darlcness closed the bloodi/Jight.'] 
 Now night her course began, and over heaven. 
 Inducing darkness, grateful truce imposed. 
 And silence on the odious din of v,ar. Miltox. 
 
 * Terms of art ;k wreitling.
 
 12t> SOOHRAB, 
 
 Tells how he forced uimiimberd Chiefs to yields i07Q 
 
 And stood himself the victor of the field ! 
 
 '' But let the dawn/' he vaunting- cried, *^^ arrive, 
 
 " And not one Persian shall the day survive ; 
 
 '*■ Meanwhile let wine its strengthening balm impart, 
 
 " And add new zeal to every drooping- heart." 1075 
 
 The valiant Gu with Roostum pondering- stood. 
 And sad recall'd the scene of death and blood ; 
 Grief and amazement heaved the frequent sigh. 
 And almost froze the crimson current dry. 
 RoosTUM oppressed by Gu's desponding thought, 108O 
 Amidst his Chiefs the mournful Monarch sought; 
 To him he told Soohrab's tremendous sway. 
 The dire misfortunes of this luckless day ; 
 Told with what grasping force he tried, in valn^. 
 To hurl the wouderous stripling to the plain : i085 
 
 Thus in tlie 7th Iliad the single combat between Hector and Ajax 
 
 is cudod by the approa,ch of night. 
 
 But now the night extends her awful shade, 
 
 The goddess parts you : be the night obey'd ! Pope.
 
 A POEM. i27 
 
 '' To-morrow's fate may j^ield severer woe/ 
 *' And give, O horror ! victory to the foe I" 
 He said, the King' o'erwhehned in deep despairj, 
 Pass'd the dread night in agony and prayer. 
 
 The Champion silent joined his bands at rest, io90 
 And spurn'd at length despondence from his breast ; 
 Removed from all he cheered his brother's heart. 
 And nerved his soul to bear a trying part. 
 *' Ere early morning gilds the etherial plain^ 
 " In martial order range my warrior-train ; ic95 
 
 *' And when I meet in all his glorious pride, 
 *' This valiant Turk whom late my rage defied, 
 *' Should Fortune's smiles his venturous aim attend, 
 '^ And dire defeat and death my- glories end. 
 
 Verse 10S2. To Jiim he told SoohraVs tremendom sway."^ 
 
 lligli as the stars he rears his head^ 
 The earth can scarcely bear his tread !
 
 *' To their loved homes my brave associates guide; iioo 
 '*^ Let bowery Zabul all their sorrows hide — ■ 
 
 " The dreadful tidings to my mother bear, 
 
 "^ And soothe her anguish with the tenderest care j , 
 
 " Say that the will of righteous Heaven decreed, 
 
 '' That thus in arms her mighty son should bleed. 1 105 
 
 '' Enough of fame my various toils acquired, 
 
 '' When warring daemons bathed in blood expired. 
 
 "■ Were life prolonged a thousand lingering years, 
 
 " Death comes at last and ends our mortal fears ; 
 
 *' Then why lament the doom ordained for all ! mo 
 
 *' Thus JuMSHEED fell, and thus must Roostum fall.'* 
 
 Verse 1102. The dreadful tidings to my mother hear, 
 And soothe her anguish with the tenderest care.'] In the East, pe- 
 culiarly strong attachment to the mother is universal. Nothing 
 can be more affecting than the filial tenderness of Roostum, or 
 more rational and just than his observations on human glory. 
 Verse 1111. Thus J umsheed fell and thus our sons must faU.'\ 
 Oivj OT£2 CpvAAwv yevfi^, TO/vjJeitfl;/ otvJ§wv, &c. 
 
 JuADj C vi. 143»
 
 A PC EM, 129 
 
 When blushing dawn proclaimed the rising day. 
 The Warriors armed, impatient of delay ; 
 Bat first SaoHRAB, his proud confederate nigh. 
 Thus wistful spoke as swell'd the boding sigh — 1115 
 " Now mark my great antagonist in arms ! 
 " His noble form my filial bosom warms ; 
 '^ My mother's tokens shine conspicuous here, 
 " And all the proofs ray heart demands, appear ; 
 '' Sure this is Roostum whom my eyes engage ! ii^a 
 ^^ Shall I, O grief ! provoke my Father's rage ? 
 
 Like leaves on trees the race of man is found. 
 
 Now green in youth, no\r withering on the ground]; 
 
 Another race the following spring supplies ; 
 
 They fall successive and successive rise: 
 
 So generations in their course decay ; 
 
 So ilourish these, when those are pass'd awAy. Pope, 
 
 The Persian poets, and particularly Firdousee, are eminently- 
 distinguished for their apposite and striking reflexions on fate, 
 and on the instability of worldly griindeUr. The portion of the 
 Shahnarau which contains the history of Jumsheed, abounds in 
 beautiful and philosophical observations, conveyed in all the 
 
 R
 
 130 SOOHRABj 
 
 " Offended Nature then would curse my natne, 
 *' And shuddering nations echo with my shame.'* 
 He ceased, then Hoo man: '' Vain fantastic thought, 
 " Oft have I trembled where the Champion fought ;ii25 
 " His mighty strength some other host alarms ; 
 *' He fights not here 1" Again they rush to arms. 
 Approaching near^ with gentle voice and look. 
 The anxious youth to wondering Roostum spoke: 
 
 enchanting sweetness of harmonious versificatioTi. The declen- 
 sion of Jumsheed's glory, oecasioned by his impious ambition 
 to rjval the Deity, and his subsequent wanderings, afforded a 
 rich subject for owe poet's peculiar vein. The Introduction t« 
 the present poem contains several verses of a similar moral 
 tendency : 
 
 <^ O ye, elate in Youth's delightful bowers ! 
 
 '' Waste not in useless grief your fleeting hours; 
 
 *' For many a jocund Spring has passed away, 
 
 *' And many a flower has blossom'd io decay, 
 
 " Our fretful being, hastening to aclose, 
 
 " Seeks in the worthless dust its last repose I"
 
 A POEM, 131 
 
 ^' O kindly say with whom I now contend — • ii30 
 ^' What name distinguished boasts my Warrior-friend ! 
 " Fain would my soul in bland affection join, 
 *' Then let thy generous ardour equal mine. 
 
 Thus cheerful I, to earthly joys in-cllcedj — 
 But soon my heart the futile thought resigned : 
 *' (y rather bid the tears of sorro"vv roll, — 
 " And let affliction fill thy conscious soul ; 
 " Weep with, a thousand eyes this mortal state, 
 
 *' For who, alas ! can know to-morrow's fate. 
 " When we areluU'd in Death's mysterious sleep, 
 *' Our loved survivors too will pause and weep 3 
 *' Continual change successive griefs attend, 
 *^ And now we mourn a father, now a friend ! 
 " Thus ceaseless sorrows still our minds employ, 
 ^' Till Death unfolds the gates of endless joy I" 
 Sadee is also peculiarly successful : 
 
 '^ When the pure and spotless soul is about to depart, of 
 what importance is it whether we expire upon a throne or upon 
 the bare ground'," 
 
 E2
 
 132 SOOHRAB, 
 
 '' Say art thou RoostuMj whom I burn to know ? 
 *' Ingenuous say^ and cease to be my foe !" 1135 
 
 - Sternly the mig'hty Champion cried, '^'' Forbear, 
 " Hence with thy wiles, I claim the promised war." 
 
 Each angry Chief preparing for the shocks 
 Now binds his courser to a neighbouring rock ; 
 They gird their loins, now rise and now descend, mo 
 And strong and fierce their sinewy arms extend ; 
 Wrestling with all their sti'ength they grasp and strain. 
 And blood and sweat How copious on the plain. 
 
 Tuus Horace : 
 
 Pallida mors aequo pulsat pede, pauperum ta'qernaSj 
 
 Regumque turres. 
 With equal pace impartial fate, 
 Knocks at the palace as the cottage gate. 
 And Young: 
 
 What though we wade in wealth or soar in fame! 
 Earth's highest station ends in here he lies ! 
 And dust to dust concludes her noblest song. 
 But Darwin, takes a more extensive rang« of thought in the fol« 
 lowiu,; lines;
 
 A POEM. ISS 
 
 Like raging Elephants they furious close; 
 
 Comrautual wounds are given and wrenching blows. u45 
 
 Gasping the Champion feels his nerves give way. 
 
 And thundering falls. Soohrab bestrides liis prey ; 
 
 Grim as the lion, prov/ling thro* the wood. 
 
 Springs on a fallen deer and pants for blood. 
 
 His lifted sword had lopt the gory head, 1150 
 
 But RoosTUM quick with crafty ardour said : 
 
 *' One moment hold ! what, are our laws unknown ! 
 
 " A Chief may fight till he is twice o'erthrown ; 
 
 Flowers of the sky ! ye too to age must yield^ 
 Frail as your silken sisters of the field ! 
 Star aft^r star from Heaven's high arch shall rush. 
 Suns sink on suns, and systems systems crush. 
 Headlong, extinct, to one dark centre fall. 
 And Death and Night and Chaos mingle all ! 
 — 'Till o'er the wreck, emerging from the stormj 
 Immortal Nature lifts her changeful form, 
 Mounts from her funeral pyre on wings of flame, 
 And soars and shines, another and the same. 
 
 jBoTANjc Garden. Canto, U,
 
 tSt SOOHRAB, 
 
 " The second fall his recreant blood is spilt, 
 
 ^'^ These are our laws^ avoid the menaced guilt '/' 1155, 
 
 Proud of his strength and easily deceived. 
 The wondering youth the artful tale believed. 
 He left the place, and wild as wind or wave. 
 Forgetting all the prudence of the brave. 
 Plunged in the dark embowering forest near,. iiGa 
 And chaced till evening dim the mountain-deer. 
 Hodman confounded at the striphng's stay. 
 There wandering heard the fortune of the day ; 
 
 Vee.se 1151. But Roostum quick with crafty ardour saidJ^ 
 I have already noticsd that every kind of scheme or artifice was 
 considered fair against an enemy, amongst the warriors of the 
 Shahnamu. This passage has^ been considered inconsistent with 
 the character of a hero, and I have been urged to leave it outj 
 or alter it. But this was impossible. 
 
 Vkrse 11G2, Hooman tonfoimded at the stripling! s sta^^ 
 There wandering heard the fortune efthe day.l 
 Both armies are drawn up, and Roostum and Saohrab engage 
 in the space between : yet Hooman is not aware of the fortune 
 of the day till he hears it from Sochrab. There is something
 
 A POEM. 135 
 
 Amazed to find the mighty Roostum freed. 
 
 With deepest grief he wailed the luckless deed, iies 
 
 " What ! loose the raging lion from the snare, 
 
 *' And let him growling hasten to his lair ? 
 
 '' Never again suspend the final blow, 
 
 ^' Nor trust the seeming weakness of a foe ! 
 
 ^' Hence with complaint/' the dauntless youth replied, 
 
 '' To-morrow's contest shall his fate decide,'* 
 
 rather -surprizing m this, Th€ confusion of undisciplined thou- 
 sands could hardly have intercepted the view. The boyish thought- 
 lessness of Soohrab, in leaving the field of battle for the chace, may 
 be less indulgently considered. These are incidents vehich strong- 
 ly betray the want of taste and judgment in the Persian poet. 
 Verse 1169. Nor trust the seetning weakness rf a /oe.j 
 Thus also Sadee :; 
 
 *' Knowest thou whai; Zaul said to Roostum the Champion ? 
 Never calculate upon the weakness or insignificance cf an 
 Enemy."
 
 i3« SOOHRAB, 
 
 RoosTUM withdrew ; in wild despairing mood^ 
 He soug-ht the coolness of the murmuring flood ; 
 There bathed his limbs and trembling wept and prayed. 
 And call'd on Heaven to yield its strengthening aid. 1 175 
 His pious prayer indulgent Heaven approved. 
 And growing strength thro' all his sinews moved ; 
 Such as erewhile his towering structure knew. 
 When his bold arm unconquer'd daemons slew. 
 Yet in his mien no confidence appear'd, iiso 
 
 No ardent hope his drooping spirits cheer'd. 
 Again they met. A glow of youthful grace. 
 Diffused its radiance o'er the stripling's face. 
 
 Verse 1176. His pious prayer indulgent Heaven approved.'^ 
 iloostum is as much distinguished for piety as bravery. Every 
 success is attributed by him to the favor of heaven. In the 
 achievement of his labours in the Huft-Khan, his devotion is 
 constantj audheevery where justly aclinowledges that power and 
 victory are derived from God alone. Firdousee, like a good 
 Moosulmanj has taken the liberty to make him purely a Thelst, 
 ■when he was doubtless a fire-worshiper, in commou with all thd 
 Persians of those days.
 
 A POEM. 137 
 
 And scoffing thus, '' Again in arms !" he cried, 
 
 " Dost thou presumptuous Scythian power deride ? 
 
 " Or dost thou wearied draw thy vital breath, 
 
 " And seek from me the crimson shaft of death ?" 
 
 Then mild the Champion : " Youth is proud and vain ! 
 
 " The idle threat a Warrior would disdain; 
 
 ^' This aged arm perhaps may yet control, uqo 
 
 " The wanton fury that inflames thy soul !" 
 
 Again dismounting, each the other view'd. 
 With sullen glance, and swift the fight renew'd ; 
 Clench'd front to front, again they tug and bend. 
 Twist their broad limbs as every nerve would rend; 
 With rage convulsive Roostum grasps him round ; 
 Bends his strong back, and huris him to the ground ; 
 
 Verse 1196. With rage convulsive Roostum grasps him 
 round,'] Thus Entellus renews the combat with increased vigour. 
 Acrior ad pugnam redit, ac vim suscitat ira. 
 Turn pudor incendit vires, ct conscia virtus— 
 
 ^NEID, B. T. 453- 
 
 IS
 
 138 SOOHRAB, 
 
 Like lightning quick he gives the deadly thrust. 
 And spurns the Stripling weltering in the dust. 
 '' Thus as m)' blood thy shining steel imbrues, 1200 
 *' Thine too shall flow, for Destiny pursues; 
 
 Improved i-n spirit to the fight he came, 
 While conscious valour sets his soul on flame, 
 Stung with disgrace, and more enraged by shame. 
 
 FiTT. 
 
 Verse 1200. Thus as mil blood thy shining steel imbnles.'\ 
 The expression in the original is remarkable. " Assuredly, as 
 thou hast thirsted for blood, Destiny will also thirst for thine, 
 ajid the very hairs upon thy body will become daggers to dcstroif 
 tkfe." 
 
 This passage is quoted in the preface to the Shahnamu, collated 
 by order of Bayisunghuh Khan, as the production of the poet 
 Unsurce. Unsuree was oiie of the seven poets whom Mahmood 
 appointed to giye specimens of their powers in versifying the IIis»
 
 A POEM. 1^^ 
 
 " And when she marks the victim of her power, 
 '' A thousand dag'gers speed the dying hour." 
 Groaning with pain he then in murmurs sighed— 
 '' O had I seen, what Fate has now denied, 1205 
 
 *' My glorious Father ! Life will soon be o'er, 
 '' x\nd his great deeds enchant my soul no more! 
 '' But hope not to elude his piercing sight, 
 '' In vain for thee the deepest glooms of night. 
 '< Couldst thou thro' Ocean's depths for refuge fly, 
 '' Or midst the star-beams track the upj^r sky ! 
 
 tory of the K'lags of Persia. The story of Roostum and Soohrab 
 fell to Unsuree, and his arrangement of it contained the above 
 verses, which so delighted the Sool tan that he directed the poet 
 to undertake the whole work. This occurred before Firdousee 
 was introduced at court ajid eclipsed every competitor. In com- 
 pliment to Mahmood, perhaps, he ingrafted them on his own 
 Poem, or more probably they have been interpolated since. 
 
 Verse 1210. Couldst thou thro* oceati's depths for refuge 
 Jly-^ Literally, " Wert thou a fish in the sea, or a star In the 
 heavens." Thus ^Eneas to Turnus ; 
 
 S2
 
 140 SOOHRAB, 
 
 *■'■ His kindled rage would persecute thee there, 
 " For Roostum's soul will barn with anguish and 
 despair/* 
 An icy horror chills the Champion's heart. 
 His brain whirls round with agonizing smart; 121 a 
 O'er his wan cheek no pearly sorrows flow ; 
 Senseless he sinli^ beneath the weight of woe ; 
 Relieved at lengthy with frenzied look he cries : 
 " Prove thou art mine^ confirm my doubting eyes, 
 " For I AM RoosTU3i !" Dire amazement shook, 1220 
 The dying Youth, and mournful thus he spoke : 
 " How oft my heart has throbb'd with strong desire^ 
 ** And fondly claimed thee for my valiant Sire ! 
 
 Verte oranes iete in fades ; et contrahe, quidquid. 
 Sire animis sive arte vales ; opta ardua pennis, 
 Astra sequi, clausumque cava te condere terra. 
 
 jEneiDj B, xii, 891. 
 
 Try all thy arts and vigour to escape, 
 
 Thy instant doom, and vary every shape ; 
 
 Wish for the morning's rapid wings, to fly ; 
 
 Shoot down to hell ; or vault into the sky I Pitt,
 
 A POEM. 141 
 
 i 
 
 " Now on my arm the dreadful proof behold! 
 
 '' Thy sacred bracelet of refulgent gold ! 1225 
 
 " When parting tears my mother's eyes o'erflowedj 
 
 " This mystic gift her bursting heart bestowed : 
 
 " ' Take this/ she said, ' thy father's token wear, 
 
 " ' And promised glory will reward thy care/ 
 
 *' The hour is comCj but fraught with bitterest woe, 
 
 '' We meet in blood to wail the fatal blow." 
 
 The loosen'd mail disclosed the bracelet bright. 
 Unhappy gift ! to Roostum's startled sight ; 
 Prostrate on earth he rends his sacred hair. 
 With all the rage and frenzy of despair. j235 
 
 The western Sun had sunk in deepened gloom. 
 And still the Champion wept his cruel doom ; 
 His wondering legions mark'd the long delay. 
 And RuKusH loose across the mountain stray ; 
 Thence Rumour quick to Persia's Monarch sped, 1240 
 And loud described the mighty Roostum, dead ! 
 KAjOos alarmed the fatal tidings hears; 
 His bosom quivers with increasing fears.
 
 142 SOOHRAB^ 
 
 '' If he be lost, if breathless on the ground, 
 ^' And this bold Turk with early conquest crown'd— 
 " Then must I, helpless, from my kingdom torn, 
 " Wander, like Jumsheed, thro* the world forlorn/* 
 The army roused, rush'd o'er the dusty plain. 
 Urged by the Monarch to revenge the slain ;• 
 Wild consternation sadden'd every face, 1250 
 
 — Toos winged with horror sought the fatal place. 
 And there beheld the agonizing sight, — -> 
 The murderous end of that unna^uml fight. 
 SooHRAB, still breathing, hears the shrill alarms ; 
 His gentle speech suspends the clang of arms : 1555 
 " My light of life now fluttering sinks in shade, 
 *'■ Let vengeance sleep and peaceful vows be made. 
 *' Beseech the King these Scythian powers to spare> 
 " And close the horrors of destructive war. 
 
 Verse 1247. Wander^like Jumsheed^ fhrd^ Hie world Jorlorn.'Y 
 Jumsh eed's glory and misfortunes are the constant theme of 
 admiration and reflexion amongst the poets of Persia.
 
 A POEM. 143 
 
 '' I led them on, their souls with glory fired, 1260 
 
 '*■ While mad ambition all my thoughts inspired. 
 
 " In search of thee^ the world before my eyes^ 
 
 *' War was my choice, and thou the sacred prize ! 
 
 *' With thee, my Sire! in virtuous league combined, 
 
 " No tyrant King should persecute mankind. 12G5 
 
 " That hope is past — the storm has ceased to rave — 
 
 " My ripening honors wither in the grave; 
 
 " Then let no vengeance on my comrades fall, 
 
 '' Mine was the guilt, and mine the sorrov/, all. 
 
 *' Oh! still o'er thee my soul impassion'd hung, 1270 
 
 '' Still to my Father fond affection clung ! 
 
 '' But fate remorseless all my hopes withstood, 
 
 '' And stain'd thy reeking hands in kindred blood." 
 
 His faltering breath protracted speech denied; 
 Still from his eye-lids flowed a gushing tide ; 1-275 
 
 Throudi Roostum's soul redoubled horror ran^ 
 Heart-rending thoughts subdued the mighty man. 
 And now at last, with joy-illumined eye. 
 The Zabul bands their glorious Chief descry ;
 
 141 SOOHRAB, 
 
 But when they saw his pale and haggard look, isgo 
 
 Knew from what mournful cause he grazed and shook. 
 
 With down-cast mien they moaned and wept aloud ; 
 
 While RoosTUM thus addrest the weeping crowd : 
 
 " Here ends the war ! let gentle peace succeed, 
 
 "■ Enough of deathj I — I have done the deed I" i285 
 
 Then to his brother, groaning deep he said— » 
 
 " O what a curse upon a parent's head ! 
 
 *' Go, bid the Scythian sheath his sword — no more, 
 
 " Let fell contention drench the earth with gore." 
 
 ZooARA flew and wildly spoke his grief, 1290 
 
 And wary thus replied the crafty Chief: 
 
 " When bold Soohrab his Father's banners sought, 
 
 ^' HujEER denied that here the Champion fought ; 
 
 ^' He spread the ruin, he the secret knew, 
 
 " Then let his crime receive the vengeance due !'* 1295 
 
 ZooARA frantic, breathed in Roostum's ear. 
 
 The felon-outrage of the fiend Hujeer; 
 
 Versx 1291. And wary thus replied the crafty Chief. 1 
 liooman, who commanded the troops of Afrasiab.
 
 A POEM. 145 
 
 The g«iUy wretch had welter'd on the strand. 
 
 But prayers and force witheld the hfted hand. 
 
 Thea on himself the Champion's ra^e was turned, 1300 
 
 Kemorse more deep within his bosom burned; 
 
 A burst of frenzy ftr ed his thi:obbing brain ; 
 
 He clenched his sword^ but found his fury vain ; 
 
 The Persian Chiefs the desperate act represt. 
 
 And calm'd the tumult in his labouring; breast ; 1305 
 
 " Oh ! GoDLRZ fly: 1 and to the King- relate, 
 
 *^ The ten-fold hi^rrors which involve my fate ; 
 
 "■ If heaven-born pity e'er his bosom sway'd, 
 
 '' J^'*^^ i^'"^ bs g'cnerous in a v^retch's aid. 
 
 *' A sovereign balm he has whose wonderous power, 
 
 '' All wounds can heal, and fleeting; life restore ; 
 
 Vkuse 1304. The Persian Chiefs the desperate act represt.'\ 
 Autilochus restrains the fury of Achiiles ou being told of tlie 
 fate of Patroclus : He 
 
 Ilangs on liis arms, amidst his frantic wee. 
 And oft prcvciits the nicditated blow. Pope. 
 
 Verse 1310. A soverei^rji balm he has zv.iiose nojiderous poz;;:cr^ 
 All zcounds can hcal^ a?idjlecting life rcsiurc.j 
 T
 
 us SOOHRAB, 
 
 " Swift from his tent the potent beverage bring/' 
 
 — But mark the malice of the brainless King 1 
 
 Hard as the flinty rock he stern denies. 
 
 The healthful draught and giooiny thus replies ; 1315 
 
 "■ Yes, let him die ! foil'd in his towering aim, 
 
 " This mighty rival of his Father's fame ! 
 
 "^ Can I forccive his foul and slanderous tons^ue ? 
 
 '^ The sharp disdain on me contemptuous flung ? 
 
 '*■ Scorn'd 'midst my army by a shameless boy ! 1320 
 
 '^ Now "will my eager soul the dear revenge enjoy 1" 
 
 GoDURZ returning told the hopeless tale — 
 Yet, might the Champion's stronger voice prevail ! 
 Sudden he rose, but ere he reached the throne, 
 SooHRAB had breathed the last expiring groan. 1325 
 
 These medicated draughts are often mentioned in Romances. The 
 reader will recollect the banter upon tliein in Don Quixote, ^vhcre 
 the Knight of La Mancha enumerates to Sancho the cures which 
 had been performed upon many valorous champions, covered with 
 ■wounds. The Hindoos, in their books on medicinej talk of 
 drugs for the recovery of the dead 1 !
 
 A POEM. 1 47 
 
 Now keener anguish rarkd his troubled mind. 
 Reft of his son, a murderer of his kind ! 
 He beat his breast, his scatter'd tresses tore. 
 And wrung' his hands still wet with filial gore ; 
 A shower of ashes o'er his head he threw ; i330 
 
 The bleeding corse before his shuddering view ; 
 *' When his sad mother hears, with horror wild, 
 " These hands have shed the life-blood of her child, 
 *' So nobly brave, so dearly-loved, in vain ! 
 " How shall my heart that rending shock sustain !** 
 
 Verse 1330. A shatter of ashes o'er his head hu: ihrezo.'] 
 Scattering ashes over the head is a very ancient mode of express- 
 ing grief. Thus 11, Samuel, C. 3, 31. " And David said to 
 Joab, and to all the people that were with him, Rend your 
 clothes, and gird you with sackcloth, and mourn before Abner.'* 
 Aiso, C. 13, 19. " And Tamar put ashes on her head, and 
 rent her garments." And thus Homer in the eighteenth Iliad; 
 A sudden horror shot thro' all the Chief, 
 And wrapt his senses in the cloud of grief. 
 Cast on the gvouad, with furious hands he spread, 
 The scorching ashes o'er his graceful head. Pope. 
 
 T2
 
 148 SOOHRAB, 
 
 The Warrior-chiefs the soft contagion felt. 
 And round the dead in pensive sorrow knelt. 
 
 High on a bier the breathless Youth they place, 
 A regal mantle shades his pallid face ; 
 Then Roostum sick of martial pomp and show, 1340 
 Himself the spring of all this scene of woe, 
 Doom'd to the flames the pageantry of war ; 
 His bright pavilion crackling blazed in air ; 
 The sparkling throne the ascending column fed ; 
 In smoking fragments fell the golden bed ; i345 
 
 The raging lire red glimmering died away. 
 And all the Warrior's pride in dust and ashes lay. 
 
 Vekse 1342. Doom' d to the Jlame^ the pageantry of war.'\ 
 There is something in Virgil similar to this paroxysm of impotent 
 revenge on inanimate things, where Dido bids her sister erect a 
 pile to burn the arms and presents of iEneas. 
 
 Tu secreta pyrara tecto interiore sub auras, 
 
 Erige, et arma viri, thalamo quse fixa reliquit, 
 
 Inpius, exuviasque omnis, lectumque jugalem, 
 
 Quo periij superinponas. AIneid, JB. iv, 494,.
 
 A POEM. I4d 
 
 The King ofKin^s now joined the mournful Chief, 
 And tried to soothe his deep and settled grief; 
 For soon or late we yield our vital breath, 1350 
 
 And all our worldly troubles end in death ! 
 But Roostum's mighty woes disdain'd his aid. 
 His heart was drown'd in grief, and thus he said : 
 ** Yes^ he is gone ! to me for ever lost ! 
 " O then protect his brave unguided host; 1355 
 
 *' From war removed and this detested place, 
 *' Let them unharm'd their mountain-wilds retrace ; 
 *' Bid them secure my brother's will obey, 
 •' The careful guardian of their weary way." 
 
 Go then, erect with speed and secret care, 
 
 Within the court, a pile in open air. 
 
 Bring all the traitor's arms and robes, and spread, 
 
 Above the heap our fatal bridal bed. Pitt, 
 
 But there is more of grandeur in the despairing anguish of Roos<. 
 turn. I know nothing of the kind in any of our Epic or Dramatic 
 poets superior to this fine burst of agonized feeling and remorse. 
 Verse 1359. The careful guardian of their zieary cjc^.] 
 Zooara conducted the troops of Afrasiab across the Jihoon. 
 RooBtum remained on the field of battle till his return.
 
 150 SOOIIRAB, 
 
 The King; appeased no more with veng-eance burned^ 
 The Scythian leg-ions to their homes returned. 
 The Persian warriors gathering round the dead, 
 Grovell'd in dust, and tears of sorrow shed; 
 Then back to loved Iran their steps the monarch led. 
 
 And now through Zaeul's deep and bowery groves. 
 In mournful pomp the sad procession moves. 
 The mighty Chief precedes the bending bier ; 
 His Warrior-friends, in grief assembled, near ; 
 The dismal cadence rose upon the gale. 
 And Zaul astonish'd heard the piercing wail ; 1370 
 He and his kindred joined the solemn train ; 
 Hung round the bier and wondering view'd the slain. 
 '' There gaze and weep \" the sorrowing Father said, 
 '' For there behold my glorious offspring dead !" 
 The hoary Sire shrunk back with wild surprize, 1375 
 And tears of blood o'erflowed his aching eyes ; 
 Rood ABA loud bemoan'd the Stripling's doom ; 
 Nipp'd ere the blossom shew'd his radiant bloom ; 
 His tender youth in distant bowers had past, 
 Shelter'd at ho me he felt no withering blast ; issd
 
 A POEM. ^bl 
 
 In the soft prison of his mother's arms^ 
 Secure from dang-er and the world's alarms ; 
 O ruthless Fortune ! flush'd with generous pridc^ 
 He sought his Sire, and thus unhappy died. 
 
 RoosTUiM with gentle hands the bier unclosed ; i38S 
 The slaughter'd Youth to public view exposed ; 
 Husbands, and wives, and warriors, old and young. 
 Struck with amaze around the body hung. 
 With garments rent and loosely flowing hair ; 
 Tiieir shrieks and clamours fill'd the echoing air; i390 
 Frantic they cried : '' Thus Saum the Champion slept! 
 *' Thus sleeps Soohrab \" Again they groan'dand wept. 
 Now o'er the corpse a satfron robe was spread. 
 And grateful musk embalmed the sacred dead. 
 
 But when to Scythia flew this tale of woe,' 1395 
 
 Think how a mother bore the mortal blow ! 
 
 Verse 1377. B.oodaha loud bcmocm'd the Stripling's r/cow.] 
 Rtodaba v.as tlie wife of Zaul and the raotlier of llopstum. See 
 page IG.
 
 152 SaOIIRABj 
 
 Distracted^ wild, she sprang- from place to place ; 
 
 With frenzied hands deform'd her beauteous face ; 
 
 The musky locks her polish'd forehead crowned. 
 
 Furious she tore and scatter'd on the ground; iioo 
 
 Starting, in ag'ony of grief, she gazed, — 
 
 Her swimming eyes to Heaven imploring raised; 
 
 And groaning cried : " Sole comfort of my life 1 
 
 *'' Boom'd the sad victim of unnatural strife, 
 
 '*' Where art thou now? With dust and blood defiled, 
 
 " Tiiou darling boy, my lost, my murder'd child! 
 
 '*■ Short was the day that gave my heart delight, 
 
 **■ Soon soon succeeds a long and dismal night ; 
 
 ^^ On whom shall now devolve my tender care ? 
 
 '' Who loved like thee, my bosom-sorrows share ? iiio 
 
 Verse 1396. Think hozo a mother bore the mortal hlo-j:.^ 
 The death of Euryalus in the ninth ^^ueid exhib'.ts an exquisite 
 display of natural maternal feeling, but loss complicated and 
 agoiilxing than the death of Soohrab. Euryalus was killed in tlie 
 fcioorn of youth by the enemy ; Soohrab by his Father. It would 
 appear that Ilooman on his rcturrt, sent to Tuhmeena the war- 
 horsej armourj and every thing belonging to her unfortunate sou.
 
 A POEM. 152 
 
 '■•* These arms no more sliall fold thee to my breast, 
 
 " No more wlLli thee my soul be doubly biest ; 
 
 ^' Noj drown'd in blood thy lifele-ss body lies, 
 
 *' For ever torn from these desiring eyes ; 
 
 "" Why did not I conduct thee on the way, i :i5 
 
 " And point where RoostuM's bright pavilion lay? 
 
 '" Hadst thou the bracelet to his view restored, 
 
 " Thy precious blood had never staia'd l\u swori.'* 
 
 The strong cniotion choak'd her panting breath. 
 Her veins seem'd v/ither'd by the cold of death ; i p.o 
 The trembhng matrons hastening round her mourn'd. 
 With doleful cries, till fluttering life rcturn'd ; 
 Tiien gazing up, distraught, she wept again. 
 And fi'antic brought, amidst her clair.orous train. 
 
 VERSE 1415. JVhj; did not I conduct thee on the zzat/ ?'\ 
 My murder'd child ! had thy fond mother fear'd, 
 The loss of thee, she had loud fame defied, 
 Aad waader'd with thee through the scorning world. 
 
 Home's Douglas. 
 
 V
 
 151 SOOHUAB, 
 
 The favorite steed ; his mail aloft she bore, 14 >5 
 
 With burning hps she kiss'd them o'er and o'er ; 
 His martial robes she in her arms comprcst. 
 And like an infant strain'd them to her breast ; 
 The reins and trapping's bathed with tears she brought. 
 The swordj and shield, with which the Stripling fought. 
 These she embraced with melancholy joy. 
 In sad remembrance of her darling boy ! 
 
 
 T \
 
 ERRORS, 
 
 page 5, line 1, for tsarriors read warrior'' s. 
 
 - 11, — • 5, for kings tesid liing's, 
 
 m .- ■ 48j — 8, for it read iY*. 
 
 *—— 59, — 5, for gmbozcering read involving. 
 
 — — 68, ■ — 2, for againt read against. 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 I'age 29, line 12, for made of read derived from'. 
 
 * 39, — 3, for 509 read 521. 
 
 — — 44, — 7, for marked read mark. 
 
 — - 128, — ^ 6, for ottr sons must fall read /n«*^ Roos^ 
 
 turn fall.
 
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 178 SOOHRAB,
 
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 9 
 
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 9 
 
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 ^A^ POEM. 235 
 
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 A POEM. 237 
 
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 AJjJ aJW- j^ ^^MjWj^^o A^X<jJ ^yc.i jjj^ (Jli (JA^.1^% 
 
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 240 Sp^^jB 
 
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 (^J^JAiJ^'^j CJjJ Ji cAr" (VJ J^-^^ ^W '^jH 
 
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 A POEM. 241 
 
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 244 ibofeAB, 
 

 
 -A POEM. 245 
 
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 245 SOOHRABj 
 
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 A POEM. 24r 
 
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 264 SOOHRAB, 
 
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 Pag^ ,156) lin^ 15, for ^^^ read <y>:^**a 
 
 160, — 1, for [*JJ read /*;J 
 
 .nz 9rii ^^TT^Mr,^- 15, for ^ read^vt.Ayi Hl3^ 311 X 
 3ili o* a ^ '' 172, — 11, for (Ji^ Veac[ (_,4:j^ 
 " '— 207, — 1, for JoM read ^J^JJ 
 
 214, — 15, for li^j read a^j 
 
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 240, -il %/>?6j'-^il^'i^^^ .^■'■'■■'^'■' ""■^ 
 
 eiio7r 
 
 1181 v^I;^W^^mcdTVd .-^rlz'V^q. 
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 I ^d (8^91^ 39fl£i6O0i)flill adi i^
 
 IJD VMM TISEJMEMT, 
 
 %/2 
 
 CATALOGUE 
 
 OF 
 
 PERSIAN WORKS, 
 
 PUBLISHED AT THE RECOMMENDATION OF THE COUNCIJL* 
 OF THE COLLEGE OF FORT TVlttUlf." " 
 
 A HE Shah Namu, being a series ofMeroio Poems, on the an* 
 cieat history of Pe^slaj from <^^ epflie&t times down to the 
 subjugation of the Persian empire by its Mp^hjjmmudan Con- 
 querors, under tKe reign of King Yuzdjird. By the celebrat- 
 ed Abool Qasim i Firdousee, of ^oos. In eight Volumes, 
 Volume First. . Edited by M. Lumsden7 Esq. L. L. D. Pro- 
 fessor »f the Arabic and Persian Languages in the College of 
 Fort William. Calcutta: printed :^t tlie HxJnorable Com- 
 pany's Press, hy Thomas Watley, 1811. 
 The SjKUNDUK Namu of Nizamee, with a Selection from the works 
 of the most celebrated Commeiit'ator&^ oy Budr Ulee and Meer 
 Hosyn Ulee. jCAicutta,: prin'ted at'^hellindft^stlinee press, 
 by P. Pereira, 1812. 
 
 pJJ,W(L^'w« T*AyH.sTTf^Rb"plE AND Asia, by Mirza Aboo 
 Talib Khan. Published and edited by his son Mirza Huaun 
 Ulee and Meer Qoodrut Ulee, Mooashee, Calcutta : Printed 
 ^.tthe Iliudooitanee Press, by P. Pereira, 1812. 
 M m 2
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 Selections for the use of the Students of the Persian Class, 
 Volume First. Comprising a portion of the Akhlaqi Mooh- 
 sinee and the Zuleekha 3 Published at the Persian Press of the 
 College of Fort William, 1809. 
 
 Volume Second. Comprising a portion of the Bahar Danish 
 and the Deevrani Sadge ; published at the Persian Press of 
 the College of Fort WilUara, 1809. 
 
 Volume Third, Comprising a portioa of the Goolistan, and the 
 Boostan ; published at the Persian Press of the College of 
 Fort William, under the Superiiitendeuce of the Professor, 
 and corrected for the press, by Muoluvees Allah Dad and 
 Kurum Koosyn, now employed in the Arabic and Persiaa 
 Departments of the College, 1809. 
 
 Volume Fourth; Comprising a portion of the Inshae Abool 
 Fuzl and the Sikundcr Namu ; published at the Persiaa 
 Press of the College of Fort William, 1810. 
 
 Volume Fifth. Comprising the Akhlaql Julalee and the Lyloe 
 and Mujaoon, of Ameer Khosro. Printed at the Persian 
 Press of the CoUegs of Fort William, 1811. 
 
 Volume Sixth, comprising the P».ooqate Jamsa and the Sub- 
 hutool Ubrar ; published at the Persian Press of the CoUega 
 of Fort William, 1811. 
 
 . ' F. Fercira, Fii7iJ(r, lUHduoiiante Fras,
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CA JJFOT^NT V LIBRARY
 
 w* 
 
 m. 
 
 'W 
 
 «1-!^'