"Sad I am! nor small is my cause of woe! Carmor, thou hast lost no son;
thou hast lost no daughter of beauty. Colgar the valiant lives, and
Annira, fairest maid. The boughs of thy house ascend, O Carmor! but
Armin is the last of his race. Dark is thy bed, O Daura! deep thy sleep
in the tomb! When shalt thou wake with thy songs,--with all thy voice
of music?
"Arise, winds of autumn, arise; blow along the heath! Streams of the
mountains, roar; roar, tempests in the groves of my oaks! Walk through
broken clouds, O moon! show thy pale face at intervals; bring to my
mind the night when all my children fell.--when Arindal the mighty
fell, when Daura the lovely failed. Daura, my daughter, thou wert
fair,--fair as the moon on Fura, white as the driven snow, sweet as the
breathing gale. Arindal, thy bow was strong, thy spear was swift on the
field, thy look was like mist on the wave, thy shield a red cloud in a
storm! Armar, renowned in war, came and sought Daura's love. He was not
long refused: fair was the hope of their friends.
"Erath, son of Odgal, repined: his brother had been slain by Armar. He
came disguised like a son of the sea: fair was his cliff on the wave,
white his locks of age, calm his serious brow. Fairest of women, he
said, lovely daughter of Armin! a rock not distant in the sea bears a
tree on its side: red shines the fruit afar. There Armar waits for
Daura. I come to carry his love! She went,--she called on Armar. Naught
answered, but the son of the rock. Armar, my love, my love! why
tormentest thou me with fear? Hear, son of Arnart, hear! it is Daura
who calleth thee. Erath, the traitor, fled laughing to the land. She
lifted up her voice,--she called for her brother and her father.
Arindal! Armin! none to relieve you, Daura.
"Her voice came over the sea. Arindal, my son, descended from the hill,
rough in the spoils of the chase. His arrows rattled by his side: his
bow was in his hand, five dark-gray dogs attended his steps. He saw
fierce Erath on the shore; he seized and bound him to an oak. Thick
wind the thongs of the hide around his limbs; he loads the winds with
his groans. Arindal ascends the deep in his boat to bring Daura to
land. Armar came in his wrath, and let fly the gray-feathered shaft. It
sung, it sunk in thy heart, O Arindal, my son! for Erath the traitor
thou diest. The oar is stopped at once: he panted on the rock and
expired. What is thy grief, O Daura, when round thy feet is poured thy
brother's blood? The boat is broken in twain. Armar plunges into the
sea to rescue his Daura, or die. Sudden a blast from a hill came over
the waves; he sank, and he rose no more.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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