It was a scene of mirth that drew A smile from ev’n the Saint Banou, As, through the hush’d, admiring throng, She went with stately steps along, And counted o’er, that all might see, The rubies of her rosary. But none might see the worldly smile That lurk’d beneath her veil, the while:— Alla forbid! for, who would wait Her blessing at the temple’s gate,— What holy man would ever run To kiss the ground she knelt upon, If once, by luckless chance, he knew She look’d and smil’d as others do. Her hands were join’d, and from each wrist By threads of pearl and golden twist Hung relics of the saints of yore, And scraps of talismanic lore,— Charms for the old, the sick, the frail, Some made for use, and all for sale. On either side, the crowd withdrew, To let the Saint pass proudly through; While turban’d heads of every hue, Green, white, and crimson, bow’d around, And gay tiaras touch’d the ground,— As tulip-bells, when o’er their beds The musk-wind passes, bend their heads. Nay, some there were, among the crowd Of Moslem heads that round her bow’d, So fill’d with zeal, by many a draught Of Shiraz wine profanely quaff’d, That, sinking low in reverence then, They never rose till morn again. There are yet two more of these unfinished sketches, one of which extends to a much greater length than I was aware of; and, as far as I can judge from a hasty renewal of my acquaintance with it, is not incapable of being yet turned to account. In only one of these unfinished sketches, the tale of The Peri’s Daughter, had I yet ventured to invoke that most home-felt of all my inspirations, which has lent to the story of The Fire-worshippers its main attraction and interest. That it was my intention, in the concealed Prince of Ormuz, to shadow out some impersonation of this feeling, I take for granted from the prophetic words supposed to be addressed to him by his aged guardian:— Bright child of destiny! even now I read the promise on that brow, That tyrants shall no more defile The glories of the Green Sea Isle, But Ormuz shall again be free, And hail her native Lord in thee!