Page:Oriental Sketches Dramatic Sketches and Tales.pdf/13

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Unheeded now the scorpion crawls, And snakes unscathed in silence glide, Where once the bright Zenana's halls To woman's feet were sanctified.

No trace remains of those gay hours When lamps, in golden radiance bright, Streamed o'er these now deserted towers The sunshine of their perfumed light.

The maiden's song, the anklet's bells So sweetly ringing o'er the floor, And eyes as soft as the gazelle's    Are heard, and seen, and felt no more.

Now all is silent; the wild cry Of savage beasts alone is heard, Or wrathful tempest hurrying by, Or moanings of some desert bird.