Page:Persian Literature (1900), vol. 1.djvu/375

 Full many a warrior of illustrious worth, Full many of humble, of imperial birth: Túr, Sílim, Jemshíd, Minúchihr the brave, Have died; for nothing had the power to save These mighty monarchs from the common doom; They died, but blest in memory still they bloom. Thus kings too perish--none on earth remain, Since all things human seek the dust again.

O, had thy father graced a kingly throne, Thy mother been for royal virtues known, A different fate the poet then had shared, Honors and wealth had been his just reward; But how remote from thee a glorious line! No high, ennobling ancestry is thine; From a vile stock thy bold career began, A Blacksmith was thy sire of Isfahán. Alas! from vice can goodness ever spring? Is mercy hoped for in a tyrant king? Can water wash the Ethiopian white? Can we remove the darkness from the night? The tree to which a bitter fruit is given, Would still be bitter in the bowers of Heaven; And a bad heart keeps on its vicious course; Or if it changes, changes for the worse; Whilst streams of milk, where Eden's flowrets blow, Acquire more honied sweetness as they flow. The reckless king who grinds the poor like thee, Must ever be consigned to infamy!

Now mark Firdusi's strain, his Book of Kings Will ever soar upon triumphant wings. All who have listened to its various lore Rejoice, the wise grow wiser than before; Heroes of other times, of ancient days, Forever flourish in my sounding lays; Have I not sung of Káús, Tús, and Gíw; Of matchless Rustem, faithful, still, and true. Of the great Demon-binder, who could throw His kamund to the Heavens, and seize his foe! Of Húsheng, Feridún, and Sám Suwár, Lohurásp, Kai-khosráu, and Isfendiyár; Gushtásp, Arjásp, and him of mighty name, Gúdarz, with eighty sons of martial fame!

The toil of thirty years is now complete, Record sublime of many a warlike feat, Written midst toil and trouble, but the strain Awakens every heart, and will remain A lasting stimulus to glorious deeds;