Page:Poets of John Company.djvu/70

48

They brought their faith from distant lands,
 * They reared the Moslem badge on high,

And swept away with reeking brands
 * The reliques of idolatry.

Their wreaths have faded—lizards bask
 * Upon the marble pavement, where,

'Twas erst the dark-eyed beauty's task
 * To crown with flowers her raven hair.

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.