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44 Gulnare and all her Haram handmaids freed,

Safe in the dome of one who held their creed,

By Conrad's mandate safely were bestow'd,

And dried those tears for life and fame that flow'd:

And when that dark-eyed lady, young Gulnare,

Recall'd those thoughts late wandering in despair,

Much did she marvel o'er the courtesy

That smooth'd his accents—soften'd in his eye.

'Twas strange—that robber thus with gore bedew'd,

Seem'd gentler then than Seyd in fondest mood.

The Pacha wooed as if he deem'd the slave

Must seem delighted with the heart he gave;

The Corsair vowed protection, sooth'd affright,

As if his homage were a woman's right.

"The wish is wrong—nay worse for female—vain:

"Yet much I long to view that chief again;

"If but to thank for, what my fear forgot,

"The life—my loving lord remembered not!"

VIII.

And him she saw, where thickest carnage spread,

But gathered breathing from the happier dead;