Page:Works of Voltaire Volume 16.djvu/37

 Rh I join Palmira’s, and implore that freedom He hath already asked: O listen to him, And let me say, that after heaven and him I am indebted most to generous Zopir.

Has then oppression such enticing charms That thou shouldst wish and beg to be the slave Of Mahomet, to hear the clash of arms, With him to live in deserts, and in caves, And wander o’er his ever shifting country?

Where’er the mind with ease and pleasure dwells, There is our home, and there our native country: He formed my soul; to Mahomet I owe The kind instruction of my earlier years; Taught by the happy partners of his bed, Who still adoring and adored by him Send up their prayers to heaven for his dear safety, I lived in peace and joy! for ne’er did woe Pollute that seat of bliss till the sad hour Of my misfortune, when wide-wasting war Rushed in upon us and enslaved Palmira: Pity, my lord, a heart oppressed with grief, That sighs for objects far, far distant from her.

I understand you, madam; you expect The tyrant’s hand, and hope to share his throne.

I honor him, my lord; my trembling soul Looks up to Mahomet with holy fear As to a god; but never did this heart E’er cherish the vain hope that he would deign