Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Asia: Vols. XXI–XXIII. 1876–79. | | | | Introductory to Asia | | The East | | Lord Byron (1788–1824) |
| | (From The Bride of Abydos)
KNOW ye the land where the cypress and myrtle | |
| Are emblems of deeds that are done in their clime, | |
| Where the rage of the vulture, the love of the turtle, | |
| Now melt into sorrow, now madden to crime? | |
| Know ye the land of the cedar and vine, | 5 |
| Where the flowers ever blossom, the beams ever shine; | |
| Where the light wings of Zephyr, oppressed with perfume, | |
| Wax faint o’er the gardens of Gúl in her bloom; | |
| Where the citron and olive are fairest of fruit, | |
| And the voice of the nightingale never is mute; | 10 |
| Where the tints of the earth and the hues of the sky, | |
| In color though varied, in beauty may vie, | |
| And the purple of ocean is deepest in dye; | |
| Where the virgins are soft as the roses they twine, | |
| And all, save the spirit of man, is divine? | 15 |
| ’T is the clime of the East; ’t is the land of the Sun,— | |
| Can he smile on such deeds as his children have done? | |
| O, wild as the accents of lovers’ farewell, | |
| Are the hearts which they bear, and the tales which they tell. | | | | |
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