Blow, trumpets;
clarions, sound your strain!
Strike, kettle-drum,
the alarum in refrain.
Let fife and flute,
and sackbut in accord
Proclaim,
Aboard! Aboard!
Thy pinnace waits
thee at the slip, lord Admiral, aboard!
And as he hears the summons Love makes
for him reply,
“O whither, cruel fortune, wilt
thou bid the warrior fly?
Must I seek thee in the ocean, where the
winds and billows roar?
Must I seek thee there, because in vain
I sought thee on the shore?
And dost thou think the ocean, crossed
by my flashing sail,
With all its myriad waters and its rivers,
can avail
To quench the ardent fire of love that
rages in my breast,
And soothe the fever of my soul into one
hour of rest?”
And as he mused, in bitter thought, Mustapha
reached in haste
A balcony; till dawn of day before that
house he paced,
And all his heart’s anxieties he
counted o’er and o’er,
And, when the darkness of the night toward
opening twilight wore,
Upon the balcony there came the cause
of all his sighs,
But a smile was on her rosy lips and a
light was in her eyes.
“O lovely Zaida,” he began,
and gazed into her face,
“If my presence at thy window is
a burden to thy peace,
One pledge bestow upon me, one pledge
of love, I pray,
And let me kiss thy lily hand before I
sail away.”
“I grieve for thy departure,”
the lady made reply,
“And it needs no pledge to tell
thee I am faithful till I die,
But if one token thou must have, take
this ere thou depart;
(’Twas fashioned by these hands
of mine) and keep it on thy heart!”
The Moor rose in his stirrups, he took
it from her hand,
’Twas a piece of lace of gold and
silk shaped for a helmet band.
There was the wheel of fortune with subtile
needle drawn,
(Ah, Fortune that had left him there dejected
and forlorn!)
And as he paused, he heard the sound tumultuous
come again,
’Twas from the fleet, down in the
bay, and well he knew the strain.
Blow, trumpets;
clarions, sound your strain;
Strike, kettle-drum,
the alarum in refrain.
Let fife and flute,
and sackbut in accord
Proclaim,
Aboard! Aboard!
Thy pinnace waits
thee at the slip, lord Admiral, aboard!
Oh, stay my foes, nor in such haste invite
me to the field!
Here let me take the triumphs that softer
conquests yield!
This is the goal of my desire, the aim
of my design,
That Zaida’s hand in mine be placed
and her heart beat close to mine!
Then spake the fair Sultana, and she dropped
a tender tear,
“Nay mourn not for the present pain,
for future bliss is near.
The wings of Time are swift, and they
bear a brighter day;
And when once the longed-for gift is here
’twill never pass away!”
Then the Moor’s heart beat high
with joy; to smiles were changed his
sighs,
In silent ecstasy he gazed into the lady’s
eyes.
He rode to meet his waiting fleet, for
favoring was the wind,
But while his body went on board, he left
his heart behind!