Lo, the fool in baseness sunken,
Having drunk till he is tired,
When he drinks, behold him drunken;
When we drink, we are inspired.

SONG

     Down on the vast deep ocean
       The sun his beams doth throw,
     Till every wavelet trembles
       Beneath their ruddy glow.

     How like thou to those sunbeams
       Upon my song’s wild sea;
     They tremble all and glitter,
       Reflecting only thee.

UNCHANGING

     In early days methought that all must last;
       Then I beheld all changing, dying, fleeting;
     But though my soul now grieves for much that’s past,
       And changeful fortunes set my heart oft beating,
     I yet believe in mind that all will last,
       Because the old in new I still am meeting.

THE POETRY OF MIRZA-SCHAFFY

From the ‘Thousand and One Days in the East’

Abbas Kuli Khan was one of those gifted ambiguous natures who, without inspiring confidence, always know how to work an imposing effect, inasmuch as they hold to the principle of displeasing no one, as a first rule of prudence.

It so happened then that even Mirza-Schaffy, bribed by the flattery which the Khan of Baku, when he once surprised us in the Divan of Wisdom, lavished upon him, declared him to be a great Wise Man.

The mutual praise, so overflowing in its abundance, which they bestowed on one another put them both in a very happy humor.  From the Koran, from Saadi, Hafiz, and Fizuli, each authenticated the other to be the moving embodiment of all the wisdom of earth.

A formal emulation in old and original songs took place between them; for every piece of flattery was overlaid with a tuneful quotation.  Unfortunately, however, the entertainment flowed so swiftly that I was unable to note down any coherent account of it.

Nevertheless, being unwilling to let the long session go by without any gain on my part, I requested the Khan to write for me one of his artistic songs in remembrance.  He nodded with an approving look, and promised to write the most beautiful song that ever the mouth of man had uttered; a song in praise of his Fatima, playing on her stringed instrument.

Whilst Mirza-Schaffy raised a questioning look on hearing the praise which the Khan expended on himself, the latter took the kalem (reed-pen) and wrote what follows:—­

FATIMA PLAYING ON HER STRINGED INSTRUMENT

“O’er the strings thy fingers are straying,
O’er my heart stray the tones;
And it wanders obeying,
Far away from the zones;
Up tending,
Round thee bending,
Round thy heart to be growing
And clinging,
Round thee flinging,
Its glad mirth overflowing—­
Oh! thou Spirit from me springing,
Life on me bestowing! 
Dazzled, blinded, confounded,
I see in thy glances