30 Who feels not love's all-quick’ning flame...

30 Who feels not love's all-quick’ning flame, Is like the bird whose wing is lame. Can I be quiet, easy, glad, When my delight's away? No! Sad. Love bids my plaint all bonds to burst. My heart would break, with silence curst. A mirror best portrays when bright; Begrimed with rust, its gleam grows slight. Then wipe such foul alloy away; Bright shall it, so, reflect each ray." 35 Thou’st heard what tale the flute can tell; Such is my case; sung all too well.

Footnotes m1:1 The reed-flute is the sacred musical instrument of the Mevlevī dervishes, commonly known as the Dancing Dervishes, from their peculiar religious waltz to the sound of the reed-flute, &c., with outstretched arms and inclined head, in their special public services of commemoration. They love the reed-flute as the symbol of a sighing absent lover.

m2:1 There is a poetical Eastern notion by dewdrops or raindrops falling into that pearls are formed in the oysters them at a certain season. m3:1 Qur’ān vii. 139, where the words are: "And Moses fell down, swooning ." Previous…