THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES ^J" " GIFT THOMAS MOORE. 1779-1852. LALLA ROOKH appeared in 1817, and in it the world found a poem sui generis: and they were not elow in showing their appreciation of it. It was in every one's hands upon every one's lips. Learned men and Oriental travellers bore testi- mony, not only to its historical correctness, but to the fidelity and beauty of its scenic descrip- tions. The original went through seven editions within a year, found its way through the world, and was soon translated into every language. "There are," said Jeffrey, in the Edinburgh Review, "passages, indeed, and these neither few nor brief, over which the very genius of poetry seems to have breathed his richest enchantment where the melody of the verse and the beauty of the images conspire so harmoniously with the force and tenderness of the emotion, that the whole is blended into one deep and bright stream of sweet- ness and feeling, along which the spirit of the reader is borne passively away through long reaches of delight." Copyright. 1899. l.y Henry Altr <rt% .ALLA ROOKM PHILADELPHIA ALTENUS COMPANY College Library 50E4 1. 15 CONTENTS. AUTHOR'S PREFACE g LALLA ROOKH 2$ THE VEILED PROPHET OF KHORASSAN . 33 PARADISE AND THE PERI lz ^ THE FIRE-WORSHIPPERS 152 THE LIGHT OF THE HARAM 239 AUTHOR'S PREFACE. " n \Written originally for Lalla Rookh in the col" edition lected of Moore's works,,] n THE Poem, or Romance, of " Lalla Rookh having now reached, I understand, its twentieth edition, a short account of the origin and progress of a work which has been hitherto so very unfortu- nate in its course may not be deemed, perhaps, superfluous or misplaced. It was about the year 1812, that, far more through the encouraging suggestions of friends than from any confident promptings of my own ambition, I conceived the design of writing a Poem upon some Oriental subject, and of those quarto dimensions which Scott's successful publications in that form had then rendered the regular poetical standard. A negotiation on the subject was opened with the Messrs. in the same from Longman year ; but, some causes which I cannot now recollect, led to no decisive result nor was it until a or two ; year after, that any further steps were taken in the mat- ter, their house being the only one, it is right to add, with which, from first to last, I held any com- munication upon the subject. On this last occasion, Mr. Perry kindly offered 9 IO AUTHOR'S PREFACE. himself as my representative in the treaty; and, what with the friendly zeal of my negotiator on the one side, and the prompt and liberal spirit with which he was met on the other, there has seldom, I think, occurred any transaction in which Trade and Poesy have shone out so advantageously in each other's eyes. The short discussion that then took place, between the two parties, may be comprised " in a very few sentences. I am of opinion," said Mr. Perry, enforcing his view of the case by " arguments which it is not for me to cite, that Mr. Moore ought to receive for his poem the lar- gest price that has been given, in our day, for such a work." "That was," answered the Messrs. Long- " " man, three thousand guineas." Exactly so," " replied Mr. Perry, and no less a sum ought he to receive." It was then objected, and very reasonably, on the part of the firm, that they had never yet seen a line of the Poem and that a of the single ; perusal work ought to be allowed to them, before they em- a in the barked so large sum purchase. But, no ; the romantic view which my friend Perry took of the matter was, that this price should be given as a tribute to reputation already acquired, without any condition for a previous perusal of the new work. This high tone, I must confess, not a little startled alarmed but to the honor and of and me ; glory 1 Romance as well on the publishers side as the poet's, this very generous view of the transaction AUTHORS PREFACE. II was, without any difficulty, acceded to, and the firm agreed, before we separated, that I was to receive three thousand guineas for my Poem. At the time of this agreement, but little of the work, as it stands at present, had yet been written. But the ready confidence in my success shown by others made up for the deficiency of that requisite feeling within myself; while a strong desire not " " wholly to disappoint this auguring hope became almost a substitute for inspiration. In the year 1815, therefore, having made some progress in my task, I wrote to report the state of the work to the Messrs. Longman, adding, that I was now most willing and ready, should they desire it, to submit the manuscript for their consideration. Their answer to this offer was as follows: "We are cer- for the of the but tainly impatient perusal Poem ; solely for our gratification. Your sentiments are always honorable." I continued to pursue my task for another year, " being likewise occasionally occupied with the Irish Melodies," two or three numbers of which made their appearance during the period employed in " writing Lalla Rookh." At length, in the year 1816, I found my work sufficiently advanced to be placed in the hands of the publishers. But the state of distress to which England was reduced, in that dismal year, by the exhausting effects of the series of wars she had just then concluded, and the general embarrassment of all classes both agricultural and 12 AUTHOR'S PREFACE. commercial, rendered it a juncture the least favor- able that could well be conceived for the first launch " into print of so light and costly a venture as Lalla Rookh." Feeling conscious, therefore, that under such circumstances I should act but honestly in put- ting it in the power of the Messrs. Longman to reconsider the terms of their engagement with me, leaving them free to postpone, modify, or even, should such be their wish, relinquish it altogether, I wrote them a letter to that effect, and recshed the following answer: "We shall be most happy in the pleasure of seeing you in February. We agree with you, indeed, that the times are most inauspi- cious for ' and thousands ' believe poetry ; but we that your poetry would do more than that of any other living poet at the present moment." The length of time I employed in writing the few stories strung together in "Lalla Rookh" will appear, to some persons, much more than was ne- " cessary for the production of such easy and light o' " love fictions. But, besides that I have been, at all times, a far more slow and painstaking workman than would ever be guessed, I fear, from the result, I felt that in this instance I had taken upon myself a more than ordinary responsibility, from the im- mense stake risked by others on my chance of suc- cess. For a long time, therefore, after the agree- ment had been concluded, though generally at work -with a view to this task, I made but very little real in it and I have still me the progress ; by begin- AUTHOR'S PREFACE. 13 nings of several stories continued, some of them, to the length of three or four hundred lines, which, after in vain endeavoring to mould them into shape, I threw aside, like the tale of Cambuscan, "left half-told." One of these stories, entitled "The Peri's Daughter," was meant to relate the loves of a nymph of this aerial extraction with a youth of mor- tal race, the rightful Prince of Ormuz, who had been, from his infancy, brought up in seclusion on the banks of the river Amou, by an aged guardian named Mohassan. The story opens with the first meeting of these destined lovers, then in their child- hood the Peri wafted her to this ; having daughter holy retreat, in a bright, enchanted boat, whose first appearance is thus described : For, down the silvery tide afar, There came a boat, as swift and bright, As shines, in heaven, some pilgrim-star, That leaves its own high home, at night, To shoot to distant shrines of light. ' It comes, it comes,' young Orian cries, And panting to Mohassan flies. Then, down upon the flowery grass to see the vision Reclines pass ; With partly joy and partly fear, To End its wondrous light so near, 14 AUTHOR'S PREFACE. And hiding oft his dazzled eyes Among the flowers on which he lies. Within the boat a baby slept, Like a within its shell young pearl ; While one, who seem'd of riper years, But not of earth, or earth-like spheres, Her watch beside the slumbercr kept; Gracefully waving, in her hand, The feathers of some holy bird, With which, from time to time, she stirr'd The fragrant air, and coolly fann'd The baby's brow, or brush'd away The butterflies that, bright and blue As on the mountains of Malay, Around the sleeping infant flew. And now the fairy boat hath stopp'd Beside the bank, the nymph has dropp'd Her golden anchor in the stream. A song is sung by the Peri in approaching, of which the following forms a part : My child she is but half divine, Her father sleeps in the Caspian water; Sea-weeds twine His funeral shrine, But he lives again in the Peri's daughter.