XLV.

Dudù said nothing, but sat down beside
Juanna, playing with her veil or hair;
And, looking at her steadfastly, she sigh'd,
As if she pitied her for being there,
A pretty stranger without friend or guide,
And all abash'd, too, at the general stare
Which welcomes hapless strangers in all places,
With kind remarks upon their mein and faces.

XLVI.

But here the Mother of the Maids drew near,
With "Ladies, it is time to go to rest.
I'm puzzled what to do with you, my dear,"
She added to Juanna, their new guest:
"Your coming has been unexpected here,

And every couch is occupied; you had best
Partake of mine; but by to-morrow early
We will have all things settled for you fairly."

XLVII.

Here Lolah interpos'd-" Mamma, you know
You don't sleep soundly, and I cannot bear

That any body should disturb you so;

I'll take Juanna; we're a slenderer pair

Than you would make the half of;-don't say no;
And I of your young charge will take due care."
But here Katinka interfer'd, and said,

She also had compassion and a bed.

XLVIII.

"Besides, I hate to sleep alone," quoth she.

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The matron frown'd: " Why so ?"" For fear of ghosts,"

Replied Katinka; "I am sure I see

A phantom upon each of the four posts:

And then I have the worst dreams that can be,

Of Guebres, Giaours, and Ginns, and Gouls, in hosts." The dame replied, "Between your dreams and you, I fear Juanna's dreams would be but few.

XLIX.

"You, Lolah, must continue still to lie

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Alone, for reasons which don't matter; you

The same, Katinka, until by and by;
And I shall place Juanna with Dudù,

Who's quiet inoffensive, silent, shy,

And will not toss and chatter the night through. What say you, child ?"-Dudù said nothing, as Her talents were of the more silent class :

L.

But she rose up, and kiss'd the matron's brow
Between the eyes, and Lolah on both cheeks,
Katinka, too; and with a gentle bow

(Curt'sies are neither us'd by Turks nor Greeks,) She took Juanna by the hand, to show

Their place of rest, and left to both their piques;

The others pouting at the matron's preference

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Of Dudù, though they held their tongues, from deference.

LI.

It was a spacious chamber (Oda is

The Turkish title), and rang'd round the wall Were couches, toilets-and much more than this I might describe, as I have seen it all,

But it suffices-little was amiss :

'Twas on the whole a nobly furnish'd hall, With all things ladies want, save one or two, And even those were nearer than they knew.

LII.

Dudù, as has been said, was a sweet creature,
Not very dashing, but extremely winning,
With the most regulated charms of feature,

Which painters cannot catch like faces sinning
Against proportion-the wild strokes of nature,
Which they hit off at once in the beginning,
Full of expression, right or wrong, that strike,
And, pleasing or unpleasing, still are like.

LIII.

But she was a soft landscape of mild earth,

Where all was harmony, and calm, and quiet, Luxuriant, budding; cheerful without mirth, Which, if not happiness, is much more nigh it Than are your mighty passions and so forth,

Which some call "the sublime:" I wish they'd try it: I've seen your stormy seas and stormy women,

And pity lovers rather more than seamen.

LIV.

But she was pensive more than melancholy,
And serious more than pensive, and serene,

It may be, more than either-not unholy

Her thoughts, at least till now, appear to have been.
The strangest thing was, beauteous, she was wholly
Unconscious, albeit turn'd of quick seventeen,
That she was fair, or dark, or short, or tall;
She never thought about herself at all.

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190

Dudù said no
Juanna, p
And, looking
As if she 1
A pretty stra
And all abas
Which welcon
With kind ren

But here the M
With "Ladic
I'm puzzled w
She added to
"Your coming

And every có.
Partake of min
We will have al.

Here Lolah inte"

You don't slee

That any body s I'll take Juan Than you would And I of you. But here Katir She also had cor

"Besides, I hat
The matron tr
Replied Katinks
A phantom up.
And then I ha
Of Guebres,
The dame repli
I fear Juanna's

"You, Lolah, r Alone, for re The same, Kati And I shall h Who's quiet in And will not What say you, Her talents we

LX.

In perfect innocence she then unmade
Her toilet, which cost little, for she was
A child of Nature, carelessly array'd:

If fond of a chance ogle at her glass,
'Twas like the fawn, which, in the lake display'd,
Beholds her own shy, shadowy image pass,
When first she starts, and then returns to peep,
Admiring this new native of the deep.

LXI.

And one by one her articles of dress

Were laid aside; but not before she offer'd Her aid to fair Juanna, whose excess

Of modesty declin'd ths assistance proffer'd: Which pass'd well off-as she could do no less; Though by this politesse she rather suffer'd, Pricking her fingers with those cursed pins Which surely were invented for our sins,

LXII.

Making a woman like a porcupine,
Not to be rashly touch'd. But still more dread,
O ye! whose fate it is, as once 'twas mine,
In early youth, to turn a lady's maid;

I did my very boyish best to shine

In tricking her out for a masquerade: The pins were plac'd sufficiently, but not Stuck all exactly in the proper spot.

LXIII.

But these are foolish things to all the wise,
And I love wisdom more than she loves me;

My tendency is to philosophise

On most things, from a tyrant to a tree;

But still the spouseless virgin Knowledge flies.

What are we? and whence came we? what shall be
Our ultimate existence? what's our present?
Are questions answerless, and yet incessant.

LXIV.

There was deep silence in the chamber: dim
And distant from each other burn'd the lights,
And slumber hover'd o'er each lovely limb

Of the fair occupants: if there be sprites,

They should have walk'd there in their sprightliest trim,
By way of change from their sepulchral sites,
And shown themselves as ghosts of better taste
Than haunting some old ruin or wild waste.

N

LV.

And therefore was she kind and gentle as
The Age of Gold (when gold was yet unknown,
By which its nomenclature came to pass;
Thus most appropriately has been shown
"Lucus à non lucendo," not what was,

But what was not; a sort of style that's grown
Extremely common in this age, whose metal
The devil may decompose, but never settle.

LVI.

I think it may be of "Corinthian Brass,"
Which was a mixture of all metals, but
The brazen uppermost). Kind reader! pass
This long parenthesis: I could not shut

It sooner for the soul of me, and class

My faults even with your own: which meaneth put

A kind construction upon them and me:

But that you won't-then don't-I am not less free.

LVII.

'Tis time we should return to plain narration, And thus my narrative proceeds :-Dudù,

With every kindness short of ostentation,

Show'd Juan, or Juanna, through and through

This labyrinth of females, and each station

Describ'd-what's strange-in words extremely few:

I have but one simile, and that's a blunder,
For wordless woman, which is silent thunder.

LVIII.

And next she gave her (I say her, because
The gender still was epicene, at least
In outward show, which is a saving clause)
An outline of the customs of the East,
With all their chaste integrity of laws,

By which the more a harem is increas'd,
The stricter doubtless grow the vestal duties
Of any supernumerary beauties.

LIX.

And then she gave Juanna a chaste kiss:

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Dudù was fond of kissing-which I'm sure

That nobody can ever take amiss,

Because 'tis pleasant, so that it be pure,

And between females means no more than this-
That they have nothing better near, or newer.
"Kiss" rhymes to "bliss" in fact as well as verse-
I wish it never led to something worse.