Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
Asia: Vols. XXI–XXIII. 1876–79. | | | | Arabia: Petra (Selah) | | Petra | | Nicholas Michell (1807–1880) |
| | (From Ruins of Many Lands)
BUT near Mount Hor, for countless ages hid, | |
| And sealed like vaults in Cheops’ pyramid, | |
| Hemmed in by rocks, a wall on every side, | |
| Lo! queen of deserts, Petra veils her pride. | |
| So wild that scene without, and stern and bare, | 5 |
| Ye scarce would deem man once had dwelling there, | |
| But think those rocks the goat could only roam, | |
| Or on their summits eagles make their home. | |
| We pierce yon dell at twilight’s deepening hour; | |
| Tall cliffs each side in savage grandeur tower; | 10 |
| Meeting aloft, like threatening foes they seem, | |
| Till scarce between the clefts the stars can gleam. | |
| The guides, with unsheathed daggers, lead the way, | |
| For ofttimes here the robber lurks for prey: | |
| The flickering torches show each swarthy face, | 15 |
| And wilder horror lend that lonely place. | |
| Dark fir and cypress wave above our head, | |
| And ivy bands fantastic garlands spread. | |
| A fiery ball oft gleams where black rocks scowl,— | |
| ’T is the large eye of some sepulchral owl; | 20 |
| And oft a step is heard the crags among,— | |
| ’T is the lone wolf that steals in shade along, | |
| And turns and looks, yet flies the torch’s glare, | |
| And growls in rage that man disturbs him there. | | | | |
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