SELECTIONS IN ENGLISH POETRY
They saw the scarlet ball of sun divided by the ridge
of snow
Sink down in skies incarnadine; and still with their
disjointed gait
And nursing their malignant hate, the camels kept
unbroken line.
When yet a hundred miles or more .stretched out
between them and their goal 35
The merchant riding on before drew rein on his
Circassian foal
And called a halt with lifted hand as he had done
unfailingly
Each night since the monotony began with that
unvaried land.
The dusk was suddenly alive as shouting voices passed
the word,
And all the drowsy train stirred with movement like a
shaken hive. 40
The master merchant stiff from cramp was calling for
his saddle flask,
As each to his accustomed task ran swiftly in the
growing camp.
A tent like an inverted bell, vermilion with the dyes of
Tyre,
Was lifted rapidly and well, and like a torch the
kindled fire
Destroyed the night with leaping tongue, and in a
circle round the glow 45
Men shovelled back the melting snow, and skins and
Khelim rugs were flung—
And unforgotten were the needs of water-bullocks
standing by
Whose brows are stained with orange dye, whose horns
are looped with turquoise beads.
409 *