Alroy | Page 7

and green; in
the midst of which was a marble fountain, the richly-carved cupola,[4]
supported by twisted columns, and banded by a broad inscription in
Hebrew characters. The bases of the white pillars were covered with
wild flowers, or hidden by beds of variegated gourds. The transparent
sunset flung over the whole scene a soft but brilliant light.
The tranquil hour, the beauteous scene, the sweetness and the stillness
blending their odour and serenity, the gentle breeze that softly rose, and
summoned forth the languid birds to cool their plumage in the twilight
air, and wave their radiant wings in skies as bright---- Ah! what stern
spirit will not yield to the soft genius of subduing eve?
And Alroy gazed upon the silent loneliness of earth, and a tear stole
down his haughty cheek.
''Tis singular! but when I am thus alone at this still hour, I ever fancy I
gaze upon the Land of Promise. And often, in my dreams, some sunny
spot, the bright memorial of a roving hour, will rise upon my sight, and,
when I wake, I feel as if I had been in Canaan. Why am I not? The
caravan that bears my uncle's goods across the Desert would bear me
too. But I rest here, my miserable life running to seed in the dull misery
of this wretched city, and do nothing. Why, the old captivity was
empire to our inglorious bondage. We have no Esther now to share
their thrones, no politic Mordecai, no purple-vested Daniel. O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem! I do believe one sight of thee would nerve me to
the sticking-point. And yet to gaze upon thy fallen state, my uncle tells
me that of the Temple not a stone remains. 'Tis horrible. Is there no
hope?'
'The bricks are fallen, but we will rebuild with marble; the sycamores
are cut down, but we will replace them with cedars.'

'The chorus of our maidens, as they pay their evening visit to the
fountain's side.[5] The burden is prophetic.
'Hark again! How beautifully, upon the soft and flowing air, their sweet
and mingled voices blend and float!'
'YET AGAIN I WILL BUILD THEE, AND THOU SHALT BE BUILT, O
VIRGIN OF ISRAEL! YET AGAIN SHALT THOU DECK THYSELF
WITH THY TABRETS, AND GO FORTH IN THE DANCE OF THOSE
THAT MAKE MERRY. YET AGAIN SHALT THOU PLANT
VINEYARDS ON THE MOUNTAINS OF SAMARIA.'
'See! their white forms break through the sparkling foliage of the sunny
shrubs as they descend, with measured step, that mild declivity. A fair
society in bright procession: each one clothed in solemn drapery,
veiling her shadowy face with modest hand, and bearing on her
graceful head a graceful vase. Their leader is my sister.
'And now they reach the fountain's side, and dip their vases in the water,
pure and beauteous as themselves. Some repose beneath the marble
pillars; some, seated 'mid the flowers, gather sweets, and twine them
into garlands; and that wild girl, now that the order is broken, touches
with light fingers her moist vase, and showers startling drops of
glittering light on her serener sisters. Hark! again they sing.'
'O VINE OF SIBMAH! UPON THY SUMMER FRUITS, AND UPON
THY VINTAGE, A SPOILER HATH FALLEN!'
A scream, a shriek, a long wild shriek, confusion, flight, despair!
Behold! from out the woods a tur-baned man rushes, and seizes the
leader of the chorus. Her companions fly on all sides, Miriam alone is
left in the arms of Alschiroch.
The water column wildly rising from the breast of summer ocean, in
some warm tropic clime, when the sudden clouds too well discover that
the holiday of heaven is over, and the shrieking sea-birds tell a time of
fierce commotion, the column rising from the sea, it was not so wild as
he, the young Alroy.

Pallid and mad, he swift upsprang, and he tore up a tree by its lusty
roots, and down the declivity, dashing with rapid leaps, panting and
wild, he struck the ravisher on the temple with the mighty pine.
Alschiroch fell lifeless on the sod, and Miriam fainting into her
brother's arms.
And there he stood, fixed and immovable, gazing upon his sister's
deathly face, and himself exhausted by passion and his exploit,
supporting her cherished but senseless body.
One of the fugitive maidens appeared reconnoitring in the distance.
When she observed her mistress in the arms of one of her own people,
her courage revived, and, desirous of rallying her scattered companions,
she raised her voice, and sang:
'HASTE, DAUGHTERS OF JERUSALEM; O! HASTE, FOR THE
LORD HAS AVENGED US, AND THE SPOILER IS SPOILED.'
And soon the verse was responded to from various quarters of the
woods, and soon the virgins reassembled, singing,
'WE COME, O DAUGHTER OF JERUSALEM! WE COME; FOR THE