AS I CAME DOWN FROM LEBANON

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11513, 8 October 1915, Page 4

AS I CAME DOWN FROM LEBANON

. -♦- As I came down from Lebanon, Came winding, wandering slowly dowa • Ti i i Through mountain passes bleak and brown, The cloudless day was well-nigh d'one. The city, like an opal, set In emerald, showed each minaret Afire with radiant beams of siin. And glistened orange, tig and lime, Where song-birds mado melodious chime, As I came down from Lebanon. As I came down from Lebanon, Like lava in the dying glow. Through olive orchards far below I saw tho murmuring river run; And 'neath the wall upon the sand Swart shekhs from distant Samarcand > • ,1 ! J With precious spices they had won, Lay long and languidly in wait Till they might pass -the guarded gate, As I came down from Lebanon. As I came down from Lebanon, I saw strange men from lands afar Iu mosque and square aud gaybazaar— The Magi that the Moslem shun. And grave Effendi from Stambul Who sherbet sipped in corners cool; And. from the balconies o'errun With roses, gleamed the eyes of those Who dwell in still seraglios, As I came down from Lebanon. As I came down from Lebanon, The flaming flower of daytime died, And Night, arrayed ae is a bride Of some great king in garments spun Of purple and the finest gold, Out-bloomed in glories manifold! Until the moon above the dun And darkening desert, void of shade, Shone like a keen Damascus blade. As I came down from Lebanon!