Thalaba the Destroyer

“ These spirits were destined to be destroyed by one of the race of Hodei'rah (3 syl.) , so they persecuted the race even to death. Only one survived, named Thal'aba, and Abdaldar was appointed by lot to find him out and kill him. He discovered the stripling in an Arab's tent, and while in prayer was about to stab him to the heart with a dagger, when the angel of death breathed on him, and he fell dead with the dagger in his hand. Thalaba drew from the magician's finger a ring which gave him command over the spirits. —Southey, Thalaba the Destroyer, ii. ”

“ A labyrinth of ruins, Babylon
Spreads o’er the blasted plain:
The wandering Arab never sets his tent
Within her walls; the Shepherd [98] eyes afar
Her evil Towers, and devious drives his flock.
Alone unchanged, a free and bridgeless tide
Euphrates rolls along,
Eternal Nature’s work.
Thro’ the broken portal,
Over weedy fragments,
Thalaba went his way.
Cautious he trod, and felt
The dangerous ground before him with his bow.
The Chacal started at his steps,
The Stork, alarmed at sound of man,
From her broad nest upon the old pillar top,
Affrighted fled on flapping wings. ”

“ And Azrael, the Death-Angel, stood before them.
His countenance was dark,
Solemn, but not severe,
It awed, but struck no terror to the heart.
“Zeinab, thy wish is heard!
“Aswad, thy hour is come!”
They fell upon the ground and blest the voice,
And Azrael from his sword
Let fall the drops of bitterness and death.
“Me too! me too!” young Thalaba exclaim’d,
As wild with grief he kiss’d
His Mother’s livid hand,
His Mother’s quivering lips,
“Oh Angel! take me too!”
“Son of Hodeirah!” the Death-Angel said,
“It is not yet the hour. ”

“ Thalaba lived on, and the spirit of Laila, in the form of a green bird, conducted him to the simorg (q.v.) , which he sought, that he might be directed to Dom-Daniel, the cavern “under the roots of the ocean.”—Southey, Thalaba the Destroyer, x. (1797) .
La ́is (2 syl.) , a generic name for a courtezan. Laïs was a Greek hetæra who sold her favors for £200 English money. When Demosthenês was told the amount of the fee, he said he had “no mind to buy repentance at such a price.” One of her great admirers was Diog ́enês, the cynic.
This is the cause
That Lais leads a lady’s life aloft. ”

“ It sparkled as tho’ all burning with an incredible splendour, flashing radiance, and shooting on every side its beams, it filled the surrounding air to a great distance with a light scarcely by any eyes endurable. In this also it was wonderful, that being most impatient of the earth, if it was confined, it would force its way and immediately fly aloft; neither could it be contained by any art of man in a narrow place, but appeared only to love those of ample extent. ”

“ Such are his patience and perseverance, that he pursues his journey without flagging, as long as he has power to support its weight; and such are his fortitude and spirit, that he will never give out, until nature sinks beneath the complicated ills which press upon him. Then, and then only, will he resign his burden and body to the ground. Nor stripes, nor caresses nor food, nor rest, will make him rise again! His vigor is exhausted, and life ebbs out apace! This the Arabs are very sensible of, and kindly plunge a sword into the breast of the dying beast, to shorten his pangs. ”

“ Things viewed at distance thro’ the mist of fear,
In their distortion terrify and shock
The abused sight.
THALABA.
But of these Angels fate
Thus in the uncreated Book is written.
OLD MAN.
Wisely from legendary fables, Heaven
Inculcates wisdom.
THALABA.
How then is the truth?
Is not the dungeon of their punishment
By ruined Babylon?
OLD MAN.
By Babylon
Haruth and Maruth may be found.
THALABA.
And there
Magician learn their impious sorcery?
OLD MAN.
Son what thou sayest is true, and it is false. ”

“ Arbuthnot, History of John Bull, v. (1712) .
Hodei ́rah (3 syl.) , husband of Zei ́nab (2 syl.) and father of Thalaba. He died while Thalaba was a mere lad.—Southey, Thalaba the Destroyer, i. (1797) .
Hodeken (i.e. little hat) , a German kobold or domestic fairy, noted for his little felt hat.
Hö ́der, the Scandinavian god of darkness, typical of night. He is called the blind old god. Balder is the god of light, typical of day. According to fable Höder killed Balder with an arrow made of mistletoe, but the gods restored him to life again. ”

“ Its gait is very slow, but wherever it fastens it is not easily removed. It dwells commonly upon rotten trees, or among the ruines of old houses and churches; it oftentimes settles near the bedsteads, which makes sometimes the moors pull down their huts.
Its constant cry is gekko, but before it begins it makes a kind of hissing noise. The sting of this creature is so venomous, that the wound proves mortal, unless it be immediately burnt with a red hot iron, or cut off. The blood is of a palish colour, resembling poison itself. ”

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Thalaba the Destroyer.
by
Robert Southey.
Ποιηματων ακρατης η ελευθερια, και νομος εις,
⁠το δοξαν τω ποιητη.
Lucian, Quomodo Hist. Scribenda. ”

“ Take me then to Mecca!
There let me dwell a servant of the Temple.
Bind thou thyself my veil,... to human eye
It never shall be lifted. There, whilst thou
Shalt go upon thine enterprize, my prayers,
Dear Thalaba! shall rise to succour thee,
And I shall live,... if not in happiness;
Surely in hope.
THALABA.
Oh think of better things! ”

“ She has lined his foot with a lump of flesh, which, sliding in the mud, and being no way adapted for climbing, fits him only for a dry, level, and sandy soil, like that of Arabia. She has evidently destined him likewise to slavery, by refusing him every sort of defence against his enemies. ”

“ In the Bahar Danush is a metaphor drawn from this optical deception. “It is the ancient custom of Fortune, and time has long established the habit, that she at first bewilders the thirsty travellers in the path of desire, by the misty vapour of disappointment; but when their distress and misery has reached extremity, suddenly relieving them from the dark windings of confusion and error, she conducts them to the fountains of enjoyment.” ”

“ Southey's will survive? ↑ —— though lesser bards content.— [British Bards.] ↑ Thalaba, Mr. Southey's second poem, is written in open defiance of precedent and poetry. Mr. S. wished to produce something novel, and succeeded to a miracle. Joan of Arc was marvellous enough, but Thalaba was one of those poems "which," in the words of Porson, "will be read when Homer and Virgil are forgotten, but—not till then." ["Of Thalaba the wild and wondrous song."—Proem to Madoc, Southey's Poetical Works (1838) , vol. v. Joan of Arc was published in 1796, Thalaba the Destroyer in 1801, and Madoc in 1805.] ”

“ Can you not conceive, blind as ye are, says he, that the handles of these swords being made like a cross, hinders the Devil from coming out of the body? Why do you not rather take the Turkish sabres? The advice of this learned man had no effect: the Vroucolacas was incorrigible, and all the inhabitants were in a strange consternation; they knew not now what Saint to call upon, when of a sudden with one voice, as if they had given each other the hint, they fell to bawling out all thro’ the city, that it was intolerable to wait any longer ”

“ He must be interrupted by no other object whatever. During the whole Ezann he must stand, with a finger in each ear, and his face turned, as in prayer, towards the Keabe of Mecca. As he utters these words, come to prayer, come to the temple of salvation, he must turn his face to the right and left, because he is supposed to address all the nations of the world, the whole expanded universe. At this time the auditors must recite with a low voice the Tehhlil. There is no strength, there is no power, but what is in God, in that supreme Being, in that powerful Being. ”

“ He answered to the Voice, “Prophet of God,
“Holy, and good, and bountiful!
“One only earthly wish have I, to work
“Thy will, and thy protection grants me that.
“Look on this Sorcerer! heavy are his crimes,
“But infinite is mercy! if thy servant
“Have now found favour in the sight of God,
“Let him be touched with penitence, and save
“His soul from utter death.”
“The groans of penitence,” replied the Voice
“Never arise unheard!
“But for thyself prefer the prayer,
“The Treasure-house of Heaven
“Is open to thy will.”
“Prophet of God!” then answered Thalaba,
“I am alone on earth. ”

“ The Devil now suggested a remedy, which was to quiet them by giving them every day the brains of two men, killed for that purpose: this tyranny lasted long, till a blacksmith of Ispahan whose children had been nearly all slain to feed the King’s serpents, raised his leathern apron as the standard of revolt, and deposed Zohak. Zohak, say the Persians, is still living in the cave of his punishment, a sulphureous vapour issues from the place, and if a stone be flung in there comes out a voice and cries, why dost thou fling stones at me? ”

“ These last are reserved for riding solely, they are highly esteemed and consequently very dear, they are said to derive their origin from King Solomon’s studs, however this may be they are fit to bear the greatest fatigues, and can pass whole days without food, they are also said to show uncommon courage against an enemy, it is even asserted, that when a horse of this race finds himself wounded and unable to bear his rider much longer, he retires from the fray and conveys him to a place of security. ”

“ I much question whether a few Hours such unintermitting Agitation would not endanger the bursting of some of his Entrails: And this the Arabs scruple not to acknowledge. We were to be diverted with seeing this fine Ashari run against some of the swiftest Barbs in the whole Neja, which is famed for having good ones, of the true Libyan Breed, shaped like Greyhounds, and which will sometimes run down an Ostridge; which few of the very best can pretend to do, especially upon a hard Ground, perfectly level. ”

“ In the mean time the Corpse stunk so abominably that they were obliged to burn frankincense; but the smoke mixing with the exhalations from the carcass increased the stink, and began to muddle the poor people’s pericranies. Their imagination, struck with the spectacle before them, grew full of visions. It came into their noddles, that a thick smoke came out of the body; we durst not say ’twas the smoke of the incense. They were incessantly bawling out Vroucolacas in the chapel and place before it ”

“ In the Islands of Barlovento and in all the country of Brazil, in Santa Marta and in the new kingdom, and in other countries, where a cruel sort of Indians inhabited, they used another sort of poison; for they would take the leg of an Indian whom they had killed, and hang it up in the air against the sun, and fill it with many barbs of poisoned arrows, which were taken out of the flesh of an Indian, which after some days they took out, and without cleansing of them, they dried them in the air where the sun did not come, and then they headed their arrows with them ”

“ Thal ́aba, the Destroyer--that is, the destroyer of the evil spirits of Dom-Daniel. He was the only surviving child of Hodei ́rah (3 syl.) , and his wife, Zeinab (2 syl.) ; their other eight children had been cut off by the Dom-Danielists, because it had been decreed by fate that “one of the race would be their destruction.” When a mere stripling, Thalăba was left motherless and fatherless (bk. i.) ; he then found a home in the tent of a Bedouin named Mo ́ath, who had a daughter, Onei ́za (3 syl.) . Here he was found by Abdaldar, an evil spirit, sent from Dom-Daniel to kill him ”

“ Men are not what they were; their crimes and follies
Have dwarfed them down from the old hero race
To such poor things as we!
THALABA.
At Babylon
I have heard the Angels expiate their guilt,
Haruth and Maruth.
OLD MAN.
’Tis a history
Handed from ages down; the nurses make it
A tale to please their children,
And as their garrulous ignorance relates
We learn it and believe ... but all things feel
The power of Time and Change! thistles and grass
Usurp the desolate palace, and the weeds
Of Falshood root in the aged pile of Truth.
How have you heard the tale?
THALABA.
Thus ... ”

“ Before it is lowered into the grave, the Iman commands silence, saying, “Cease your lamentations for a moment, and let me instruct this Moslem how to act, when he arrives in the other world.” Then in the ear of the corpse, he directs him how to answer the Evil Spirit who will not fail to question him respecting his religion, &c. This lesson finished, he repeats the Fatka with all the assistants, and the body is let down into the grave. After they have thrown earth three times upon the grave, as the Romans used, they retire. ”

“ Then would he go unto the foresaide old man, beseeching him that he might be admitted againe into his paradise: who saith unto him, you cannot be admitted thither, unlesse you will slay such or such a man for my sake, and if you will give the attempt onely whether you kill him or no, I wil place you againe in paradise, that there you may remaine alwayes: then would the party without faile put the same in execution, indevouring to murther all those against whom the sayd olde man had conceived any hatred. ”