"As a drop from the wine where the wine-cup hath spilled it,

As a gem from the mine, O my Seyd, I will build

it;

Without price, without flaw, it shall stand for a

token

That the word is a law which the Caliph hath spoken!"

Yet again to the Caliph bent Seyd the vizier : "Who shall reason or rail if my Lord speaketh

clear?

Who shall strive with his might? Let my Lord live for ever!

He shall choose him a site by the side of the river."

Then the Caliph sent forth unto Kür, unto

Yemen,

To the South, to the North, for the skilfullest

freemen;

And soon, in a close, where the river breeze

fanned it,

The basement uprose, as the Caliph had planned

it.

Now the courses were laid and the corner-piece fitted;

And the butments and set-stones were shapen and knitted,

When lo on a sudden the Caliph heard frowning, That the river had swelled, and the workmen were drowning.

Then the Caliph was stirred and he flushed in his

ire as

He sent forth his word from Teheran to Shiraz; And the workmen came new, and the palace, built faster,

From the bases up-grew unto arch and pilaster.

And the groinings were traced, and the arch-heads were chasen,

When lo! in hot haste there came flying a mason, For a cupola fallen had whelmed half the work

men;

And Hamet the chief had been slain by the Turc'

men.

Then the Caliph's beard curled, and he foamed in his rage as

Once more his scouts whirled from the Tell to the

"Is my word not my word?" cried the Caliph Abdallah ;

"I will build it up yet. by the aiding of

Allah!"

Though he spoke in his haste like King David before him,

Yet he felt as he spoke that a something stole o'er

him;

And his soul grew as glass, and his anger passed

from it

As the vapours that pass from the Pool of Mahomet.

And the doom seemed to hang on the palace no

longer,

Like a fountain it sprang when the sources feed

stronger;

Shaft, turret and spire leaped upward, diminished, Like the flames of a fire, till the palace was finished!

Without price, without flaw. And it lay on the

azure

Like a diadem dropped from an emperor's treasure;