reestablished and every one rested in tranquillity throughout the land.




SELECTIONS FROM ARABIAN POETRY

[_Translation by J.D. Carlyle_]


INTRODUCTION

The essential qualities of Arabian poetry appear in the "Romance of
Antar," and the tales of the "Thousand and One Nights." For such a
blending of prose and verse is the favorite form of Arabian literature
in its highest and severest form, even in the drama. But the character
of the people is most clearly shown in the lyrical poems of the Bedouin
country. The pastoral poetry of the peninsula is so local in its
allusions that it cannot adequately be translated into English. It is in
the lyrics that we find that "touch of nature which makes the whole
world kin." The gorgeousness of Hindoo literature, with its lavish
description of jewelry and gold, precious stones and marbles, hideous
demons, and mighty gods, is not to be looked for in Arabia. There the
horizon is clear, and the plain has nothing but human occupants. The
common passions of men are the only powers at work; love, war, sorrow,
and wine, are the subjects of these little songs, some of which might
have been written by "Anacreon" Moore, and others by Catullus. The
influence of Greek poetry is indeed manifest in these light and
sometimes frivolous effusions. The sweetness and grace which distinguish
some are only equalled by the wit of others. For wit is the prevailing