Washington sentinel., 1854-01-28
Washingtnn gsntinsl
The Enchanted Lyre.
by MRS. ALFRED ii. REP.

The Enchanted Lyrcs
ny MRS. ALFRED Ii. REP.
: Alexius was young Grecian bard, who was
accounted the best musician Of his time. He
played on the Tyre, and accompanied it with a
meiodious voice. His manners were gentle,
affabe, and urbane his personal appearance
and mental qualities were such rs won the re-
gard of all hearts. He had one sister, who,
like himself was remarkable for her musical
abilities and her transcendant beauty, which
had been the prolific theme Of many gifted
bard. There were only these two; and al
though they had no kindred to made their lot
less lonely, yet for while their lives was one un-
interrupted chain of enjoyment. Aurora's Grim.
son blush and Cyntha's silvery rays seemed
to beam for them alone The flowers bloomed
brighter, and their odor was sweeter for them
than Others The rill murmured and the birds
warbled, but these notes from natures music
they applied peculiarly to the already overflow
ing happiness with which their beings were i'm
bued But, alas! pleasure never fingers with
mortals, but is lent by heaven on hard usury.
Like the hues of the rainbow, it is feetest when
brightest Like the rose, which blooms and
breathes its spicy incense on the air it is crushed
in its zenith by the first storm that rushes past.
1t was the fftieth year after the hegira when
Omar, the successor Of Mahomet was extend
ing with fire and sword his powerful domin-
ions, and leaving desolation and ruin in his
pathway. He needed not the milder precepts
Of the Koran, but listened only to the enchant-
ing whispers Of ambition.
The native city Of Alexius and Ozella was
laid IN ruins and while he was left wounded
unto death on their once peaceful and un-
stained threshold, the lovely Ozella was carried
a captive to Bagdad, where the fame Of her
grace and beauty, blended with wonderful ac-
counts of her skill in music, soon caused her to
be removed from the slave-mart, and placed in
a post Of honor near the person OF the sultana,
the mother Of Omar--a wise and excellent
woman, who would fain, by her maternal au-
thority have restrained her sons thirst for con-
quest. But Ozella pined for the balmy air and
fowery plains Of her native land, and remained
almost insensible to the kindness of the sultan's
mother, and quite Indifferent to the splendor
which surrounded her on every side. Evening
after evening she sat in sad silence by the side
Of a fountain which gushed out at the foot of a
high rock, nor did aught but soft sighs ever
pass her lips that could betray the anguish OF
her mind. AS the grief that speaks not, that
weeps not but dwels in silence in the depths
of the heart, is the grief that consumes. The
sorrow which complains qnenches itself in its
own tears, is scattered by its own sighs, or is
discharged from the oppressed bosom in each
word Of lamentation. Nothing in the glad
scenes within the palace, or in the Eden beauty
Of the vast gardens, which seemed filed with
fairy gifts, wore a charm for the young captive;
for her brothers eyes and smiles, which could
have made the walls of prison bright around
her, were absent, perhaps quenched forever be-
meath tho dark shads Of Alzneals wing.
Days, weeks, and months passed by, and q
change came gradually over the proud Omar's
spirit. He was satisfied with conquest; vic
tory had SO readily attended his arms, that the
very absence of difficulty, the very absence Of
insurmountable barriers to be overcome by
splendid feats Of military genius and tactics,
deprived war of its principal charm to this i'm
petuous and brave prince. The evening was
lovely, one Of those peculiar to q tropical eli
mate; the sun was setting, and the sheet of
gold which covered the rosy-tinted waters of
the sea gradually faded like a dream away. A
bulbul, hiding amidst cluster of rose trees,
sent forth delicious strains on the soft, dreamy
air. On mat Of soft cygnets down, reclined
in mournfnl solitude the Greek slave, indulg'
ING in retrospective visions of the happy past,
which, as the shades Of evening darkened
around her, assumed sadder tinge; and when
her heart, with its wild memories, clung about
the phantom of her brave, brght-eyed brother,
which it had conjured up, tears gushed in tor
rents from her eyes, and lamentations stole
with mournful cadence so dreariy from her
grief.worn bosom, that the bulbul ceased its
song and flew affrighted away. But the tide
of her grief was suddenly checked by fear; for
the rock near which she sat trembed to its
base, the bubbling of the water ceased, and
the gentle breeze hushed its whispers.
While Ozella watched with terrified gaze the
ouivering rock, expecting that some dreadful
convulsion of nature would soon wrap the
whole scene around her in ruins and release
her from her captivity, it gradually opened,
and a white mist issued therefrom, which soon
collected itself into dense body, and assumed
the form Of one of those genii which in those
days were said to exist, and of whom the young
slave had read and heard many marvellous ac-
counts She trembled, and could only gaze
with fearful eyes and claspcd hands in silence
on the majestic apparition, whose venerable
appearance and benign though melancholy
yisage gradually reassured her; and when, with
n voice like a fine toned instrument strung to
harmony, he inquired why she wept, and why
she had uttered sighs which had penetrated the
recesses of his dark abode in the rock, she re-
plied in faltering voice, and with downcast
eyes: Alas great and dread spirit, am q
slave but thou, who and what art thou!'
~ am one Of those" answered the genius,
"who rebelled against the great Solyman, for
which offence / have been imprisoned within
the cayerns Of this rock for five hundred years,
with no power of volition beyond the spot on
which now stand, whittier / have been di-
rected to come once in century to see If
happily the messenger hath arrived who's to
dissolve the chains that bind me here. To-day
the strings of my Tyre, which was permitted to
carry into bondage with me, moved of their
own accord to the most delicious harmonies,
and a. voice, like the midnight song of the bnlbuL
whispered that my deliverance was at hand,
and thou, fair captive, art destined by Allah to
be my deliverer.'
Il, and why me, | am a captive myself?"
replied Ozella.
When was incarcerated, fair captive, and
the seal Of Solyman impressed on my limits,