Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 455, page 59 by Various Authors
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BELL.
Under the palm-trees on India's shore Ne'er shall I wander at morning or eve; Hearts there have withered, but still in the core Of mine springs the memory of feelings that give Green thoughts in sunshine and bright hopes in gloom; Friendship, which love's loud emotions becalms: Oh, happy was I, in those bowers of perfume, Under the palms!
Go forth, little children; the wood's insect-hum Invites ye; expand there, like buds in the sun; Leave schools and their studies for days that will come, And let thy first lessons from nature be won! Teachings hath nature most sage and most sweet-- The music that swells in the tree-linnet's psalms; So taught, my young heart learned to prize that retreat Under the palms!
The odour of jasmines afloat on the breeze, That woke in the dawning the birds on each bough; The frolicsome squirrels, that scampered at case 'Mid lithe leaves and soft moss that smiled down below: Heaps piled up of mangoes, all fragrant and rich; Guavas pink-cored, such a wealth of sweet alms Presented by bright maids, whose sweet songs bewitch Under the palms!
Pale, yellow bananas, with satiny pulp That tastes like some dainty of sugar and cream; Blithe-kernelled pomegranates, just gathered to help A feast fit to serve in the bowers of a dream! Milk, foaming and snowy; rice, swelling and sweet; Iced sherbet that cools, and spiced ginger that warms: Oh, simple our banquet in that dear retreat Under the palms!
A tinkling of lutes and a toning of voices-- Of young maiden voices just fresh from the bath; A sprinkling of rosewater cool, that rejoices The scented grass screening our bower from the path; Trim baskets of melons, new gathered, beside Fair bunches of blossoms that heal all sick qualms; And books, when to reading our fancies subside, Under the palms!
Or silence at eve when the sun hath gone down, Or the sound of one cithern makes melody near; While a beautiful boy, that hath ne'er known a frown, Softly murmurs a tale of the Eas