Page:Oriental Sketches Dramatic Sketches and Tales.pdf/212

Mid reliques and remains of tall Kiosks,
Pagodas, minarets, and dome-crowned mosques;
Where towering palms and spreading banians rise,
A Doric structure meets the spell-bound eyes—
Its fair proportions formed in every part
Just to the classic rules of Roman art,
And dedicated to those Nymphs divine,
The fairer sisters of the tuneful Nine—
Attendant on the Drama—a gay throng,
Who weave the mingled web of dance and song,
Where young Thalia laughs with mirthful eye,
And gorgeous Tragedy comes sweeping by.

    Say, what the magic charm that thus has changed
The wild, where erst the forest-monster ranged,
To the gay Theatre, where wit's bright rays
Pour forth the sparklings of its diamond blaze,
And the rapt ear delighted lists again
The gifted poet's most ennobling strain,