The Bath

Past were the promised three days, and on
The bine heaven of the Nile the sun Yusuf shone.
“O world- adorner,” said Malik, “ awhile
Light with thy splendour the bank of the Nile.
Bathe in the stream, and the waters shall flee
More bright with the dust they shall borrow from., thee.”
That sun of beauty the order obeyed :
Alone on the bank of the flood he strayed.
His cap of bright gold he removed from his head,
And his raven locks to the sun dispread ;
He threw off his robe, and his limbs were bare
Like the moon that shines through the cloudless air ;
And his neck and shoulders were tinged with a flush
Like the first faint hue of the morning’s blush.
A bathing-robe round his waist he tied,
And the cypress of silver hung o’er the stream’s side.
The voice of the heavens cried : “ Blest, O blest
Is the bank of the Nile which his feet have pressed.
Ah, if in the place of the flood I might kiss
Those delicate feet, how supreme were the bliss !
Nay, the sun would bend down from his noonday height,
And give the glad waters his fountain of light.
Yet he heeds not that fountain of splendour, but laves
The dust from his limbs in the turbid waves.”
He entered the river, awhile to shine
In the stream like the sun in the Watery Sign.
He dipped the fair face that was bright as a sun,
As the lotus dips where the sweet waters run.
He struck the waves with each naked limb,
And the waters lived at the touch of him.
He loosened the chains of his hair while the fleet
Stream made a chain for his silver feet,
And to capture the spoil of the river he set
Prom the moon to the Fish a fine amber-sweet net.
Now a stream from his hand on his beautiful head,
Like the Pleiades decking the moon, was shed.
Now he rubbed the rose where the big drops -lay,
Now combed with his fingers the spikenard spray.
Then pure from all dust of the journey he
Rose up on the bank like a cypress-tree.
Then he put on his raiment : the rose of his skin
Was enhanced by the white of the jessamine.
About his body his coat he drew,
Worked with fine fancy of many a hue.
A gold-bright cap on his brow he placed,
And girt with a zone rich with jewels his waist.
Loose hung his ambrosial tresses, and lent
To the breezes of Egypt the breath of their scent.
Again in his litter the youth was placed,
And they drove to the court of the king in haste.
There in front of the palace gate
High on a throne was the king in state,
And the fairest boys of the realm stood near
Expecting when Yusuf himself should appear,
And a thousand eyes to the litter flew
As near to the throne of the king it drew.
It chanced the clouds in their dense array
Hid the light of the sun that day.
Then Malik gave order to Yusuf : “ Spring
Erom the litter and come to the throne of the king.
Cast the veil from thy face, for a sun art thou,
And the -world shall be gay with the light of thy brow.”
He spoke ; and the lovely boy sprang to the ground,
And shbt sunlike rays on the circle around.
“ ’Tis the blessed sun,” thought the wondering crowd,
“ That has come from the screen of his dark blue
Cloud.”
But they turned their eyes to the sun, and knew
It was not his rays that the splendour threw,
For the dark cloud still o’er the sun was spread,
And the face of Yusuf the radiance shed.
They clapped their hands, and on every side
Bose up a murmur of voices that cried :
“ What, O Heaven, is the brilliant star
Outshining the sun and the moon by far ? ”
And the darlings of Egypt looked down disgraced
As they saw their beauty by his effaced.
When the sun shines forth in his splendour, where
Is the faintest star in the Lesser Bear ?