Classic Poem

I LEAVE the western world to-day,
And ever eastward bear away
To tropic Persia's land of palm,
Of attar, aloe, myrrh, and balm;
Across the mountain and the sea,
My Pegasus shall carry me,
Until I breathe the bloom and scent,
With Omar in the Orient.

His nightingale will sing to me
All of the olden melody,
The wind will rifle gardens sweet,
And rain the roses at my feet;
His verses underneath the bough,
The loaf of bread, the wine,—and Thou,
All in one dream of beauty blent,
With Omar in the Orient.

Away with sorrow, grief, and care,
O, Saki, love and peace are there;
Away with all the ghostly fears
That low-browed Superstition rears;
Parwin, Mushtari, softly shine,
And light me onward to the shrine,
Where I may pitch my happy tent,
With Omar in the Orient.