by Herman Melville
From bright Stamboul Death crosses o'er;
Beneath the cypress evermore
His camp he pitches by the shore
Of Asia old.
Requiting this unsocial mood
Stamboul's inmyrtled multitude
Bless Allah and the sherbert good
And Europe hold.
Even so the cleaving Bosphorous parts
Life and Death.—Dissembling hearts!
Over the gulf the yearning starts
To meet—infold!
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Last updated March 26, 2023