Beckford, William (1760-1844)

An Arabian Tale, From an Unpublished Manuscript [Vathek]

London

J. Johnson

w. 1782, 1786, 1816

"The falling waters filled his soul with dejection, and his tears trickled down the jasmines he had caught from Nouronihar, and placed in his inflamed bosom."

The agitated Caliph still wished to hear more; but she immediately retired with all her attendants. The fond monarch pursued her with his eyes till she was gone out of sight; and then continued like a bewildered and benighted traveller, from whom the clouds had obscured the constellation that guided his way. The curtain of night seemed dropped before him: every thing appeared discoloured. The falling waters filled his soul with dejection, and his tears trickled down the jasmines he had caught from Nouronihar, and placed in his inflamed bosom. He snatched up a few shining pebbles, to remind him of the scene where he felt the first tumults of love. Two hours were elapsed, and evening drew on, before he could resolve to depart from the place. He often, but in vain, attempted to go: a soft languor enervated the powers of his mind. Extending himself on the brink of the stream, he turned his eyes towards the blue summits of the mountain, and exclaimed, "What concealest thou behind thee, pitiless rock? what is passing in thy solitudes? Whither is she gone? O heaven! perhaps she is now wandering in thy grottoes with her happy Gulchenrouz!"
(pp. 121-2)

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2 entries in ESTC (1786, 1791).

First published anonymously as An Arabian Tale, from an Unpublished Manuscript: with Notes Critical and Explanatory (London: J. Johnson, 1786). <Link to ESTC><Link to ECCO>

Text from William Beckford, Vathek: Translated from the original French, 3rd edition (London: Printed for W. Clarke 1816).

06/05/2013