e fight. The
excitement they produce exceeds that of the grape. He who would
understand the influence of the Homeric ballads in the heroic ages
should witness the effect which similar compositions have upon the wild
nomads of the East." Elsewhere he adds, "Poetry and flowers are the wine
and spirits of the Arab; a couplet is equal to a bottle, and a rose to a
dram, without the evil effect of either."

The Persian poetry rests on a mythology whose few legends are connected
with the Jewish history, and the anterior traditions of the Pentateuch.
The principal figure in the allusions of Eastern poetry is Solomon.
Solomon had three talismans; first, the signet-ring, by which he
commanded the spirits, on the stone of which was engraven the name of
God; second, the glass, in which he saw the secrets of his enemies, and
the causes of all things, figured; the third, the east-wind, which was
his horse. His counsellor was Simorg, king of birds, the all-wise fowl,
who had lived ever since the beginning of the world, and now lives alone
on the highest summit of Mount Kaf. No fowler has taken him, and none
now living has seen him. By him Solomon was taught the language of
birds, so that he heard secrets whenever he went into his gardens. When
Solomon travelled, the throne was placed on a carpet of green silk, of a
length and breadth sufficient for all his army to stand upon,--men
placing themselves on his right hand, and the spirits on his left. When
all were in order, the east-wind, at his command, took up the carpet and
transported it, with all that were upon it, whither he pleased,--the
army of birds at the same time flying overhead, and forming a canopy to
shade them from the sun. It is related that when the Queen of Sheba came
to visit Solomon, he had built, against her arrival, a palace, of which
the floor or pavement was of glass, laid over running water, in which
fish were swimming. The Queen of Sheba was deceived thereby, and raised
her robes, thinking she was to pass through the water. On the occasion
of Solomon's marriage, all the beasts, laden with presents, appeared
before his throne. Behind them all came the ant, with a blade of grass:
Solomon did not despise the gift of the ant. Asaph, the vizier, at a
certain time, lost the seal of Solomon, which one of the Dews, or evil
spirits, found, and, governing in the name of Solomon, deceived the
people.

Firdousi, the Persian Homer, has written in the _Shah Nameh_ the annals