thou shouldst droop with woe,
Of such a child bereft;
But now thy tears must doubly flow,
For, ah! the other's left.

_Aly Ben Ahmed Ben Mansour_.

[20] Aly Ben Ahmed distinguished himself in prose as well as poetry,
and an historical work of considerable reputation, of which he was
the author, is still extant. But he principally excelled in satire,
and so fond was he of indulging this dangerous talent that no one
escaped his lash; if he could only bring out a sarcasm, it was
matter of indifference to him whether an enemy or a brother smarted
under its severity. He died at Bagdad A.H. 302.

A FRIEND'S BIRTHDAY[21]

When born, in tears we saw thee drown'd,
While thine assembled friends around,
With smiles their joy confest;
So live, that at thy parting hour,
They may the flood of sorrow pour,
And thou in smiles be drest!

[21] The thought contained in these lines, appears so natural and so
obvious, that one wonders it did not occur to all who have attempted
to write upon a birthday or a death.

TO A CAT

Poor Puss is gone! 'Tis fate's decree--
Yet I must still her loss deplore,
For dearer than a child was she,
And ne'er shall I behold her more.

With many a sad presaging tear
This morn I saw her steal away,
While she went on without a fear
Except that she should miss her prey.

I saw her to the dove-house climb,
With cautious feet and slow she stept
Resolv'd to balance loss of time
By eating faster than she crept.

Her subtle foes were on the watch,
And mark'd her course, with fury fraught,
And while she hoped the birds to catch,
An arrow's point the huntress caught.

In fancy she had got them all,
And drunk their blood and suck'd their breath;
Alas! she only got a fall,
And only drank the draught of death.

Why, why was pigeons' flesh so nice,
That thoughtless cats should love it thus?
Hadst thou but liv'd on rats and mice,
Thou hadst been living still, poor Puss.

Curst be the taste, howe'er refined,
That prompts us for such joys to wish,
And curst the dainty where we find
Destruction lurking in the dish.

_Ibn Alalaf Alnaharwany_.

AN EPIGRAM UPON EBN NAPHTA-WAH[22]

By the former with ruin and death we are curst,
In the latter we grieve for the ills of the first;
And as for the whole, where together they meet,
It's a