The Leap of Roushan Beg

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * Track #200 On The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Leap of Roushan Beg by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The Leap of Roushan Beg Annotated

Mounted on Kyrat strong and fleet,
His chestnut steed with four white feet,
&nbsp Roushan Beg, called Kurroglou,
Son of the road and bandit chief,
Seeking refuge and relief,
&nbsp Up the mountain pathway flew.

Such was Kyrat's wondrous speed,
Never yet could any steed
&nbsp Reach the dust-cloud in his course.
More than maiden, more than wife,
More than gold and next to life
&nbsp Roushan the Robber loved his horse.

In the land that lies beyond
Erzeroum and Trebizond,
&nbsp Garden-girt his fortress stood;
Plundered khan, or caravan
Journeying north from Koordistan,
&nbsp Gave him wealth and wine and food.

Seven hundred and fourscore
Men at arms his livery wore,
&nbsp Did his bidding night and day.
Now, through regions all unknown,
He was wandering, lost, alone,
&nbsp Seeking without guide his way.

Suddenly the pathway ends,
Sheer the precipice descends,
&nbsp Loud the torrent roars unseen;
Thirty feet from side to side
Yawns the chasm; on air must ride
&nbsp He who crosses this ravine.

Following close in his pursuit,
At the precipice's foot,
&nbsp Reyhan the Arab of Orfah
Halted with his hundred men,
Shouting upward from the glen,
&nbsp "La Illah illa Allah!"

Gently Roushan Beg caressed
Kyrat's forehead, neck, and breast;
&nbsp Kissed him upon both his eyes;
Sang to him in his wild way,
As upon the topmost spray
&nbsp Sings a bird before it flies.

"O my Kyrat, O my steed,
Round and slender as a reed,
&nbsp Carry me this peril through!
Satin housings shall be thine,
Shoes of gold, O Kyrat mine,
&nbsp O thou soul of Kurroglou!

"Soft thy skin as silken skein,
Soft as woman's hair thy mane,
&nbsp Tender are thine eyes and true;
All thy hoofs like ivory shine,
Polished bright; O, life of mine,
&nbsp Leap, and rescue Kurroglou!"

Kyrat, then, the strong and fleet,
Drew together his four white feet,
&nbsp Paused a moment on the verge,
Measured with his eye the space,
And into the air's embrace
&nbsp Leaped as leaps the ocean surge.

As the ocean surge o'er sand
Bears a swimmer safe to land,
&nbsp Kyrat safe his rider bore;
Rattling down the deep abyss
Fragments of the precipice
&nbsp Rolled like pebbles on a shore.

Roushan's tasselled cap of red
Trembled not upon his head,
&nbsp Careless sat he and upright;
Neither hand nor bridle shook,
Nor his head he turned to look,
&nbsp As he galloped out of sight.

Flash of harness in the air,
Seen a moment like the glare
&nbsp Of a sword drawn from its sheath;
Thus the phantom horseman passed,
And the shadow that he cast
&nbsp Leaped the cataract underneath.

Reyhan the Arab held his breath
While this vision of life and death
&nbsp Passed above him. "Allahu!"
Cried he. "In all Koordistan
Lives there not so brave a man
&nbsp As this Robber Kurroglou!

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