“Upon the glittering pageantries
Of gay Damascus streets I look
As idly as a babe, that sees
The painted pictures of a book.”
—Taylor’s Oriental Idyl.
From Damascus Mr. Taylor journeyed to Baalbec, where are the most imposing3 ruins to be found in Syria, and where stand six of the most symmetrical and exquisitely4 carved columns to be seen in Asia or Europe. He described the temples and fragments so vividly5, that travellers who have taken his “Lands of the Saracen” for a guide have seldom been disappointed or mistaken in their anticipations6, the actual scene they look upon being so like the image they formed in their minds while reading his description. The gift of portraying8 through the combination of words and sentences an accurate picture of a city existing in a[195] strange land and amid a strange people, is a rare gift, and the number is very few of those who are found to possess it. Mr. Taylor was one of those privileged ones. In his description we see the columns, cornices, pediments, walls, platforms, broken pillars, and falling pavilions as distinctly as they appear when we afterwards look upon those romantic piles with the natural eye. To him, as to others, it was a study to determine, if possible, how such enormous blocks of stone, sixty-two feet long and ten feet in diameter, could have been transported and placed in the buildings. It is beyond all the skill of to-day to move nine thousand tons of stone in a single block with the conveniences of that time.
From Baalbec he ascended9 the Lebanon range of mountains, and looked over the land from the snowy peak of one of its lofty summits. He visited the sacred cedars10 which have lived on the mountain-side for three thousand years, and then rode on through chasms11, along cliffs, and by the sweetest and richest dells, until he descended12 to the plain of Beyrout.
His appreciation13 of the hills of Lebanon is more clearly seen in his poetry than in his prose. For, when writing of them afterwards, he said:—
“Lebanon, thou mount of story,
Well we know thy sturdy glory,
Since the days of Solomon;
Well me know the Five old Cedars,
Scarred by ages,—silent pleaders,
[196]
Preaching in their gray sedateness14,
Of thy forest’s fallen greatness,
And the palaces Assyrian
And the temple on Moriah
To the High and Holy One!
Know the wealth of thy appointment—
But we knew not, till we clomb thee,
Of the nectar dropping from thee,—
In the cups of vino d’oro,
On the hills of Lebanon!”
In that city he laid his plans for the future, and abandoned his purposed trip to the Euphrates and Tigris. He relinquished19 the design to visit Assyria with great reluctance20, and decided21 to pass through the interior of Asia Minor to Constantinople. Acting22 immediately upon this resolution, without an apparent doubt of being able to traverse safely the unknown interior of Asia Minor, he engaged a vessel15 and sailed up the coast to the Orontes River, and thence to Aleppo. In that city, by a ludicrous mistake, Mr. Taylor and his travelling companion were invited to the house of one of the wealthiest merchants, and were treated with the greatest hospitality by the owner, who supposed they were titled Englishmen. But when the mistake was revealed, Mr. Taylor had become such an agreeable visitor that his host insisted upon entertaining them during their stay in Aleppo. He had been there but a few days before he became such a general favorite,[197] that he was invited to call on the nobility, was urged to attend feasts, balls, and weddings, and when he left the city, the friendly regrets of hundreds of Moslems and Christians24 followed him.
Leaving Aleppo early in June, he followed the shore of the Mediterranean25 around to the plain of Issus, where Alexander the Great won his great victory, and thence to Tarsus, the birthplace of the Apostle Paul. It may have been “no mean city” when Paul was born, but it was a most insignificant26 village when Mr. Taylor was there. But as the magnificent mountains of the Taurus range loomed27 up along the northern horizon, his attention was taken from rags, beggary, and ruined fortresses28, to snowy cliffs, over which he had a passion for clambering.
Those persons who have ascended the Alps at the Simplon pass, have a very good idea of the Taurus mountains, and can realize somewhat of Mr. Taylor’s satisfaction as he rode up the gorges30 and peered into the deep valleys. He loved the mountains anywhere. But the Taurus seemed then, in the glow of his return to perfect health and with all the profusion31 of nature’s living beauties blooming about him, and the eternal snows gleaming above him, to be the most attractive landscape in the world.
O summits vast, that to the climbing view,
In naked glory stand against the blue!
O cold and buoyant air, whose crystal fills
[198]
Heaven’s amethystine33 bowl! O speeding streams,
His visit to Konia (Iconium), the capital of Karamania, was full of little episodes and personal incidents, which he told afterwards in print in his own inimitable manner. But nothing of unusual moment occurred until he reached ancient Phrygia, where the ruins of olden cities and fortresses interested him much. Their history was almost as unknown as the story of the temples of Yucatan, and consequently had a mysterious appearance which charms in a bewildering way the study of a poet.
Riding on over hills and mountains, across delightful38 streams, through fertile valleys, associating with the Turks on friendly terms, and studying their habits and language, Mr. Taylor pushed fearlessly into the very heart of Asia Minor. Visiting Oezani in its debris39, and the valley of Rhyndacus, they traversed the primeval forests on the Mysian Olympus, and true to his instincts he sought the heights of Olympus, twin mountain, in size and literature, with its Grecian namesake. From that point to Brousa, near the Sea of Marmora, it was but a day’s journey, and seems to have been the most delightful ride of the whole tour. Gardens, orchards40, grain-fields, thickets41 of clematis and roses, patches of beech42 and oak woodland, and brilliant streams pleased the eye, while the songs of birds and of happy[199] harvesters charmed the ear. Grand mountains pierced the skies, covered with dense43 forests, behind them, and the plain stretched away—a Garden of Eden—to the shore of a placid44 inland sea.
They entered Brousa in excellent health and spirits, having seen no unusual fatigue45 and been in no great danger during the whole journey through a country then almost lost and unknown to the civilized46 world.
From Brousa, the party descended to the Sea of Marmora, and taking a sail-boat were wafted47 by the Golden Horn into the interminable fleets of Constantinople. During his stay in that city he witnessed the display of the Turkish holidays, saw the Sultan on his throne, entered the mosque48 of Saint Sophia, ran to the numerous conflagrations49, and unravelled50 to his satisfaction some of the social and political problems connected with the Sultan’s rule and the state of popular discontent. He foretold51 a war with Russia, and a contest between the latter and England over the coveted52 gem53 of the East and the gate to the Black Sea. His predictions have already been proven to be true, showing an insight into political affairs wholly unlooked for in a young man, and not to be found in such as had travelled to less purpose.
On leaving Constantinople, he proceeded again to Smyrna, which place appeared to so much better advantage on his second visit than it did at his first, that instead of leaving it, as before, with anathemas54, he celebrated55 his visit with a poem.
[200]
“The ‘Ornament of Asia’ and the ‘Crown
Of fair Ionia.’ Yea, but Asia stands
No more an empress, and Ionia’s hands
Art as a diamond on a faded robe.”
The reader may not need to be again reminded of Mr. Taylor’s double view of the scenes he visited, or of the fact that he tried to give faithful pictures of the present in his prose and left the ideal and fanciful to his books of poetry. But to understand his disposition57, and correctly estimate his ability, they need to be read together; and hence, before taking leave of Asia Minor, we venture to quote a verse from a dedication58 to his friend Richard H. Stoddard, which we have seen in a volume of Mr. Taylor’s poems.
“O Friend, were you but couched on Tmolus’ side,
In the warm myrtles, in the golden air
Of the declining day, which half lays bare,
Half drapes, the silent mountains and the wide
Embosomed vale, that wanders to the sea;
Beneath the Ionian autumn’s violet veil;—
Were you but with me, little were the need
Comes up to me from the illustrious earth
Of ancient Tmolus; and the very stones,
[201]
Winch the sweet air remembers; and they blend
With fainter echoes, which the mountains fling
I cannot choose but sing.”
At Constantinople Mr. Taylor heard of the action which had been taken by the United States, looking to the opening of the ports of Japan to the commerce of America. He heard that a squadron was to leave the United States in November, under the command of Commodore Perry, and he formed the resolution to connect himself with the expedition, if possible. To that end he wrote to his friends and employers in New York, asking them to obtain permission for him to join the fleet. Not knowing just when the expedition would sail, nor at what ports it would stop on its way to Japan, he anxiously watched for information, and inquired at every place where information was likely to be found.
He was determined74 to visit Spain before he went to China and Japan, and was equally resolved to visit the home of his German travelling companion who ascended the Nile with him, and who had sent pressing invitations to him to come to Gotha.
The business details connected with his finances and outfit75 for Spain and China also called him to London, and arranging his tour so as to accomplish these diverse ends he visited Malta, where he was delayed ten days, and then sailed to Sicily, where he witnessed[202] the Catanian centennial festival in honor of St. Agatha, and where he beheld76 the awful spectacle of ?tna in eruption77. From Sicily he sailed up the coast to that Naples which, as a wayfarer78 in Rome seven years before, he had so much longed to see, and filled his letters with praises of its beautiful bay and charming circle of mountain, city, town, cliffs, and islands. Without changing steamers he proceeded to Leghorn, and going to Florence experienced that delight of all delights,—in Florence a second time. Feeling that his time was limited, and “drawn by an unseen influence,” he hastened on to Venice, and thence through the regions of the Austrian Tyrol to Munich and Gotha.
Gladsome days at Gotha! Was it not the country of his beloved friend? Was it not the home of his friend’s niece, Marie Hansen? The daughter of the great astronomer79, Peter Andreas Hansen, was a worthy80 child of a noble sire. Mr. Taylor had listened to her praises, but had hardly hoped to meet her.
“Now the night is overpast,
And the mist is cleared away:
On my barren life at last
Breaks the bright, reluctant day.”
Because so warm and welcome, pierce my frame,
As were its airy substance suddenly
Begins to redden with the pulse of blood,
[203]
And, from the recognition of the eyes
Confessest this bright change: across thy cheeks
A faintest wild-rose color comes and goes,
And, on thy proud lips, Phyra, sits a flame!
Oh, we are nearer!—not suffice me now
The touch of marble hands, reliance cold,
And destiny’s pale promises of love;
But, clasping thee as mortal passion clasps
Assure itself, and thine.”
—Taylor’s Deukalion.
After a few weeks spent in and about that pleasant city, to which he was destined86 to return and claim his bride, and in which he was to pass many of the sweetest days of his life, he journeyed to London. There he made his arrangements for a trip into China, and hastened away to Gibraltar.
On the 6th of November he left the great rock and took passage in a steamer for Cadiz, in Spain. There he walked the streets three thousand years old, and wherein, it is said, that Hercules strode. Yet there is but little now to be seen that would remind one of antiquity87. He noticed, however, the beautiful and graceful88 women. From Cadiz he went by boat up the Guadalquiver River to the pretty town of Seville. There were the old Moorish89 houses; there the massive Cathedral; there the Saracenic palace of Alcazar, with all its porches, galleries, arches, and sculptures; there was the palace called Pilate’s House, with its decorations[204] from Arabia, and inscriptions90 from the Koran; and there was the museum containing Murillo’s best paintings.
But it requires only a short time to visit all the attractions of Seville, and Mr. Taylor soon proceeded to Granada. In nearly all the cities which he visited he was reminded, directly or indirectly91, of the visit of his friend, Washington Irving. He found the same guides, or lodged92 at the same hotel, or visited some celebrated locality of which Irving had written.
In Granada was the celebrated fortress29 of Alhambra, which was captured from the Moors93 by the troops of Ferdinand and Isabella the same year that Columbus discovered America; there was the palace of Charles V.; there the Carthusian convent, the Monastery94 of St. Geronimo, and there the cathedral with the remains95 of Ferdinand and Isabella. He made a hasty trip to Cordova and its ancient Moslem23 mosque. Then, visiting Alhama, Malaga, and Ronda, he returned hastily to Gibraltar and examined the renowned96 fortress, said to be the strongest citadel97 in the world.
In that somewhat hasty view of Southern Spain he obtained much valuable information and an experience which often served him in his literary work as a writer for the public press. Southern Spain and Southern France, next to Rome itself, are replete98 with warlike and romantic associations. Gauls, Romans, Moors, and Spaniards, have made nearly every plain a battle-field; and the toppling walls of the ancient towers[205] and palaces tell of the fiercest contests, the most terrible inquisitions, and the narrowest of narrow escapes. Song and story in prose and rhyme have combined in every form to make the land attractive, and it is a matter of deep regret that Mr. Taylor, who was so capable of developing all these characteristics, had not more time in which to visit them and write out his experience.
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minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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prophesy
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| v.预言；预示 | |
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imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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exquisitely
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| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
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vividly
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| adv.清楚地，鲜明地，生动地 | |
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anticipations
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| 预期( anticipation的名词复数 )； 预测； （信托财产收益的）预支； 预期的事物 | |
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din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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portraying
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| v.画像( portray的现在分词 )；描述；描绘；描画 | |
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ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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cedars
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| 雪松，西洋杉( cedar的名词复数 ) | |
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chasms
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| 裂缝( chasm的名词复数 )； 裂口； 分歧； 差别 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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appreciation
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| n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨 | |
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sedateness
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| n.安详，镇静 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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ointment
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| n.药膏，油膏，软膏 | |
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pellucid
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| adj.透明的，简单的 | |
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relinquished
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| 交出，让给( relinquish的过去式和过去分词 )； 放弃 | |
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reluctance
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| n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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Moslem
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| n.回教徒，穆罕默德信徒；adj.回教徒的，回教的 | |
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Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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Mediterranean
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| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
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insignificant
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| adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的 | |
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loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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fortresses
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| 堡垒，要塞( fortress的名词复数 ) | |
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fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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gorges
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| n.山峡，峡谷( gorge的名词复数 )；咽喉v.（用食物把自己）塞饱，填饱( gorge的第三人称单数 )；作呕 | |
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profusion
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| n.挥霍；丰富 | |
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exulting
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| vi. 欢欣鼓舞，狂喜 | |
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amethystine
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| adj.紫水晶质的，紫色的；紫晶 | |
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foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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solitudes
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| n.独居( solitude的名词复数 )；孤独；荒僻的地方；人迹罕至的地方 | |
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granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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bleakness
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| adj. 萧瑟的, 严寒的, 阴郁的 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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debris
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| n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片 | |
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orchards
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| （通常指围起来的）果园( orchard的名词复数 ) | |
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thickets
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| n.灌木丛( thicket的名词复数 )；丛状物 | |
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beech
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| n.山毛榉；adj.山毛榉的 | |
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dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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47
wafted
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| v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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mosque
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| n.清真寺 | |
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49
conflagrations
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| n.大火（灾）( conflagration的名词复数 ) | |
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50
unravelled
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| 解开，拆散，散开( unravel的过去式和过去分词 )； 阐明； 澄清； 弄清楚 | |
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51
foretold
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| v.预言，预示( foretell的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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52
coveted
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| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
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53
gem
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| n.宝石，珠宝；受爱戴的人 [同]jewel | |
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anathemas
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| n.（天主教的）革出教门( anathema的名词复数 )；诅咒；令人极其讨厌的事；被基督教诅咒的人或事 | |
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celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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majestic
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| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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dedication
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| n.奉献，献身，致力，题献，献辞 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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specks
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| n.眼镜；斑点，微粒，污点( speck的名词复数 ) | |
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isles
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| 岛( isle的名词复数 ) | |
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slumber
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| n.睡眠，沉睡状态 | |
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tranquilly
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| adv. 宁静地 | |
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artifice
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| n.妙计，高明的手段；狡诈，诡计 | |
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peals
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| n.（声音大而持续或重复的）洪亮的响声( peal的名词复数 )；隆隆声；洪亮的钟声；钟乐v.（使）（钟等）鸣响，（雷等）发出隆隆声( peal的第三人称单数 ) | |
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abortive
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| adj.不成功的，发育不全的 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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69
torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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70
ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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71
reverberant
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| a.起回声的 | |
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mellow
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| adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟 | |
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73
caverns
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| 大山洞，大洞穴( cavern的名词复数 ) | |
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74
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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75
outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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76
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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77
eruption
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| n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作 | |
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78
wayfarer
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| n.旅人 | |
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79
astronomer
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| n.天文学家 | |
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80
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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81
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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82
pangs
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| 突然的剧痛( pang的名词复数 )； 悲痛 | |
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83
veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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84
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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85
incarnate
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| adj.化身的，人体化的，肉色的 | |
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86
destined
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| adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的 | |
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87
antiquity
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| n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹 | |
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88
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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89
moorish
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| adj.沼地的，荒野的，生[住]在沼地的 | |
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90
inscriptions
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| （作者）题词( inscription的名词复数 )； 献词； 碑文； 证劵持有人的登记 | |
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91
indirectly
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| adv.间接地，不直接了当地 | |
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92
lodged
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| v.存放( lodge的过去式和过去分词 )；暂住；埋入；（权利、权威等）归属 | |
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93
moors
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| v.停泊，系泊（船只）( moor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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94
monastery
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| n.修道院，僧院，寺院 | |
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95
remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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96
renowned
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| adj.著名的，有名望的，声誉鹊起的 | |
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97
citadel
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| n.城堡；堡垒；避难所 | |
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98
replete
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| adj.饱满的，塞满的；n.贮蜜蚁 | |
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