"'Tis the Vine! 'tis the Vine!" said the cup-loving boy

As he saw it spring bright from the earth,

And called the young Genii of Wit, Love, and Joy,

  To witness and hallow its birth.

The fruit was full grown, like a ruby it flamed

  Till the sunbeam that kist it looked pale;

"'Tis the Vine! 'tis the Vine!" every Spirit exclaimed

  "Hail, hail to the Wine-tree, all hail!"

First, fleet as a bird to the summons Wit flew,

  While a light on the vine-leaves there broke

In flashes so quick and so brilliant all knew

  T'was the light from his lips as he spoke.

"Bright tree! let thy nectar but cheer me," he cried,

  "And the fount of Wit never can fail:"

"'Tis the Vine! 'tis the Vine!" hills and valleys reply,

  "Hail, hail to the Wine-tree, all hail!"

Next Love as he leaned o'er the plant to admire

  Each tendril and cluster it wore,

From his rosy mouth sent such a breath of desire,

  As made the tree tremble all o'er.

Oh! never did flower of the earth, sea, or sky,

  Such a soul-giving odor inhale:

"'Tis the Vine! 'tis the Vine!" all re-echo the cry,

  "Hail, hail to the Wine-tree, all hail!"

Last, Joy, without whom even Love and Wit die,

  Came to crown the bright hour with his ray;

And scarce had that mirth-waking tree met his eye,

  When a laugh spoke what Joy could not say;—

A laugh of the heart which was echoed around

  Till like music it swelled on the gale:

"T is the Vine! 'tis the Vine!" laughing myriads resound,

"Hail, hail to the Wine-tree, all hail!"

[1] "Nerium Oleander. In Cyprus it retains its ancient name, Rhododaphne, and the Cypriots adorn their churches with the flowers on feast-days."—Journal of Dr. Sibthorpe, Walpole's, Turkey.

[2] Lonicera caprifolium, used by the girls of Patmos for garlands.

[3] Cuscuta europoea. "From the twisting and twining of the stems, it is compared by the Greeks to the dishevelled hair of the Nereids."— Walpole's Turkey.

[4] "The produce of the island in these acorns alone amounts annually to fifteen thousand quintals."—Clarke's Travels.

[5] Now Santa Maura—the island, from whose cliffs Sappho leaped into the sea.

[6] "The precipice, which is fearfully dizzy, is about one hundred and fourteen feet from the water, which is of a profound depth, as appears from the dark blue color and the eddy that plays round the pointed and projecting rocks."—Goodisson's Ionian Isles.

[7] This word is defrauded here, I suspect, of a syllable; Dr. Clarke, if I recollect right, makes it "Balalaika."

[8] "I saw above thirty parties engaged in dancing the Romaika upon the sand; in some of these groups, the girl who led them chased the retreating wave."—Douglas on the Modern Greeks.

[9] "In dancing the Romaika [says Mr. Douglas] they begin in slow and solemn step till they have gained the time, but by degrees the air becomes more sprightly; the conductress of the dance sometimes setting to her partners, sometimes darting before the rest, and leading them through the most rapid revolutions: sometimes crossing under the hands, which are held up to let her pass, and giving as much liveliness and intricacy as she can to the figures, into which she conducts her companions, while their business is to follow her in all her movements, without breaking the chain, or losing the measure,"

[10] The sword was the weapon chiefly used in this dance.

[11] It is said that Leonidas and his companions employed themselves, on the eve of the battle, in music and the gymnastic exercises of their country.

[12] "This morning we paid our visit to the Cave of Trophonius, and the Fountains of Memory and Oblivion, just upon the water of Hercyna, which flows through stupendous rocks."—Williams's Travels in Greece.

[13] This superstitious custom of the Thessalians exists also, as Pietro dello Valle tells us, among the Persians.

[14] An ancient city of Zea, the walls of which were of marble. Its remains (says Clarke) "extend from the shore, quite into a valley watered by the streams of a fountain, whence Ioulis received its name."

[15] Zea was the birthplace of this poet, whose verses are by Catullus called "tears."

[16] These "Songs of the Well," as they were called among the ancients, still exist in Greece. De Guys tells us that he has seen "the young women in Prince's Island, assembled in the evening at a public well, suddenly strike up a dance, while others sung in concert to them."

[17] "The inhabitants of Syra, both ancient and modern, may be considered as the worshippers of water. The old fountain, at which the nymphs of the island assembled in the earliest ages, exists in its original state; the same rendezvous as it was formerly, whether of love and gallantry, or of gossiping and tale-telling. It is near to the town, and the most limpid water gushes continually from the solid rock. It is regarded by the inhabitants with a degree of religious veneration; and they p reserve a tradition, that the pilgrims of old time, in their way to Delos, resorted hither for purification."—Clarke.

[18] "Violet-crowned Athens."—Pindar.

[19] The whole of this scene was suggested by Pliny's account of the artist Pausias and his mistress Glycera, Lib. 35 c. 40.

[20] The traveller Shaw mentions a beautiful rill In Barbary, which is received into a large basin called Shrub wee krub, "Drink and away"— there being great danger of meeting with thieves and assassins in such places.

[21] The Arabian shepherd has a peculiar ceremony in weaning the young camel; when the proper time arrives, he turns the camel towards the rising star, Canopus, and says, "Do you see Canopus? from this moment you taste not another drop of milk."—Richardson.

[22] "Whoever returns from a pilgrimage to Mecca hangs this plant (the mitre-shaped Aloe) over his street door, as a token of his having performed this holy journey."—Hasselquist.

[23] This form of notice to the caravans to prepare for marching was applied by Hafiz to the necessity of relinquishing the pleasures of this world, and preparing for death:—"For me what room is there for pleasure in the bower of Beauty, when every moment the bell makes proclamation, 'Bind on your burden'?"

[24] The watchmen, in the camp of the caravans, go their rounds, crying one after another, "God is one," etc.

[25] "It was customary," says Irwin, "to light up fires on the mountains, within view of Cosseir, to give notice of the approach of the caravans that came from the Nile."

[26] the Hume.

[27] The name which the Greeks give to the Virgin Mary.