Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1838/The Kings of Golconda
23
TOMBS OF THE KINGS OF GOLCONDA.
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THE TOMBS OF THE KINGS OF GOLCONDA.
orning is round the shining palace,
Mirrored on the tide,
Where the lily lifts her chalice,
With its gold inside,
Like an offering from the waves.
Early wakened from their slumbers,
Stand the glittering ranks;
Who is there shall count the numbers
On the river's banks?
Forth the household pours the slaves
Of the kings of fair Golconda,
Of Golconda’s ancient kings.
Wherefore to the crimson morning
Are the banners spread,
Daybreak’s early colours scorning
With a livelier red?
Pearls are wrought on each silk fold.
Summer flowers are flung to wither
On the common way.
Is some royal bride brought hither
With this festival array,
To the city's mountain-hold
Of the kings of old Golconda,
Of Golconda's ancient kings.[1]
From the gates the slow procession,
Troops and nobles come.
This hour takes the king possession
Of an ancient home—
One he never leaves again.
Musk and sandal-wood and amber
Fling around their breath:
They will fill the murky chamber
Where the bride is Death.
Where the worm hath sole domain
O'er the kings of old Golconda,
O'er Golconda’s ancient kings.
Now the monarch must surrender
All his golden state,
Yet the mockeries of splendour
On the pageant wait
That attends him to the tomb.
Music on the air is swelling,
’Tis the funeral song,
As to his ancestral dwelling,
Is he borne along.
They must share life’s common doom,
The kings of fair Golconda,
Golconda’s ancient kings.
What are now the chiefs that gather?
What their diamond mines?
What the heron’s snowy feather
On their crest that shines?
What their valleys of the rose?
For another is their glory,
And their state, and gold;
They are a forgotten story,
Faint and feebly told—
Breaking not the still repose
Of the kings of fair Golconda,
Of Golconda’s ancient kings.
Glorious is their place of sleeping,
Gold with azure wrought,
And embroidered silk is sweeping,
Silk from Persia brought,
Round the carved marble walls.*
Not the less the night-owl’s pinion
Stirs the dusky air,
Not the less is the dominion
Of the earth-worm there.
Not less deep the shadow falls
O’er the kings of fair Golconda,
O’er Golconda's ancient kings.
Not on such vain aids relying,
Can the human heart
Triumph o’er the dead and dying,
It must know its part
In the glorious hopes that wait
The bright openings of the portal,
Far beyond the sky—
Faith, whose promise is immortal,
Life, that cannot die.
These, and stronger than the state
Of the kings of fair Golconda,
Of Golconda’s ancient kings.
* Thevenot gives a splendid description of these tombs. In addition to their architectural decoration, they were hung with embroidered satin.
The Tombs at Golconda are those of the Kootub Shahee dynasty, and were begun upwards of three centuries ago. They are in that Saracenic style from which, probably, our beautiful Gothic was derived. The designs of all are similar, and the exquisite finish is continued through every part of each. The body of the buildings is quadrangular, and surmounted by a dome: the basement rests upon a spacious terrace, approached by flights of steps, and surrounded by an arcade terminating in a rich balustrade, with a minaret rising at each angle. From the centre of the inner building, or lantern, springs a dome, swelling as it rises, the greatest diameter being one-third of the height. The exterior faces of the terrace are of grey granite, finely wrought, each arch, from the top of the pier, being cut from a single block. The dome is either stuccoed, or covered with tiles of coloured porcelain. The colours retain their brilliancy to this hour, and many of the ornaments, and extracts from the Koran, raised on a purple ground, produce a singular and admirable effect. Near to each mausoleum stands a mosque, where religious offices were performed. Formerly these Tombs enjoyed the privileges of a sanctuary, food was distributed from them to the poor, they were encircled by spacious gardens, the floors were all richly carpeted, the tumuli spread with embroidered satin, and shadowed by canopies of the same material.
- ↑ A question mark is added here in some editions