LEBLEBIDJI *

I KNOW so well the busy cries

That echo through the quarter

Till daylight into evening dies

And stars shine in the water,

So dear they have become to me,

Leblebidji! leblebidji!

On peaceful English country nights

Their rapid gay succession

And all the sea-reflected lights

Will pass from my possession,

But never from my memory,

Leblebidji! leblebidji!

Past English evening scents and sounds,

Past English church-bells ringing,

The Turkish watchman on his rounds,

The Turkish pedlar singing

Through narrow streets above the sea

“Leblebidji! leblebidji,”

Will surely pierce a ghostly way,

The music underlying,

And in the shades of falling day

As in the distance dying,

A little call will come to me,

“Leblebidji!”...