THROUGH THE METIDJA TO ABD-EL-KADR.

By Robert Browning

As I ride, as I ride,

With a full heart for my guide,

So its tide rocks my side,

As I ride, as I ride,

That, as I were double-eyed,

He, in whom our Tribes confide,

Is descried, ways untried,

As I ride, as I ride.

As I ride, as I ride

To our Chief and his Allied,

Who dares chide my heart's pride

As I ride, as I ride?

Or are witnesses denied —

Through the desert waste and wide

Do I glide unespied

As I ride, as I ride?

As I ride, as I ride,

When an inner voice has cried,

The sands slide, nor abide

( As I ride, as I ride )

O'er each visioned homicide

That came vaunting ( has he lied? )

To reside — where he died,

As I ride, as I ride.

As I ride, as I ride,

Ne'er has spur my swift horse plied,

Yet his hide, streaked and pied,

As I ride, as I ride,

Shows where sweat has sprung and dried,

— Zebra-footed, ostrich-thighed —

How has vied stride with stride

As I ride, as I ride!

As I ride, as I ride,

Could I loose what Fate has tied,

Ere I pried, she should hide

( As I ride, as I ride )

All that's meant me — satisfied

When the Prophet and the Bride

Stop veins I'd have subside

As I ride, as I ride!