Having recapitulated the epithets,
"frivolous"--"inharmonious"--"nonsensical," he proceeded to say that,
viewed in the most favorable light it resembled one of those Maldivian
boats, to which the Princess had alluded in the relation of her dream,--
a slight, gilded thing, sent adrift without rudder or ballast, and with
nothing but vapid sweets and faded flowers on board. The profusion,
indeed, of flowers and birds, which this poet had ready on all occasions,
--not to mention dews, gems, etc.--was a most oppressive kind of opulence
to his hearers; and had the unlucky effect of giving to his style all the
glitter of the flower garden without its method, and all the flutter of
the aviary without its song. In addition to this, he chose his subjects
badly, and was always most inspired by the worst parts of them. The
charms of paganism, the merits of rebellion,--these were the themes
honored with his particular enthusiasm; and, in the poem just recited, one
of his most palatable passages was in praise of that beverage of the
Unfaithful, wine;--"being, perhaps," said he, relaxing into a smile, as
conscious of his own character in the Haram on this point, "one of those
bards, whose fancy owes all its illumination to the grape, like that
painted porcelain,[341] so curious and so rare, whose images are only
visible when liquor is poured into it.
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