Robert Southey
Thalaba
the destroyer
1801
Woodstock Books
Oxford and New York
| This edition first published 1991 by Woodstock Books Spelsbury House, Spelsbury, Oxford OX7 3JR and Woodstock Books Wordsworth Trust America Department of English, City College Convent Ave and 138th St, New York, N.Y. 10031 |
| New matter copyright © Woodstock Books 1991 |
| British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Southey, Robert, 1774-1843 Thalba the destroyer 1801.—(Revolution and romanticism, 1789-1834) I. Title II. Series 821.6 ISBN 1854770802 |
| Printed and bound in Great Britain by Smith Settle |
Thalaba the Destroyer.
by
Robert Southey.
| Ποιηματων αϰρατης ηελευϑερια, ϰαινομος εις, το δοξαν τω ϖοιητη. |
| Lucian, Quomodo Hist. scribenda. |
THE FIRST VOLUME.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR T. N. LONGMAN AND O. REES, PATERNOSTER-ROW,
BY BIGGS AND COTTLE, BRISTOL.
1801.
CONTENTS
PREFACE
In the continuation of the Arabian Tales,the Domdaniel is mentioned; a Seminaryfor evil Magicians under the Roots of theSea. From this seed the present Romancehas grown. Let me not be supposed toprefer the metre in which it is written, abstractedlyconsidered, to the regular blankverse; the noblest measure, in my judgement,of which our admirable languageis capable. For the following Poem Ihave preferred it, because it suits the variedsubject; it is the Arabesque ornament of anArabian tale.
The dramatic sketches of Dr. Sayer, avolume which no lover of poetry will recollectwithout pleasure, induced me when ayoung versifier, to practise in this metre.I felt that while it gave the poet a widerrange of expression, it satisfied the ear ofthe reader. It were easy to make a p