Note Page 235 — VATHEK: AN ARABIAN TALE BY WILLIAM BECKFORD (continued 2)

Nouronihar, in the inebriety of youthful spirits, being used only to eunuchs of ordinary harems, and having never seen anything so eminently disgusting, was far more diverted than all the rest. She began to parody some Persian verses, and sang, with an accent most demurely piquant, “Oh, gentle white dove! as thou soar’st through the air, vouchsafe one kind glance on the mate of thy love: melodious Philomel, I am thy rose;* warble some couplet to ravish my heart!”