"A simple unpartitioned room,— Surmounted by an ample dome, Or, in some lands that favoured lie, With centre open to the sky, But roofed with archéd cloisters round, That mark the consecrated bound, And shade the niche to Mekkeh turned, By which two massive lights are burned; With pulpit whence the sacred word Expounded on great days is heard; With fountain fresh, where, ere they pray, Men wash the soil of earth away; With shining minaret, thin and high, From whose fine-trellised balcony Announcement of the hours of prayer Is uttered to the silent air; Such is the Mosque,—the holy place, Where faithful men of every race, Meet at their ease, and face to face."