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diff --git a/old/31968-8.txt b/old/31968-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 18de910..0000000 --- a/old/31968-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3373 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Birth of the War-God, by Kalidasa - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Birth of the War-God - A Poem by Kalidasa - -Author: Kalidasa - -Translator: Ralph T. H. Griffith - -Release Date: April 12, 2010 [EBook #31968] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BIRTH OF THE WAR-GOD *** - - - - -Produced by David Edwards and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was -produced from scanned images of public domain material -from the Google Print project.) - - - - - - - - - - THE - BIRTH OF THE WAR-GOD. - - _A POEM BY KÁLIDÁSA._ - - Translated from the Sanskrit into English Verse - - BY - - RALPH T. H. GRIFFITH, M.A. - PRINCIPAL OF BENARES COLLEGE. - - Second Edition. - - LONDON: - TRÜBNER & CO., LUDGATE HILL. - 1879. - [_All rights reserved._] - - - TRÜBNER'S - ORIENTAL SERIES. - V. - - - - - PREFACE. - - -Of the history of KÁLIDÁSA, to whom by general assent the KUMÁRA -SAMBHAVA, or BIRTH OF THE WAR-GOD, is attributed, we know but little -with any certainty; we can only gather from a memorial-verse which -enumerates their names, that he was one of the 'Nine Precious Stones' -that shone at the Court of VIKRAMÁDITYA, King of OUJEIN, in the half -century immediately preceding the Christian era.[A] As the examination -of arguments for and against the correctness of this date is not -likely to interest general readers, I must request them to rest -satisfied with the belief that about the time when VIRGIL and HORACE -were shedding an undying lustre upon the reign of AUGUSTUS, our poet -KÁLIDÁSA lived, loved, and sang, giving and taking honour, at the -polished court of the no less munificent patron of Sanskrit -literature, at the period of its highest perfection. - - [A] [This date is much too early. It has been shown by H. - Jacobi from the astrological data contained in the poem that - the date of its composition cannot be placed earlier than - about the middle of the fourth century A.D.] - -Little as we know of Indian poetry, here and there an English reader -may be found, who is not entirely unacquainted with the name or works -of the author of the beautiful dramas of SAKONTALÁ and THE HERO AND -THE NYMPH, the former of which has long enjoyed an European celebrity -in the translation of SIR WILLIAM JONES, and the latter is one of the -most charming of PROFESSOR WILSON'S specimens of the Hindú Theatre; -here and there even in England may be found a lover of the graceful, -tender, picturesque, and fanciful, who knows something, and would -gladly know more, of the sweet poet of the CLOUD MESSENGER, and THE -SEASONS; whilst in Germany he has been deeply studied in the original, -and enthusiastically admired in translation,--not the Orientalist -merely, but the poet, the critic, the natural philosopher,--a GOETHE, -a SCHLEGEL, a HUMBOLDT, having agreed, on account of his tenderness of -feeling and his rich creative imagination, to set KÁLIDÁSA very high -among the glorious company of the Sons of Song.[B] - - [B] Goethe says: - - Willst du die Blüthe des frühen, die Früchte des späteren - Jahres, - Willst du was reizt and entzückt, willst du was sättigt - and nährt, - Willst du den Himmel, die Erde, mit einem Namen begreifen; - Nenn' ich Sakontalá, Dich, und so ist Alles gesagt. - - See also Schlegel's Dramatic Literature, Lect. II., and - Humboldt's Kosmos, Vol. II. p. 40, and note. - -That the poem which is now for the first time offered to the general -reader, in an English dress, will not diminish this reputation is the -translator's earnest hope, yet my admiration of the grace and beauty -that pervade so much of the work must not allow me to deny that -occasionally, even in the noble Sanskrit, if we judge him by an -European standard, KÁLIDÁSA is bald and prosaic. Nor is this a defence -of the translator at the expense of the poet. Fully am I conscious how -far I am from being able adequately to reproduce the fanciful creation -of the sweet singer of OUJEIN; that numerous beauties of thought and -expression I may have passed by, mistaken, marred; that in many of the -more elaborate descriptions my own versification is 'harsh as the -jarring of a tuneless chord' compared with the melody of KÁLIDÁSA'S -rhythm, to rival whose sweetness and purity of language, so admirably -adapted to the soft repose and celestial rosy hue of his pictures, -would have tried all the fertility of resource, the artistic skill, -and the exquisite ear of the author of LALLA ROOKH himself. I do not -think this poem deserves, and I am sure it will not obtain, that -admiration which the author's masterpieces already made known at once -commanded; at all events, if the work itself is not inferior, it has -not enjoyed the good fortune of having a JONES or a WILSON for -translator. - -It may be as well to inform the reader, before he wonder at the -misnomer, that the BIRTH OF THE WAR-GOD was either left unfinished by -its author, or time has robbed us of the conclusion; the latter is the -more probable supposition, tradition informing us that the poem -originally consisted of twenty-two cantos, of which only seven now -remain.[C] - - [C] [Ten more cantos, of very inferior merit, have been - published since this was written.] - -I have derived great assistance in the work of translation from the -Calcutta printed edition of the poem in the Library of the East-India -House; but although the Sanskrit commentaries accompanying the text -are sometimes of the greatest use in unravelling the author's meaning, -they can scarcely claim infallibility; and, not unfrequently, are so -matter-of-fact and prosaic, that I have not scrupled to think, or -rather to feel, for myself. It is, however, PROFESSOR STENZLER'S -edition,[D] published under the auspices of the Oriental Translation -Fund (a society that has liberally encouraged my own undertaking), -that I have chiefly used. Valuable as this work is (and I will not -disown my great obligations to it), it is much to be regretted that -the extracts from the native commentators are so scanty, and the -annotations so few and brief. - - [D] [With a Latin translation.] - -And now one word as to the manner in which I have endeavoured to -perform my task. Though there is much, I think, that might be struck -out, to the advantage of the poem, this I have in no instance ventured -to do, my aim having been to give the English reader as faithful a -cast of the original as my own power and the nature of things would -permit, and, without attempting to give word for word or line for -line, to produce upon the imagination impressions similar to those -which one who studies the work in Sanskrit would experience. - -I will not seek to anticipate the critics, nor to deprecate their -animadversions, by pointing out the beauties of the poet, or -particularising the defects of him and his translator. That the former -will be appreciated, and the latter kindly dealt with, late experience -makes me confident; so that now, in the words of the Manager in the -Prelude to the HERO AND THE NYMPH, "I have only to request the -audience that they will listen to this work of KÁLIDÁSA with attention -and kindness, in consideration of its subject and respect for the -Author." - - ADDERLEY LIBRARY, MARLBOROUGH COLLEGE, - _April, 1853_. - - - - - PRELIMINARY NOTE. - - PRONUNCIATION. - - -As a general rule, the Sanskrit vowels are to be sounded like those of -the Italian alphabet, except the short or unaccented _a_, which has -the sound of that letter in the word _America_: "_pandit_," a learned -man, being pronounced _pundit_. - - _á_, long or accented like _a_ in _father_. - _e_ like _e_ in _they_. - _i_, short or unaccented, like _i_ in _pick_. - _í_, long or accented like _i_ in _pique_. - _o_ like _o_ in _go_. - _u_, short or unaccented, like _u_ in _full_. - _ú_, long or accented like _u_ in _rule_. - -The diphthongs _ai_ and _au_ are pronounced severally like _i_ in -_rise_ and _ou_ in _our_. - -The consonants are sounded as in English. In the aspirates, however, -the sound of _h_ is kept distinct; _dh_, _th_, _ph_, _bh_, &c., being -pronounced as in _red-hot_, _pent-house_, _up-hill_, _abhor_, &c. _G_ -is always hard, whatever vowel follows. - -In HIMÁLAYA the accent is on the _second_ syllable. - - - - - THE - BIRTH OF THE WAR-GOD. - - - - -Canto First. - -_UMÁ'S NATIVITY._ - - - Far in the north HIMÁLAYA, lifting high - His towery summits till they cleave the sky, - Spans the wide land from east to western sea, - Lord of the hills, instinct with deity. - For him, when PRITHU ruled in days of old - The rich earth, teeming with her gems and gold, - The vassal hills and MERU drained her breast, - To deck HIMÁLAYA, for they loved him best; - And earth, the mother, gave her store to fill - With herbs and sparkling ores the royal hill. - Proud mountain-king! his diadem of snow - Dims not the beauty of his gems below. - For who can gaze upon the moon, and dare - To mark one spot less brightly glorious there? - Who, 'mid a thousand virtues, dares to blame - One shade of weakness in a hero's fame? - Oft, when the gleamings of his mountain brass - Flash through the clouds and tint them as they pass, - Those glories mock the hues of closing day, - And heaven's bright wantons hail their hour of play; - Try, ere the time, the magic of their glance, - And deck their beauty for the twilight dance. - Dear to the sylphs are the cool shadows thrown - By dark clouds wandering round the mountain's zone, - Till frightened by the storm and rain they seek - Eternal sunshine on each loftier peak. - Far spread the wilds where eager hunters roam, - Tracking the lion to his dreary home. - For though the melting snow has washed away - The crimson blood-drops of the wounded prey, - Still the fair pearls that graced his forehead tell - Where the strong elephant, o'ermastered, fell, - And clinging to the lion's claws, betray, - Falling at every step, the mighty conqueror's way. - There birch-trees wave, that lend their friendly aid - To tell the passion of the love-lorn maid, - So quick to learn in metal tints to mark - Her hopes and fears upon the tender bark. - - List! breathing from each cave, HIMÁLAYA leads - The glorious hymn with all his whispering reeds, - Till heavenly minstrels raise their voice in song, - And swell his music as it floats along. - There the fierce elephant wounds the scented bough - To ease the torment of his burning brow; - And bleeding pines their odorous gum distil - To breathe rare fragrance o'er the sacred hill. - There magic herbs pour forth their streaming light - From mossy caverns through the darksome night, - And lend a torch to guide the trembling maid - Where waits her lover in the leafy shade. - Yet hath he caves within whose inmost cells - In tranquil rest the murky darkness dwells, - And, like the night-bird, spreads the brooding wing - Safe in the shelter of the mountain-king, - Unscorned, uninjured; for the good and great - Spurn not the suppliant for his lowly state. - - Why lingers yet the heavenly minstrel's bride - On the wild path that skirts HIMÁLAYA'S side? - Cold to her tender feet--oh, cold--the snow, - Why should her steps--her homeward steps--be slow? - 'Tis that her slender ankles scarce can bear - The weight of beauty that impedes her there; - Each rounded limb, and all her peerless charms, - That broad full bosom, those voluptuous arms. - E'en the wild kine that roam his forests bring - The royal symbols to the mountain-king. - With tails outspread, their bushy streaming hair - Flashes like moonlight through the parted air. - What monarch's fan more glorious might there be, - More meet to grace a king as proud as he? - There, when the nymphs, within the cave's recess, - In modest fear their gentle limbs undress, - Thick clouds descending yield a friendly screen, - And blushing beauty bares her breast unseen. - With pearly dewdrops GANGÁ loads the gale - That waves the dark pines towering o'er the vale, - And breathes in welcome freshness o'er the face - Of wearied hunters when they quit the chase. - So far aloft, amid Himálayan steeps, - Crouched on the tranquil pool the lotus sleeps, - That the bright SEVEN who star the northern sky - Cull the fair blossoms from their seats on high; - And when the sun pours forth his morning glow - In streams of glory from his path below, - They gain new beauty as his kisses break - His darlings' slumber on the mountain lake. - - Well might that ancient hill by merit claim - The power and glory of a monarch's name; - Nurse of pure herbs that grace each holy rite, - Earth's meetest bearer of unyielding might. - The Lord of Life for this ordained him king, - And bade him share the sacred offering. - Gladly obedient to the law divine, - He chose a consort to prolong his line. - No child of earth, born of the Sage's will, - The fair nymph MENÁ pleased the sovran hill. - To her he sued, nor was his prayer denied, - The Saints' beloved was the mountain's bride. - Crowned with all bliss and beauty were the pair, - He passing glorious, she was heavenly fair. - Swiftly the seasons, winged with love, flew on, - And made her mother of a noble son, - The great MAINÁKA, who in triumph led - His Serpent beauties to the bridal bed; - And once when INDRA'S might those pinions rent - That bare the swift hills through the firmament, - (So fierce his rage, no mountain could withstand - The wild bolt flashing from his red right hand,) - He fled to Ocean, powerful to save, - And hid his glory 'neath the friendly wave. - - A gentle daughter came at length to bless - The royal mother with her loveliness; - Born once again, for in an earlier life - High fame was hers, as ['S]IVA'S faithful wife. - But her proud sire had dared the God to scorn; - Then was her tender soul with anguish torn, - And jealous for the lord she loved so well, - Her angered spirit left its mortal cell. - Now deigned the maid, a lovely boon, to spring - From that pure lady and the mountain-king. - When Industry and Virtue meet and kiss, - Holy their union, and the fruit is bliss. - Blest was that hour, and all the world was gay, - When MENÁ'S daughter saw the light of day. - A rosy glow suffused the brightening sky; - An odorous breeze came sweeping softly by. - Breathed round the hill a sweet unearthly strain, - And the glad heavens poured down their flowery rain. - That fair young maiden diademmed with light - Made her dear mother's fame more sparkling bright. - As the blue offspring of the Turquois Hills - The parent mount with richer glory fills, - When the cloud's voice has caused the gem to spring, - Responsive to its gentle thundering. - Then was it sweet, as days flew by, to trace - The dawning charm of every infant grace, - Even as the crescent moons their glory pour - More full, more lovely than the eve before. - - As yet the maiden was unknown to fame; - Child of the Mountain was her only name. - But when her mother, filled with anxious care - At her stern penance, cried Forbear! Forbear! - To a new title was the warning turned, - And UMÁ was the name the maiden earned. - Loveliest was she of all his lovely race, - And dearest to her father. On her face - Looking with love he ne'er could satisfy - The thirsty glances of a parent's eye. - When spring-tide bids a thousand flowerets bloom - Loading the breezes with their rich perfume, - Though here and there the wandering bee may rest, - He loves his own--his darling mango--best. - The Gods' bright river bathes with gold the skies, - And pure sweet eloquence adorns the wise. - The flambeau's glory is the shining fire; - She was the pride, the glory of her sire, - Shedding new lustre on his old descent, - His loveliest child, his richest ornament. - The sparkling GANGÁ laved her heavenly home, - And o'er her islets would the maiden roam - Amid the dear companions of her play - With ball and doll to while the hours away. - As swans in autumn in assembling bands - Fly back to GANGÁ'S well-remembered sands: - As herbs beneath the darksome shades of night - Collect again their scattered rays of light: - So dawned upon the maiden's waking mind - The far-off memory of her life resigned, - And all her former learning in its train, - Feelings, and thoughts, and knowledge came again. - Now beauty's prime, that craves no artful aid, - Ripened the loveliness of that young maid: - That needs no wine to fire the captive heart,-- - The bow of Love without his flowery dart. - There was a glory beaming from her face, - With love's own light, and every youthful grace: - Ne'er had the painter's skilful hand portrayed - A lovelier picture than that gentle maid; - Ne'er sun-kissed lily more divinely fair - Unclosed her beauty to the morning air. - Bright as a lotus, springing where she trod, - Her glowing feet shed radiance o'er the sod. - That arching neck, the step, the glance aside, - The proud swans taught her as they stemmed the tide, - Whilst of the maiden they would fondly learn - Her anklets' pleasant music in return. - When the Almighty Maker first began - The marvellous beauty of that child to plan, - In full fair symmetry each rounded limb - Grew neatly fashioned and approved by Him: - The rest was faultless, for the Artist's care - Formed each young charm most excellently fair, - As if his moulding hand would fain express - The visible type of perfect loveliness. - What thing of beauty may the poet dare - With the smooth wonder of those limbs compare? - The young tree springing by the brooklet's side? - The rounded trunk, the forest-monarch's pride? - Too rough that trunk, too cold that young tree's stem; - A softer, warmer thing must vie with them. - Her hidden beauties though no tongue may tell, - Yet ['S]IVA'S love will aid the fancy well: - No other maid could deem her boasted charms - Worthy the clasp of such a husband's arms. - Between the partings of fair UMÁ'S vest - Came hasty glimpses of a lovely breast: - So closely there the sweet twin hillocks rose, - Scarce could the lotus in the vale repose. - And if her loosened zone e'er slipped below, - All was so bright beneath the mantle's flow, - So dazzling bright, as if the maid had braced - A band of gems to sparkle round her waist; - And the dear dimples of her downy skin - Seemed fitting couch for Love to revel in. - Her arms were softer than the flowery dart, - Young KÁMA'S arrow, that subdues the heart; - For vain his strife with ['S]IVA, till at last - He chose those chains to bind his conqueror fast. - E'en the new moon poured down a paler beam - When her long fingers flashed their rosy gleam, - And brighter than A['s]oka's blossom threw - A glory round, like summer's evening hue. - The strings of pearl across her bosom thrown - Increased its beauty, and enhanced their own,-- - Her breast, her jewels seeming to agree, - The adorner now, and now the adorned to be. - When BEAUTY gazes on the fair full moon, - No lotus charms her, for it blooms at noon: - If on that flower she feed her raptured eye, - No moon is shining from the mid-day sky; - She looked on UMÁ'S face, more heavenly fair, - And found their glories both united there. - The loveliest flower that ever opened yet - Laid in the fairest branch: a fair pearl set - In richest coral, with her smile might vie - Flashing through lips bright with their rosy dye. - And when she spoke, upon the maiden's tongue, - Distilling nectar, such rare accents hung, - The sweetest note that e'er the Koïl poured - Seemed harsh and tuneless as a jarring chord. - The melting glance of that soft liquid eye, - Tremulous like lilies when the breezes sigh, - Which learnt it first--so winning and so mild-- - The gentle fawn, or MENÁ'S gentler child? - And oh, the arching of her brow! so fine - Was the rare beauty of its pencilled line, - LOVE gazed upon her forehead in despair - And spurned the bow he once esteemed so fair: - Her long bright tresses too might shame the pride - Of envious yaks who roamed the mountain-side. - Surely the Maker's care had been to bring - From Nature's store each sweetest, loveliest thing, - As if the world's Creator would behold - All beauty centred in a single mould. - - When holy NÁRAD--Saint who roams at will-- - First saw the daughter of the royal hill, - He hailed the bride whom ['S]IVA'S love should own - Half of himself, and partner of his throne. - HIMÁLAYA listened, and the father's pride - Would yield the maiden for no other's bride: - To Fire alone of all bright things we raise - The holy hymn, the sacrifice of praise. - But still the monarch durst not, could not bring - His child, unsought, to Heaven's supremest King; - But as a good man fears his earnest prayer - Should rise unheeded, and with thoughtful care - Seeks for some friend his eager suit to aid, - Thus great HIMÁLAYA in his awe delayed. - - Since the sad moment when his gentle bride - In the full glory of her beauty died, - The mournful ['S]IVA in the holy grove - Had dwelt in solitude, and known not love. - High on that hill where musky breezes throw - Their balmy odours o'er eternal snow; - Where heavenly minstrels pour their notes divine, - And rippling GANGÁ laves the mountain pine, - Clad in a coat of skin all rudely wrought - He lived for prayer and solitary thought. - The faithful band that served the hermit's will - Lay in the hollows of the rocky hill, - Where from the clefts the dark bitumen flowed. - Tinted with mineral dyes their bodies glowed; - Clad in rude mantles of the birch-tree's rind, - With bright red garlands was their hair entwined. - The holy bull before his master's feet - Shook the hard-frozen earth with echoing feet, - And as he heard the lion's roaring swell - In distant thunder from the rocky dell, - In angry pride he raised his voice of fear - And from the mountain drove the startled deer. - Bright fire--a shape the God would sometimes wear - Who takes eight various forms--was glowing there. - Then the great deity who gives the prize - Of penance, prayer, and holy exercise, - As though to earn the meed he grants to man, - Himself the penance and the pain began. - Now to that holy lord, to whom is given - Honour and glory by the Gods in heaven, - The worship of a gift HIMÁLAYA paid, - And towards his dwelling sent the lovely maid; - Her task, attended by her youthful train, - To woo his widowed heart to love again. - - The hermit welcomed with a courteous brow - That gentle enemy of hermit vow. - The still pure breast where Contemplation dwells - Defies the charmer and the charmer's spells. - Calm and unmoved he viewed the wondrous maid, - And bade her all his pious duties aid. - She culled fresh blossoms at the God's command, - Sweeping the altar with a careful hand; - The holy grass for sacred rites she sought, - And day by day the fairest water brought. - And if the unwonted labour caused a sigh, - The fair-haired lady turned her languid eye - Where the pale moon on ['S]IVA'S forehead gleamed, - And swift through all her frame returning vigour streamed. - - - - -_CANTO SECOND._ - - - - -Canto Second. - -_THE ADDRESS TO BRAHMÁ._ - - - While impious TÁRAK in resistless might - Was troubling heaven and earth with wild affright, - To BRAHMÁ'S high abode, by INDRA led, - The mournful deities for refuge fled. - As when the Day-God's loving beams awake - The lotus slumbering on the silver lake, - So BRAHMÁ deigned his glorious face to show, - And poured sweet comfort on their looks of woe. - Then nearer came the suppliant Gods to pay - Honour to him whose face turns every way. - They bowed them low before the Lord of Speech, - And sought with truthful words his heart to reach: - "Glory to Thee! before the world was made, - One single form thy Majesty displayed. - Next Thou, to body forth the mystic Three, - Didst fill three Persons: Glory, Lord, to Thee! - Unborn and unbegotten! from thy hand - The fruitful seed rained down; at thy command - From that small germ o'er quickening waters thrown - All things that move not, all that move have grown. - Before thy triple form in awe they bow: - Maker, preserver, and destroyer, Thou! - Thou, when a longing urged thee to create, - Thy single form in twain didst separate. - The Sire, the Mother that made all things be - By their first union were but parts of Thee. - From them the life that fills this earthly frame, - And fruitful Nature, self-renewing, came. - Thou countest not thy time by mortals' light; - With Thee there is but one vast day and night. - When BRAHMÁ slumbers fainting Nature dies, - When BRAHMÁ wakens all again arise. - Creator of the world, and uncreate! - Endless! all things from Thee their end await. - Before the world wast Thou! each Lord shall fall - Before Thee, mightiest, highest, Lord of all. - Thy self-taught soul thine own deep spirit knows; - Made by thyself thy mighty form arose; - Into the same, when all things have their end, - Shall thy great self, absorbed in Thee, descend. - Lord, who may hope thy essence to declare? - Firm, yet as subtile as the yielding air: - Fixt, all-pervading; ponderous, yet light, - Patent to all, yet hidden from the sight. - Thine are the sacred hymns which mortals raise, - Commencing ever with the word of praise, - With three-toned chant the sacrifice to grace, - And win at last in heaven a blissful place. - They hail Thee Nature labouring to free - The Immortal Soul from low humanity; - Hail Thee the stranger Spirit, unimpressed, - Gazing on Nature from thy lofty rest. - Father of fathers, God of gods art thou, - Creator, highest, hearer of the vow! - Thou art the sacrifice, and Thou the priest, - Thou, he that eateth; Thou, the holy feast. - Thou art the knowledge which by Thee is taught, - The mighty thinker, and the highest thought!" - - Pleased with their truthful praise, his favouring eye - He turned upon the dwellers in the sky, - While from four mouths his words in gentle flow - Come welling softly to assuage their woe: - "Welcome! glad welcome, Princes! ye who hold - Your lofty sovereignties ordained of old. - But why so mournful? what has dimmed your light? - Why shine your faces less divinely bright? - Like stars that pour forth weaker, paler gleams, - When the fair moon with brighter radiance beams. - O say, in vain doth mighty INDRA bear - The thunderbolt of heaven, unused to spare? - VRITRA, the furious fiend, 'twas strong to slay: - Why dull and blunted is that might to-day? - See, VARUN'S noose hangs idly on his arm, - Like some fell serpent quelled by magic charm. - Weak is KUVERA'S hand, his arm no more - Wields the dread mace it once so proudly bore; - But like a tree whose boughs are lopped away, - It tells of piercing woe, and dire dismay. - In days of yore how YAMA'S sceptre shone! - Fled are its glories, all its terrors gone; - Despised and useless as a quenched brand, - All idly now it marks the yielding sand. - Fallen are the Lords of Light, ere now the gaze - Shrank from the coming of their fearful blaze; - So changed are they, the undazzled eye may see - Like pictured forms, each rayless deity. - Some baffling power has curbed the breezes' swell: - Vainly they chafe against the secret spell. - We know some barrier checks their wonted course, - When refluent waters seek again their source. - The RUDRAS too--fierce demigods who bear - The curved moon hanging from their twisted hair-- - Tell by their looks of fear, and shame, and woe, - Of threats now silenced, of a mightier foe. - Glory and power, ye Gods, were yours of right: - Have ye now yielded to some stronger might, - Even as on earth a general law may be - Made powerless by a special text's decree? - Then say, my sons, why seek ye BRAHMÁ'S throne? - 'Tis mine to frame the worlds, and yours to guard your own." - - Then INDRA turned his thousand glorious eyes, - Glancing like lilies when the soft wind sighs, - And in the Gods' behalf, their mighty chief - Urged the Most Eloquent to tell their grief. - Then rose the heavenly Teacher, by whose side - Dim seemed the glories of the Thousand-eyed, - And with his hands outspread, to BRAHMÁ spake, - Couched on his own dear flower, the daughter of the lake: - "O mighty Being! surely thou dost know - The unceasing fury of our ruthless foe; - For thou canst see the secret thoughts that lie - Deep in the heart, yet open to thine eye. - The vengeful TÁRAK, in resistless might, - Like some dire Comet, gleaming wild affright, - O'er all the worlds an evil influence sheds, - And, in thy favour strong, destruction spreads. - All bow before him: on his palace wall - The sun's first ray and parting splendour fall; - Ne'er could he waken with a lovelier glance - His own dear lotus from her nightly trance. - For him, proud fiend, the moon no waning knows, - But with unminished full-orbed lustre glows. - Too faint for him the crescent glory set - Amid the blaze of ['S]IVA'S coronet. - How fair his garden, where the obedient breeze - Dares steal no blossom from the slumbering trees! - The wild wind checks his blustering pinions there, - And gently whispering fans the balmy air; - While through the inverted year the seasons pour, - To win the demon's grace, their flowery store. - For him, the River-god beneath the stream, - Marks the young pearl increase its silver gleam, - Until, its beauty and its growth complete, - He bears the offering to his master's feet. - The Serpents, led by VÁSUKI, their king, - Across his nightly path their lustre fling; - Bright as a torch their flashing jewels blaze, - Nor wind, nor rain, can dim their dazzling rays. - E'en INDRA, sovereign of the blissful skies, - To gain his love by flattering homage tries, - And sends him oft those flowers of wondrous hue - That on the heavenly tree in beauty grew. - Yet all these offerings brought from day to day, - This flattery, fail his ruthless hand to stay. - Earth, hell, and heaven, beneath his rage must groan, - Till force can hurl him from his evil throne. - Alas! where glowed the bright celestial bowers, - And gentle fair ones nursed the opening flowers, - Where heavenly trees a heavenly odour shed, - O'er a sad desert ruin reigns instead. - He roots up MERU'S sacred peaks, where stray - The fiery coursers of the God of Day, - To form bright slopes, and glittering mounds of ease, - In the broad gardens of his palaces. - There, on his couch, the mighty lord is fanned - To sweetest slumber by a heavenly band; - Poor captive nymphs, who stand in anguish by, - Drop the big tear, and heave the ceaseless sigh. - And now have INDRA'S elephants defiled - The sparkling stream where heavenly GANGÁ smiled, - And her gold lotuses the fiend has taken - To deck his pools, and left her all forsaken. - The Gods of heaven no more delight to roam - O'er all the world, far from their glorious home. - They dread the demon's impious might, nor dare - Speed their bright chariots through the fields of air. - And when our worshippers in duty bring - The appointed victims for the offering, - He tears them from the flame with magic art, - While we all powerless watch with drooping heart. - He too has stolen from his master's side - The steed of heavenly race, great INDRA'S pride. - No more our hosts, so glorious once, withstand - The fierce dominion of the demon's hand, - As herbs of healing virtue fail to tame - The sickness raging through the infected frame. - Idly the discus hangs on VISH[N.]U'S neck, - And our last hope is vain, that it would check - The haughty TÁRAK'S might, and flash afar - Ruin and death--the thunderbolt of war. - E'en INDRA'S elephant has felt the might - Of his fierce monsters in the deadly fight, - Which spurn the dust in fury, and defy - The threatening clouds that sail along the sky. - Therefore, O Lord, we seek a chief, that he - May lead the hosts of heaven to victory, - Even as holy men who long to sever - The immortal spirit from its shell for ever, - Seek lovely Virtue's aid to free the soul - From earthly ties and action's base control. - Thus shall he save us: proudly will we go - Under his escort 'gainst the furious foe; - And INDRA, conqueror in turn, shall bring - FORTUNE, dear captive, home with joy and triumphing." - - Sweet as the rains--the fresh'ning rains--that pour - On the parched earth when thunders cease to roar, - Were BRAHMÁ'S words: "Gods, I have heard your grief; - Wait ye in patience: time will bring relief. - 'Tis not for me, my children, to create - A chief to save you from your mournful fate. - Not by my hand the fiend must be destroyed, - For my kind favour has he once enjoyed; - And well ye know that e'en a poisonous tree - By him who planted it unharmed should be. - He sought it eagerly, and long ago - I gave my favour to your demon-foe, - And stayed his awful penance, that had hurled - Flames, death, and ruin o'er the subject world. - When that great warrior battles for his life, - O, who may conquer in the deadly strife, - Save one of ['S]IVA'S seed? He is the light, - Reigning supreme beyond the depths of night. - Nor I, nor VISH[N.]U, his full power may share, - Lo, where he dwells in solitude and prayer! - Go, seek the Hermit in the grove alone, - And to the God be UMÁ'S beauty shown. - Perchance, the Mountain-child, with magnet's force, - May turn the iron from its steadfast course, - Bride of the mighty God; for only she - Can bear to Him as water bears to me. - Then from their love a mighty Child shall rise, - And lead to war the armies of the skies. - Freed by his hand, no more the heavenly maids - Shall twine their glittering hair in mournful braids." - - He spake, and vanished from their wondering sight; - And they sped homeward to their world of light. - But INDRA, still on BRAHMÁ'S words intent, - To KÁMA'S dwelling-place his footsteps bent. - Swiftly he came: the yearning of his will - Made INDRA'S lightning course more speedy still. - The LOVE-GOD, armed with flowers divinely sweet, - In lowly homage bowed before his feet. - Around his neck, where bright love-tokens clung, - Arched like a maiden's brow, his bow was hung, - And blooming SPRING, his constant follower, bore - The mango twig, his weapon famed of yore. - - - - -_CANTO THIRD._ - - - - -Canto Third. - -_THE DEATH OF LOVE._ - - - Is eager gaze the sovereign of the skies - looked full on _Káma_ with his thousand eyes: - E'en such a gaze as trembling suppliants bend, - When danger threatens, on a mighty friend. - - Close by his side, where INDRA bade him rest, - The LOVE-GOD sate, and thus his lord addressed: - "All-knowing INDRA, deign, my Prince, to tell - Thy heart's desire in earth, or heaven, or hell: - Double the favour, mighty sovereign, thou - Hast thought on KÁMA, O, command him now: - Who angers thee by toiling for the prize, - By penance, prayer, or holy sacrifice? - What mortal being dost thou count thy foe? - Speak, I will tame him with my darts and bow. - Has some one feared the endless change of birth, - And sought the path that leads the soul from earth? - Slave to a glancing eye thy foe shall bow, - And own the witchery of a woman's brow; - E'en though the object of thine envious rage - Were taught high wisdom by the immortal sage, - With billowy passions will I whelm his soul, - Like rushing waves that spurn the bank's control. - Or has the ripe full beauty of a spouse, - Too fondly faithful to her bridal vows, - Ravished thy spirit from thee? Thine, all thine - Around thy neck her loving arms shall twine. - Has thy love, jealous of another's charms, - Spurned thee in wrath when flying to her arms? - I'll rack her yielding bosom with such pain, - Soon shall she be all love and warmth again, - And wildly fly in fevered haste to rest - Her aching heart close, close to thy dear breast. - Lay, INDRA, lay thy threatening bolt aside: - My gentle darts shall tame the haughtiest pride, - And all that war with heaven and thee shall know - The magic influence of thy KÁMA'S bow; - For woman's curling lip shall bow them down, - Fainting in terror at her threatening frown. - Flowers are my arms, mine only warrior SPRING, - Yet in thy favour am I strong, great King. - What can their strength who draw the bow avail - Against my matchless power when I assail? - Strong is the Trident-bearing God, yet he, - The mighty ['S]IVA, e'en, must yield to me." - - Then INDRA answered with a dawning smile, - Resting his foot upon a stool the while: - "Dear God of Love, thou truly hast displayed - The power unrivalled of thy promised aid. - My hope is all in thee: my weapons are - The thunderbolt and thou, more mighty far. - But vain, all vain the bolt of heaven to fright - Those holy Saints whom penance arms aright. - Thy power exceeds all bound: thou, only thou, - All-conquering Deity, canst help me now! - Full well I know thy nature, and assign - This toil to thee, which needs a strength like thine: - As on that snake alone will KRISH[N.]A rest, - That bears the earth upon his haughty crest. - Our task is well-nigh done: thy boasted dart - Has power to conquer even ['S]IVA'S heart. - Hear what the Gods, oppressed with woe, would fain - From mighty ['S]IVA through thine aid obtain. - He may beget--and none in heaven but he--A - chief to lead our hosts to victory. - But all his mind with holiest lore is fraught, - Bent on the Godhead is his every thought. - Thy darts, O LOVE, alone can reach him now, - And lure his spirit from the hermit vow. - Go, seek HIMÁLAYA'S Mountain-child, and aid - With all thy loveliest charms the lovely maid, - So may she please his fancy: only she - May wed with ['S]IVA: such the fixt decree. - E'en now my bands of heavenly maids have spied - Fair UMÁ dwelling by the Hermit's side. - There by her father's bidding rests she still, - Sweet minister, upon the cold bleak hill. - Go, KÁMA, go! perform this great emprise, - And free from fear the Rulers of the Skies; - We need thy favour, as the new-sown grain - Calls for the influence of the gentle rain. - Go, KÁMA, go! thy flowery darts shall be - Crowned with success o'er this great deity. - Yea, and thy task is e'en already done, - For praise and glory are that instant won - When a bold heart dares manfully essay - The deed which others shrink from in dismay. - Gods are thy suppliants, KÁMA, and on thee - Depends the triple world's security. - No cruel deed will stain thy flowery bow: - With all thy gentlest, mightiest valour, go! - And now, Disturber of the spirit, see - SPRING, thy beloved, will thy comrade be, - And gladly aid thee ['S]IVA'S heart to tame: - None bids the whispering Wind, and yet he fans the flame." - - He spake, and KÁMA bowed his bright head down, - And took his bidding like a flowery crown. - Above his wavy curls great INDRA bent, - And fondly touched his soldier ere he went, - With that hard hand--but, O, how gentle now-- - That fell so heavy on his elephant's brow. - Then for that snow-crowned hill he turned away, - Where all alone the heavenly Hermit lay. - His fearful RATI and his comrade SPRING - Followed the guidance of Love's mighty king. - There will he battle in unwonted strife, - Return a conqueror or be reft of life. - - How fair was SPRING! To fill the heart with love, - And lure the Hermit from his thoughts above, - In that pure grove he grew so heavenly bright - That KÁMA'S envy wakened at the sight. - Now the bright Day-God turned his burning ray - To where KUVERA holds his royal sway, - While the sad South in whispering breezes sighed - And mourned his absence like a tearful bride. - Then from its stem the red A['s]oka threw - Full buds and flowerets of celestial hue, - Nor waited for the maiden's touch, the sweet - beloved pressure of her tinkling feet. - There grew LOVE'S arrow, his dear mango spray, - Winged with young leaves to speed its airy way, - And at the call of SPRING the wild bees came, - Grouping the syllables of KÁMA'S name. - How sighed the spirit o'er that loveliest flower - That boasts no fragrance to enrich its dower! - For Nature, wisest mother, oft prefers - To part more fairly those good gifts of hers. - There from the tree Palása blossoms spread, - Curved like the crescent moon, their rosiest red, - With opening buds that looked as if young SPRING - Had pressed his nails there in his dallying: - Sweet wanton SPRING, to whose enchanting face - His flowery Tilaka gave fairer grace: - Who loves to tint his lip, the mango spray, - With the fresh colours of the early day, - And powder its fine red with many a bee - That sips the oozing nectar rapturously. - The cool gale speeding o'er the shady lawns - Shook down the sounding leaves, while startled fawns - Ran wildly at the viewless foe, all blind - With pollen wafted by the fragrant wind. - Sweet was the Köil's voice, his neck still red - With mango buds on which he late had fed: - Twas as the voice of LOVE to bid the dame - Spurn her cold pride, nor quench the gentle flame. - What though the heat has stained the tints that dyed - With marvellous bloom the heavenly minstrel's bride? - Neither her smile nor sunny glances fail: - Bright is her lip, although her check be pale - E'en the pure hermits owned the secret power - Of warm SPRING coming in unwonted hour, - While LOVE'S delightful witchery gently stole - With strong sweet influence o'er the saintly soul. - - On came the Archer-God, and at his side - The timid RATI, his own darling bride, - While breathing nature showed how deep it felt, - At passion's glowing touch, the senses melt. - For there in eager love the wild bee dipp'd - In the dark flower-cup where his partner sipp'd. - Here in the shade the hart his horn declined, - And, while joy closed her eyes, caressed the hind. - There from her trunk the elephant had poured - A lily-scented stream to cool her lord, - While the fond love-bird by the silver flood - Gave to his mate the tasted lotus bud. - Full in his song the minstrel stayed to sip - The heavenlier nectar of his darling's lip. - Pure pearls of heat had late distained the dye, - But flowery wine was sparkling in her eye. - How the young creeper's beauty charmed the view, - Fair as the fairest maid, as playful too! - Here some bright blossoms, lovelier than the rest, - In full round beauty matched her swelling breast. - Here in a thin bright line, some delicate spray, - Red as her lip, ravished the soul away. - And then how loving, and how close they clung - To the tall trees that fondly o'er them hung! - Bright, heavenly wantons poured the witching strain, - Quiring for ['S]IVA'S ear, but all in vain. - No charmer's spell may check the firm control - Won by the holy o'er the impassioned soul. - - The Hermit's servant hasted to the door: - In his left hand a branch of gold he bore. - He touched his lip for silence: "Peace! be still! - Nor mar the quiet of this holy hill." - He spake: no dweller of the forest stirred, - No wild bee murmured, hushed was every bird. - Still and unmoved, as in a picture stood - All life that breathed within the waving wood. - As some great monarch when he goes to war - Shuns the fierce aspect of a baleful star, - So KÁMA hid him from the Hermit's eye, - And sought a path that led unnoticed by, - Where tangled flowers and clustering trailers spread - Their grateful canopy o'er ['S]IVA'S head. - Bent on his hardy enterprise, with awe - The Three-eyed Lord--great Penitent--he saw. - There sate the God beneath a pine-tree's shade, - Where on a mound a tiger's skin was laid. - Absorbed in holiest thought, erect and still, - The Hermit rested on the gentle hill. - His shoulders drooping down, each foot was bent - Beneath the body of the Penitent. - With open palms the hands were firmly pressed, - As though a lotus lay upon his breast. - A double rosary in each ear, behind - With wreathing serpents were his locks entwined. - His coat of hide shone blacker to the view - Against his neck of brightly beaming blue. - How wild the look, how terrible the frown - Of his dark eyebrows bending sternly down! - How fiercely glared his eyes' unmoving blaze - Fixed in devotion's meditating gaze: - Calm as a full cloud resting on a hill, - A waveless lake when every breeze is still, - Like a torch burning in a sheltered spot, - So still was he, unmoving, breathing not. - So full the stream of marvellous glory poured - from the bright forehead of that mighty Lord, - Pale seemed the crescent moon upon his head, - And slenderer than a slender lotus thread. - At all the body's nine-fold gates of sense - He had barred in the pure Intelligence, - To ponder on the Soul which sages call - Eternal Spirit, highest, over all. - - How sad was KÁMA at the awful sight, - How failed his courage in a swoon of fright! - As near and nearer to the God he came - Whom wildest thought could never hope to tame, - Unconsciously his hands, in fear and woe, - Dropped the sweet arrows and his flowery bow. - But UMÁ came with all her maiden throng, - And KÁMA'S fainting heart again was strong; - Bright flowers of spring, in every lovely hue, - Around the lady's form rare beauty threw. - Some clasped her neck like strings of purest pearls, - Some shot their glory through her wavy curls. - Bending her graceful head as half-oppressed - With swelling charms even too richly blest, - Fancy might deem that beautiful young maiden - Some slender tree with its sweet flowers o'erladen. - From time to time her gentle hand replaced - The flowery girdle slipping from her waist: - It seemed that LOVE could find no place more fair, - So hung his newest, dearest bowstring there. - A greedy bee kept hovering round to sip - The fragrant nectar of her blooming lip. - She closed her eyes in terror of the thief, - And beat him from her with a lotus leaf. - The angry curl of RATI'S lip confessed - The shade of envy that stole o'er her breast. - Through KÁMA'S soul fresh hope and courage flew, - As that sweet vision blessed his eager view. - So bright, so fair, so winning soft was she, - Who could not conquer in such company? - - Now UMÁ came, fair maid, his destined bride, - With timid steps approaching ['S]IVA'S side. - In contemplation will he brood no more, - He sees the Godhead, and his task is o'er. - He breathes, he moves, the earth begins to rock, - The Snake, her bearer, trembling at the shock. - Due homage then his own dear servant paid, - And told him of the coming of the maid. - He learnt his Master's pleasure by the nod, - And led HIMÁLAYA'S daughter to the God. - Before his feet her young companions spread - Fresh leaves and blossoms as they bowed the head, - While UMÁ stooped so low, that from her hair - Dropped the bright flower that starred the midnight there. - To him whose ensign bears the bull she bent, - Till each spray fell, her ear's rich ornament. - "Sweet maid," cried ['S]IVA, "surely thou shalt be - Blessed with a husband who loves none but thee!" - Her fear was banished, and her hope was high: - A God had spoken, and Gods cannot lie. - - Rash as some giddy moth that wooes the flame, - LOVE seized the moment, and prepared to aim. - Close by the daughter of the Mountain-King, - He looked on ['S]IVA, and he eyed his string. - While with her radiant hand fair UMÁ gave - A rosary, of the lotuses that lave - Their beauties in the heavenly GANGÁ'S wave, - And the great Three-Eyed God was fain to take - The offering for the well-loved suppliant's sake, - On his bright bow LOVE placed the unerring dart, - The soft beguiler of the stricken heart. - Like the Moon's influence on the sea at rest, - Came passion stealing o'er the Hermit's breast, - While on the maiden's lip that mocked the dye - Of ripe red fruit, he bent his melting eye. - And oh! how showed the lady's love for him, - The heaving bosom, and each quivering limb! - Like young Kadambas, when the leaf-buds swell, - At the warm touch of Spring they love so well. - But still, with downcast eyes, she sought the ground, - And durst not turn their burning glances round. - Then with strong effort, ['S]IVA lulled to rest, - The storm of passion in his troubled breast, - And seeks, with angry eyes that round him roll, - Whence came the tempest o'er his tranquil soul. - He looked, and saw the bold young archer stand, - His bow bent ready in his skilful hand, - Drawn towards the eye; his shoulder well depressed, - And the left foot thrown forward as a rest. - - Then was the Hermit-God to madness lashed, - Then from his eye red flames of fury flashed. - So changed the beauty of that glorious brow, - Scarce could the gaze support its terror now. - Hark! heavenly voices sighing through the air: - "Be calm, great ['S]IVA, O be calm and spare!" - Alas! that angry eye's resistless flashes - Have scorched the gentle King of Love to ashes! - But RATI saw not, for she swooned away; - Senseless and breathless on the earth she lay; - Sleep while thou mayst, unconscious lady, sleep! - Soon wilt thou rise to sigh and wake to weep. - E'en as the red bolt rives the leafy bough, - So ['S]IVA smote the hinderer of his vow; - Then fled with all his train to some lone place - Far from the witchery of a female face. - - Sad was HIMALÁYA'S daughter: grief and shame - O'er the young spirit of the maiden came: - Grief--for she loved, and all her love was vain; - Shame--she was spurned before her youthful train. - She turned away, with fear and woe oppressed, - To hide her sorrow on her father's breast; - Then, in the fond arms of her pitying sire, - Closed her sad eyes for fear of ['S]IVA'S ire. - Still in his grasp the weary maiden lay, - While he sped swiftly on his homeward way. - Thus have I seen the elephant stoop to drink, - And lift a lily from the fountain's brink. - Thus, when he rears his mighty head on high, - Across his tusks I've seen that lily lie. - - - - -_CANTO FOURTH._ - - - - -Canto Fourth. - -_RATI'S LAMENT._ - - - Sad, solitary, helpless, faint, forlorn, - Woke KÁMA'S darling from her swoon to mourn. - Too soon her gentle soul returned to know - The pangs of widowhood--that word of woe. - Scarce could she raise her, trembling, from the ground, - Scarce dared to bend her anxious gaze around, - Unconscious yet those greedy eyes should never - Feed on his beauty more--gone, gone for ever. - - "Speak to me, KÁMA! why so silent? give - One word in answer--doth my KÁMA live?" - There on the turf his dumb cold ashes lay, - Whose soul that fiery flash had scorched away. - She clasped the dank earth in her wild despair, - Her bosom stained, and rent her long bright hair, - Till hill and valley caught the mourner's cry, - And pitying breezes echoed sigh for sigh. - "Oh thou wast beautiful: fond lovers sware - Their own bright darlings were like KÁMA, fair. - Sure woman's heart is stony: can it be - That I still live while this is all of thee? - Where art thou, KÁMA? Could my dearest leave - His own fond RATI here alone to grieve? - So must the sad forsaken lotus die - When her bright river leaves his channel dry. - KÁMA, dear KÁMA, call again to mind - How thou wast ever gentle, I was kind. - Let not my prayer, thy RATI'S prayer, be vain; - Come as of old, and bless these eyes again! - Wilt thou not hear me? Think of those sweet hours - When I would bind thee with my zone of flowers, - Those soft gay fetters o'er thee fondly wreathing, - Thine only punishment when gently breathing - In tones of love thy heedless sigh betrayed - The name, dear traitor! of some rival maid. - Then would I pluck a floweret from my tress - And beat thee till I forced thee to confess, - While in my play the falling leaves would cover - The eyes--the bright eyes--of my captive lover. - And then those words that made me, oh, so blest-- - "Dear love, thy home is in my faithful breast!" - Alas, sweet words, too blissful to be true, - Or how couldst thou have died, nor RATI perish too? - - Yes, I will fly to thee, of thee bereft, - And leave this world which thou, my life, hast left. - Cold, gloomy, now this wretched world must be, - For all its pleasures came from only thee. - When night has veiled the city in its shade, - Thou, only thou, canst soothe the wandering maid, - And guide her trembling at the thunder's roar - Safe through the darkness to her lover's door. - In vain the wine-cup, as it circles by, - Lisps in her tongue and sparkles in her eye. - Long locks are streaming, and the cheek glows red: - But all is mockery, LOVE--dear LOVE--is dead. - The MOON, sweet spirit, shall lament for thee, - Late, dim, and joyless shall his rising be. - Days shall fly on, and he forget to take - His full bright glory, mourning for thy sake. - Say, KÁMA, say, whose arrow now shall be - The soft green shoot of thy dear mango tree, - The favourite spray which Köils love so well, - And praise in sweetest strain its wondrous spell? - This line of bees which strings thy useless bow - Hums mournful echo to my cries of woe. - Come in thy lovely shape and teach again - The Köil's mate, that knows the tender strain, - Her gentle task to waft to longing ears - The lover's hope, the distant lover's fears. - Come, bring once more that ecstasy of bliss, - The fond dear look, the smile, and ah! that kiss! - Fainting with woe, my soul refuses rest - When memory pictures how I have been blest. - See, thou didst weave a garland, love, to deck - With all spring's fairest buds thy RATI'S neck. - Sweet are those flowers as they were culled to-day, - And is my KÁMA'S form more frail than they? - His pleasant task my lover had begun, - But stern Gods took him ere the work was done; - Return, my KÁMA, at thy RATI'S cry, - And stain this foot which waits the rosy dye. - Now will I hie me to the fatal pile, - And ere heaven's maids have hailed thee with a smile, - Or on my love their winning glances thrown, - I will be there, and claim thee for mine own. - Yet though I come, my lasting shame will be - That I have lived one moment after thee. - Ah, how shall I thy funeral rites prepare, - Gone soul and body to the viewless air? - "With thy dear SPRING I've seen thee talk and smile, - Shaping an arrow for thy bow the while. - Where is he now, thy darling friend, the giver - Of many a bright sweet arrow for thy quiver? - Is he too sent upon death's dreary path, - Scorched by the cruel God's inexorable wrath?" - - Stricken in spirit by her cries of woe, - Like venomed arrows from a mighty bow, - A moment fled, and gentle SPRING was there, - To ask her grief, to soothe her wild despair. - She beat her breast more wildly than before, - With greater floods her weeping eyes ran o'er. - When friends are nigh the spirit finds relief - In the full gushing torrent of its grief. - - "Turn, gentle friend, thy weeping eyes, and see - That dear companion who was all to me. - His crumbling dust with which the breezes play, - Bearing it idly in their course away, - White as the silver feathers of a dove, - Is all that's left me of my murdered love. - Now come, my KÁMA. SPRING, who was so dear, - Longs to behold thee. Oh, appear, appear! - Fickle to women LOVE perchance may bend - His ear to listen to a faithful friend. - Remember, he walked ever at thy side - O'er bloomy meadows in the warm spring-tide, - That Gods above, and men, and fiends below - Should own the empire of thy mighty bow, - That ruthless bow, which pierces to the heart, - Strung with a lotus-thread, a flower its dart. - As dies a torch when winds sweep roughly by, - So is my light for ever fled, and I, - The lamp his cheering rays no more illume, - Am wrapt in darkness, misery and gloom. - Fate took my love, and spared the widow's breath, - Yet fate is guilty of a double death. - When the wild monster tramples on the ground - The tree some creeper garlands closely round, - Reft of the guardian which it thought so true, - Forlorn and withered, it must perish too. - Then come, dear friend, the true one's pile prepare, - And send me quickly to my husband there. - Call it not vain: the mourning lotus dies - When the bright MOON, her lover, quits the skies. - When sinks the red cloud in the purple west, - Still clings his bride, the lightning, to his breast. - All nature keeps the eternal high decree: - Shall woman fail? I come, my love, to thee! - Now on the pile my faint limbs will I throw, - Clasping his ashes, lovely even so,-- - As if beneath my weary frame were spread - Soft leaves and blossoms for a flowery bed. - And oh, dear comrade (for in happier hours - Oft have I heaped a pleasant bed of flowers - For thee and him beneath the spreading tree), - Now quickly raise the pile for LOVE and me. - And in thy mercy gentle breezes send - To fan the flame that wafts away thy friend, - And shorten the sad moments that divide - Impatient KÁMA from his RATI'S side; - Set water near us in a single urn, - We'll sip in heaven from the same in turn; - And let thine offering to his spirit be - Sprays fresh and lovely from the mango tree, - Culled when the round young buds begin to swell, - For KÁMA loved those fragrant blossoms well." - - As RATI thus complained in faithful love, - A heavenly voice breathed round her from above, - Falling in pity like the gentle rain - That brings the dying herbs to life again: - "Bride of the flower-armed God, thy lord shall be - Not ever distant, ever deaf to thee. - Give me thine ear, sad lady, I will tell - Why perished KÁMA, whom thou lovedst well. - The Lord of Life in every troubled sense - Too warmly felt his fair child's influence. - He quenched the fire, but mighty vengeance came - On KÁMA, fanner of the unholy flame. - When ['S]IVA by her penance won has led - HIMÁLAYA'S daughter to her bridal bed, - His bliss to KÁMA shall the God repay, - And give again the form he snatched away. - Thus did the gracious God, at JUSTICE' prayer, - The term of LOVE'S sad punishment declare. - The Gods, like clouds, are fierce and gentle too, - Now hurl the bolt, now drop sweet heavenly dew. - Live, widowed lady, for thy lover's arms - Shall clasp again--oh, fondly clasp--thy charms. - In summer-heat the streamlet dies away - Beneath the fury of the God of Day: - Then, in due season, comes the pleasant rain, - And all is fresh, and fair, and full again." - Thus breathed the spirit from the viewless air, - And stilled the raging of her wild despair; - While SPRING consoled with every soothing art, - Cheered by that voice from heaven, the mourner's heart, - Who watched away the hours, so sad and slow, - That brought the limit of her weary woe, - As the pale moon, quenched by the conquering light - Of garish day, longs for its own dear night. - - - - -_CANTO FIFTH._ - - - - -Canto Fifth. - -_UMÁ'S REWARD._ - - - Now woe to UMÁ, for young Love is slain, - Her Lord hath left her, and her hope is vain. - Woe, woe to UMÁ! how the Mountain-Maid - Cursed her bright beauty for its feeble aid! - 'Tis Beauty's guerdon which she loves the best, - To bless her lover, and in turn be blest. - Penance must aid her now--or how can she - Win the cold heart of that stern deity? - Penance, long penance: for that power alone - Can make such love, so high a Lord, her own. - - But, ah! how troubled was her mother's brow - At the sad tidings of the mourner's vow! - She threw her arms around her own dear maid, - Kissed, fondly kissed her, sighed, and wept, and prayed: - "Are there no Gods, my child, to love thee here? - Frail is thy body, yet thy vow severe. - The lily, by the wild bee scarcely stirred, - Bends, breaks, and dies beneath the weary bird." - Fast fell her tears, her prayer was strong, but still - That prayer was weaker than her daughter's will. - Who can recall the torrent's headlong force, - Or the bold spirit in its destined course? - She sent a maiden to her sire, and prayed - He for her sake would grant some bosky shade, - That she might dwell in solitude, and there - Give all her soul to penance and to prayer. - In gracious love the great HIMÁLAYA smiled, - And did the bidding of his darling child. - Then to that hill which peacocks love she came, - Known to all ages by the lady's name. - - Still to her purpose resolutely true, - Her string of noble pearls aside she threw, - Which, slipping here and there, had rubbed away - The sandal dust that on her bosom lay, - And clad her in a hermit coat of bark, - Rough to her gentle limbs, and gloomy dark, - Pressing too tightly, till her swelling breast - Broke into freedom through the unwonted vest. - Her matted hair was full as lovely now - As when 'twas braided o'er her polished brow. - Thus the sweet beauties of the lotus shine - When bees festoon it in a graceful line; - And, though the tangled weeds that crown the rill - Cling o'er it closely, it is lovely still. - With zone of grass the votaress was bound, - Which reddened the fair form it girdled round: - Never before the lady's waist had felt - The ceaseless torment of so rough a belt. - Alas! her weary vow has caused to fade - The lovely colours that adorned the maid. - Pale is her hand, and her long finger-tips - Steal no more splendour from her paler lips, - Or, from the ball which in her play would rest, - Made bright and fragrant, on her perfumed breast. - Rough with the sacred grass those hands must be, - And worn with resting on her rosary. - Cold earth her couch, her canopy the skies, - Pillowed upon her arm the lady lies: - She who before was wont to rest her head - In the soft luxury of a sumptuous bed, - Vext by no troubles as she slumbered there, - But sweet flowers slipping from her loosened hair. - The maid put off, but only for awhile, - Her passioned glances and her witching smile. - She lent the fawn her moving, melting gaze, - And the fond creeper all her winning ways. - The trees that blossomed on that lonely mount - She watered daily from the neighbouring fount: - If she had been their nursing mother, she - Could not have tended them more carefully. - Not e'en her boy--her own bright boy--shall stay - Her love for them: her first dear children they. - Her gentleness had made the fawns so tame, - To her kind hand for fresh sweet grain they came, - And let the maid before her friends compare - Her own with eyes that shone as softly there. - - Then came the hermits of the holy wood - To see the votaress in her solitude; - Grey elders came; though young the maid might seem, - Her perfect virtue must command esteem. - They found her resting in that lonely spot, - The fire was kindled, and no rite forgot. - In hermit's mantle was she clad; her look - Fixt in deep thought upon the Holy Book. - So pure that grove: all war was made to cease, - And savage monsters lived in love and peace. - Pure was that grove: each newly built abode - Had leafy shrines where fires of worship glowed. - - But far too mild her penance, UMÁ thought, - To win from heaven the lordly meed she sought. - She would not spare her form, so fair and frail, - If sterner penance could perchance prevail. - Oft had sweet pastime wearied her, and yet - Fain would she match in toil the anchoret. - Sure the soft lotus at her birth had lent - Dear UMÁ'S form its gentle element; - But gold, commingled with her being, gave - That will so strong, so beautifully brave. - Full in the centre of four blazing piles - Sate the fair lady of the winning smiles, - While on her head the mighty God of Day - Shot all the fury of his summer ray; - Yet her fixt gaze she turned upon the skies, - And quenched his splendour with her brighter eyes. - To that sweet face, though scorched by rays from heaven, - Still was the beauty of the lotus given, - Yet, worn by watching, round those orbs of light - A blackness gathered like the shades of night. - She cooled her dry lips in the bubbling stream, - And lived on Amrit from the pale moon-beam, - Sometimes in hunger culling from the tree - The rich ripe fruit that hung so temptingly. - Scorched by the fury of the noon-tide rays, - And fires that round her burned with ceaseless blaze, - Summer passed o'er her: rains of Autumn came - And throughly drenched the lady's tender frame. - So steams the earth, when mighty torrents pour - On thirsty fields all dry and parched before. - The first clear rain-drops falling on her brow, - Gem it one moment with their light, and now - Kissing her sweet lip find a welcome rest - In the deep valley of the lady's breast; - Then wander broken by the fall within - The mazy channels of her dimpled skin. - There as she lay upon her rocky bed, - No sumptuous roof above her gentle head, - Dark Night, her only witness, turned her eyes, - Red lightnings flashing from the angry skies, - And gazed upon her voluntary pain, - In wind, in sleet, in thunder, and in rain. - Still lay the maiden on the cold damp ground, - Though blasts of winter hurled their snows around, - Still pitying in her heart the mournful fate - Of those poor birds, so fond, so desolate,-- - Doomed, hapless pair, to list each other's moan - Through the long hours of night, sad and alone. - Chilled by the rain, the tender lotus sank: - She filled its place upon the streamlet's bank. - Sweet was her breath as when that lovely flower - Sheds its best odour in still evening's hour. - Red as its leaves her lips of coral hue: - Red as those quivering leaves they quivered too. - - Of all stern penance it is called the chief - To nourish life upon the fallen leaf. - But even this the ascetic maiden spurned, - And for all time a glorious title earned. - APARNÁ--Lady of the unbroken fast-- - Have sages called her, saints who knew the past. - Fair as the lotus fibres, soft as they, - In these stern vows she passed her night and day. - No mighty anchoret had e'er essayed - The ceaseless penance of this gentle maid. - - There came a hermit: reverend was he - As Bráhmanhood's embodied sanctity. - With coat of skin, with staff and matted hair, - His face was radiant, and he spake her fair. - Up rose the maid the holy man to greet, - And humbly bowed before the hermit's feet. - Though meditation fill the pious breast, - It finds a welcome for a glorious guest: - The sage received the honour duly paid, - And fixed his earnest gaze upon the maid. - While through her frame unwonted vigour ran, - Thus, in his silver speech, the blameless saint began: - "How can thy tender frame, sweet lady, bear - In thy firm spirit's task its fearful share? - Canst thou the grass and fuel duly bring, - And still unwearied seek the freshening spring? - Say, do the creeper's slender shoots expand, - Seeking each day fresh water from thy hand, - Till like thy lip each ruddy tendril glows, - That lip which, faded, still outreds the rose? - With loving glance the timid fawns draw nigh: - Say dost thou still with joy their wants supply? - For thee, O lotus-eyed, their glances shine, - Mocking the brightness of each look of thine. - O Mountain-Lady, it is truly said - That heavenly charms to sin have never led, - For even penitents may learn of thee - How pure, how gentle Beauty's self may be. - Bright GANGÁ falling with her heavenly waves, - HIMÁLAYA'S head with sacred water laves, - Bearing the flowers the seven great Sages fling - To crown the forehead of the Mountain-King. - Yet do thy deeds, O bright-haired maiden, shed - A richer glory round his awful head. - Purest of motives, Duty leads thy heart: - Pleasure and gain therein may claim no part. - O noble maid, the wise have truly said - That friendship soon in gentle heart is bred. - Seven steps together bind the lasting tie: - Then bend on me, dear Saint, a gracious eye. - Fain, lovely UMÁ, would a Bráhman learn - What noble guerdon would thy penance earn. - Say, art thou toiling for a second birth, - Where dwells the great Creator? O'er the earth - Resistless sway? Or fair as Beauty's Queen, - Peerless, immortal, shall thy form be seen? - The lonely soul bowed down by grief and pain, - By penance' aid some gracious boon may gain. - But what, O faultless one, can move thy heart - To dwell in solitude and prayer apart? - Why should the cloud of grief obscure thy brow, - 'Mid all thy kindred, who so loved as thou? - Foes hast thou none: for what rash hand would dare - From serpent's head the magic gem to tear? - Why dost thou seek the hermit's garb to try, - Thy silken raiment and thy gems thrown by? - As though the sun his glorious state should leave, - Rayless to harbour 'mid the shades of eve. - Wouldst thou win heaven by thy holy spells? - Already with the Gods thy father dwells. - A husband, lady? O forbear the thought, - A priceless jewel seeks not, but is sought. - Maiden, thy deep sighs tell me it is so; - Yet, doubtful still, my spirit seeks to know - Couldst thou e'er love in vain? What heart so cold - That hath not eagerly its worship told? - Ah! could the cruel loved one, thou fair maid, - Look with cold glances on that bright hair's braid? - Thy locks are hanging loosely o'er thy brow, - Thine ear is shaded by no lotus now. - See, where the sun hath scorched that tender neck - Which precious jewels once were proud to deck. - Still gleams the line where they were wont to cling, - As faintly shows the moon's o'ershadowed ring. - Now sure thy loved one, vain in beauty's pride, - Dreamed of himself when wandering at thy side, - Or he would count him blest to be the mark - Of that dear eye, so soft, so lustrous dark. - But, gentle UMÁ, let thy labour cease; - Turn to thy home, fair Saint, and rest in peace. - By many a year of penance duly done - Rich store of merit has my labour won. - Take then the half, thy secret purpose name; - Nor in stern hardships wear thy tender frame." - - The holy Bráhman ceased: but UMÁ'S breast - In silence heaved, by love and fear opprest. - In mute appeal she turned her languid eye, - Darkened with weeping, not with softening dye, - To bid her maiden's friendly tongue declare - The cherished secret of her deep despair: - "Hear, holy Father, if thou still wouldst know, - Why her frail form endures this pain and woe, - As the soft lotus makes a screen to stay - The noontide fury of the God of Day. - Proudly disdaining all the blest above, - With heart and soul she seeks for ['S]IVA'S love. - For him alone, the Trident-wielding God, - The thorny paths of penance hath she trod. - But since that mighty one hath KÁMA slain, - Vain every hope, and every effort vain. - E'en as life fled, a keen but flowery dart - Young LOVE, the Archer, aimed at ['S]IVA'S heart. - The God in anger hurled the shaft away, - But deep in UMÁ'S tender soul it lay; - Alas, poor maid! she knows no comfort now, - Her soul's on fire, her wild locks hide her brow. - She quits her father's halls, and frenzied roves - The icy mountain and the lonely groves. - Oft as the maidens of the minstrel throng - To hymn great ['S]IVA'S praises raised the song, - The lovelorn lady's sobs and deep-drawn sighs - Drew tears of pity from their gentle eyes. - Wakeful and fevered in the dreary night - Scarce closed her eyes, and then in wild affright - Rang through the halls her very bitter cry, - "God of the azure neck, why dost thou fly?" - While their soft bands her loving arms would cast - Hound the dear vision fading all too fast. - Her skilful hand, with true love-guided art, - Had traced the image graven on her heart. - "Art thou all present? Dost thou fail to see - Poor UMÁ'S anguish and her love for thee?" - Thus oft in frenzied grief her voice was heard, - Chiding the portrait with reproachful word. - Long thus in vain for ['S]IVA'S love she strove, - Then turned in sorrow to this holy grove. - Since the sad maid hath sought these forest glades - To hide her grief amid the dreary shades, - The fruit hath ripened on the spreading bough; - But ah! no fruit hath crowned her holy vow. - Her faithful friends alone must ever mourn - To see that beauteous form by penance worn, - But oh! that ['S]IVA would some favour deign, - As INDRA pitieth the parching plain!" - The maiden ceased: his secret joy dissembling, - The Bráhman turned to UMÁ pale and trembling: - "And is it thus, or doth the maiden jest? - Is this the darling secret of thy breast?" - - Scarce could the maid her choking voice command, - Or clasp her rosary with quivering hand: - "O holy Sage, learned in the Vedas' lore, - 'Tis even thus. Great ['S]IVA I adore. - Thus would my steadfast heart his love obtain, - For this I gladly bear the toil and pain. - Surely the strong desire, the earnest will, - May win some favour from his mercy still." - - "Lady," cried he, "that mighty Lord I know; - Ever his presence bringeth care and woe. - And wouldst thou still a second time prepare - The sorrows of his fearful life to share? - Deluded maid, how shall thy tender hand, - Decked with the nuptial bracelet's jewelled band, - Be clasped in his, when fearful serpents twine - In scaly horror round that arm divine? - How shall thy robe, with gay flamingoes gleaming, - Suit with his coat of hide with blood-drops streaming? - Of old thy pathway led where flowerets sweet - Made pleasant carpets for thy gentle feet. - And e'en thy foes would turn in grief away - To see these vermeil-tinted limbs essay, - Where scattered tresses strew the mournful place, - Their gloomy path amid the tombs to trace. - On ['S]IVA'S heart the funeral ashes rest, - Say, gentle lady, shall they stain thy breast, - Where the rich tribute of the Sandal trees - Sheds a pure odour on the amorous breeze? - A royal bride returning in thy state, - The king of elephants should bear thy weight. - How wilt thou brook the mockery and the scorn - When thou on ['S]IVA'S bull art meanly borne? - Sad that the crescent moon his crest should be: - And shall that mournful fate be shared by thee? - His crest, the glory of the evening skies, - His bride, the moonlight of our wondering eyes! - Deformed is he, his ancestry unknown; - By vilest garb his poverty is shown. - O fawn-eyed lady, how should ['S]IVA gain - That heart for which the glorious strive in vain - No charms hath he to win a maiden's eye: - Cease from thy penance, hush the fruitless sigh! - Unmeet is he thy faithful heart to share, - Child of the Mountain, maid of beauty rare! - Not 'mid the gloomy tombs do sages raise - The holy altar of their prayer and praise." - - Impatient UMÁ listened: the quick blood - Rushed to her temples in an angry flood. - Her quivering lip, her darkly-flashing eye - Told that the tempest of her wrath was nigh. - Proudly she spoke: "How couldst thou tell aright - Of one like ['S]IVA, perfect, infinite? - 'Tis ever thus, the mighty and the just - Are scorned by souls that grovel in the dust. - Their lofty goodness and their motives wise - Shine all in vain before such blinded eyes. - Say who is greater, he who strives for power, - Or he who succours in misfortune's hour? - Refuge of worlds, O how should ['S]IVA deign - To look on men enslaved to paltry gain? - The spring of wealth himself, he careth naught - For the vile treasures that mankind have sought. - His dwelling-place amid the tombs may be, - Yet Monarch of the three great worlds is he. - What though no love his outward form may claim, - The stout heart trembles at his awful name. - Who can declare the wonders of his might? - The Trident-wielding God, who knows aright? - Whether around him deadly serpents twine, - Or if his jewelled wreaths more brightly shine; - Whether in rough and wrinkled hide arrayed, - Or silken robe, in glittering folds displayed; - If on his brow the crescent moon he bear, - Or if a shrunken skull be withering there; - The funeral ashes touched by him acquire - The glowing lustre of eternal fire; - Falling in golden showers, the heavenly maids - Delight to pour them on their shining braids. - What though no treasures fill his storehouse full, - What though he ride upon his horned bull, - Not e'en may INDRA in his pride withhold - The lowly homage that is his of old, - But turns his raging elephant to meet - His mighty Lord, and bows before his feet, - Right proud to colour them rich rosy red - With the bright flowers that deck his prostrate head. - Thy slanderous tongue proclaims thy evil mind, - Yet in thy speech one word of truth we find. - Unknown thou call'st him: how should mortal man - Count when the days of BRAHMÁ'S Lord began? - But cease these idle words: though all be true, - His failings many and his virtues few, - Still clings my heart to him, its chosen lord, - Nor fails nor falters at thy treacherous word. - Dear maiden, bid yon eager boy depart: - Why should the slanderous tale defile his heart? - Most guilty who the faithless speech begins, - But he who stays to listen also sins." - She turned away: with wrath her bosom swelling, - Its vest of bark in angry pride repelling: - But sudden, lo, before her wondering eyes - In altered form she sees the sage arise; - 'Tis ['S]IVA'S self before the astonished maid, - In all his gentlest majesty displayed. - She saw, she trembled, like a river's course, - Checked for a moment in its onward force, - By some huge rock amid the torrent hurled - Where erst the foaming waters madly curled. - One foot uplifted, shall she turn away? - Unmoved the other, shall the maiden stay? - The silver moon on ['S]IVA'S forehead shone, - While softly spake the God in gracious tone: - "O gentle maiden, wise and true of soul, - Lo, now I bend beneath thy sweet control. - Won by thy penance, and thy holy vows, - Thy willing slave ['S]IVA before thee bows." - - He spake, and rushing through her languid frame, - At his dear words returning vigour came. - She knew but this, that all her cares were o'er, - Her sorrows ended, she should weep no more! - - - - -_CANTO SIXTH._ - - - - -Canto Sixth. - -_UMÁ'S ESPOUSALS._ - - - Now gentle UMÁ bade a damsel bear - To ['S]IVA, Soul of All, her maiden prayer: - "Wait the high sanction of HIMÁLAYA'S will, - And ask his daughter from the royal hill." - Then ere the God, her own dear Lord, replied, - In blushing loveliness she sought his side. - Thus the young mango hails the approaching spring - By its own tuneful bird's sweet welcoming. - - In UMÁ'S ear he softly whispered, yea, - Then scarce could tear him from her arms away. - Swift with a thought he summoned from above - The Seven bright Saints to bear his tale of love. - They came, and She, the Heavenly Dame, was there, - Lighting with glories all the radiant air; - Just freshly bathed in sacred GANGÁ'S tide, - Gemmed with the dancing flowers that deck her side, - And richly scented with the nectarous rill - That heavenly elephants from their brows distil. - Fair strings of pearl their radiant fingers hold, - Clothed are their limbs in hermit-coats of gold; - Their rosaries, large gems of countless price, - Shone like the fruit that glows in Paradise, - As though the glorious trees that blossom there - Had sought the forest for a life of prayer. - With all his thousand beams the God of Day, - Urging his coursers down the sloping way, - His banner furled at the approach of night, - Looks up in reverence on those lords of light. - Ancient creators: thus the wise, who know, - Gave them a name in ages long ago: - With BRAHMÁ joining in creation's plan, - And perfecting the work His will began; - Still firm in penance, though the hermit-vow - Bears a ripe harvest for the sages now. - Brightest in glory 'mid that glorious band - See the fair Queen, the Heavenly Lady, stand. - Fixing her loving eyes upon her spouse, - She seemed sent forth to crown the sage's vows - With sweet immortal joy, the dearest prize - Strong prayer could merit from the envious skies. - With equal honour on the Queen and all - Did the kind glance of ['S]IVA'S welcome fall. - No partial favour by the good is shown: - They count not station, but the deed alone. - So fair she shone upon his raptured view, - He longed for wedlock's heavenly pleasures too. - What hath such power to lead the soul above - By virtue's pleasant path as wedded love! - Scarce had the holy motive lent its aid - To knit great ['S]IVA to the Mountain-Maid, - When KÁMA'S spirit that had swooned in fear - Breathed once again and deemed forgiveness near. - - The ancient Sages reverently adored - The world's great Father and its Sovran Lord, - And while a soft ecstatic thrilling ran - O'er their celestial frames, they thus began: - "Glorious the fruit our holy studies bear, - Our constant penance, sacrifice and prayer. - For that high place within thy thoughts we gain - Which fancy strives to reach, but longs in vain. - How blest is he, the glory of the wise, - Deep in whose thoughtful breast thy Godhead lies! - But who may tell his joy who rests enshrined, - O BRAHMÁ'S great Creator, in thy mind! - We dwell on high above the cold moon's ray; - Beneath our mansion glows the God of Day, - But now thy favour lends us brighter beams, - Blest with thy love our star unchanging gleams. - How should we tell what soul-entrancing bliss - Enthrals our spirit at an hour like this? - Great Lord of All, thou Soul of Life indwelling, - We crave one word thy wondrous nature telling. - Though to our eyes thy outward form be shown, - How can we know thee as thou shouldst be known? - In this thy present shape, we pray thee, say - Dost thou create? dost thou preserve or slay? - But speak thy wish; called from our starry rest - We wait, O ['S]IVA, for our Lord's behest" - - Then answered thus the Lord of glory, while - Flashed from his dazzling teeth so white a smile, - The moon that crowned him poured a larger stream - Of living splendour from that pearly gleam: - "Ye know, great Sages of a race divine, - No selfish want e'er prompts a deed of mine. - Do not the forms--eight varied forms--I wear, - The truth of this to all the world declare? - Now, as that thirsty bird that drinks the rain - Prays the kind clouds of heaven to soothe its pain, - So the Gods pray me, trembling 'neath their foe, - To send a child of mine and end their woe. - I seek the Mountain-Maiden as my bride: - Our hero son shall tame the demon's pride. - Thus the priest bids the holy fire arise, - Struck from the wood to aid the sacrifice. - Go, ask HIMÁLAYA for the lovely maid: - Blest are those bridals which the holy aid. - So shall more glorious honours gild my name, - And win the father yet a prouder fame. - Nor, O ye heavenly Sages, need I teach - What for the maiden's hand shall be your speech, - For still the wise in worthiest honour hold - The rules and precepts ye ordained of old. - This Lady too shall aid your mission there: - Best for such task a skilful matron's care. - And now, my heralds, to your task away, - Where proud HIMÁLAYA holds his royal sway; - Then meet me where this mighty torrent raves - Down the steep channel with its headlong waves." - - Thus while that holiest One his love confessed, - The hermits listened: from each saintly breast - Fled the false shame that yet had lingered there, - And love and wedlock showed divinely fair. - - On through the heaven, o'er tracts of swordlike blue, - Towards the gay city, swift as thought, they flew, - Bright with high domes and palaces most fair, - As if proud ALAKÁ were planted there, - Or PARADISE poured forth, in showers that bless, - The rich o'erflowings of its loveliness. - Round lofty towers adorned with gems and gold - Her guardian stream the holy GANGÁ rolled. - On every side, the rampart's glowing crown, - Bright wreaths of fragrant flowers hung waving down,-- - Flowers that might tempt the maids of heavenly birth - To linger fondly o'er that pride of earth. - Its noble elephants, unmoved by fear, - The distant roaring of the lions hear. - In beauty peerless, and unmatched in speed, - Its thousand coursers of celestial breed. - Through the broad streets bright sylphs and minstrels rove: - Its dames are Goddesses of stream and grove. - Hark! the drum echoes louder and more loud - From glittering halls whose spires are wrapt in cloud. - It were the thunder, but that voice of fear - Falls not in measured time upon the ear. - 'Tis balmy cool, for many a heavenly tree, - With quivering leaves and branches waving free, - Sheds a delightful freshness through the air,-- - Fans which no toil of man has stationed there. - The crystal chambers where they feast at night - Flash back the beamings of the starry light. - So brightly pure that silver gleam is shed, - Playing so fondly round each beauteous head, - That all seem gifted from those lights above - With richest tokens of superior love. - How blest its maidens! cloudless is their day, - And radiant herbs illume their nightly way. - No term of days, but endless youth they know; - No Death save him who bears the Flowery Bow: - Their direst swoon, their only frenzy this-- - The trance of love, the ecstasy of bliss! - Ne'er can their lovers for one hour withstand - The frown, the quivering lip, the scornful hand; - But seek forgiveness of the angry fair, - And woo her smile with many an earnest prayer. - Around, wide gardens spread their pleasant bowers, - Where the bright Champac opes her fragrant flowers: - Dear shades, beloved by the sylphs that roam - In dewy evening from their mountain home. - - Ah! why should mortals fondly strive to gain - Heaven and its joys by ceaseless toil and pain? - E'en the Saints envied as their steps drew near, - And owned a brighter heaven was opened here. - They lighted down; braided was each long tress, - Bright as the pictured flame, as motionless. - HIMÁLAYA'S palace-warders in amaze - On the Seven Sages turned their eager gaze,-- - A noble company of celestial race - Where each in order of his years had place,-- - Glorious, as when the sun, his head inclining, - Sees his own image 'mid the waters shining. - To greet them with a gift HIMÁLAYA sped, - Earth to her centre shaking at his tread. - By his dark lips with mountain metals dyed, - His arms like pines that clothe his lofty side: - By his proud stature, by his stony breast, - Lord of the Snowy Hills he stood confest. - On to his Council-hall he led the way, - Nor failed due honour to the Saints to pay. - On couch of reed the Monarch bade them rest, - And thus with uplift hands those Heavenly Lords addressed: - "Like soft rain falling from a cloudless sky, - Or fruit, when bloom has failed to glad the eye, - So are ye welcome, Sages; thus I feel - Ecstatic thrilling o'er my spirit steal, - Changed, like dull senseless iron to burning gold, - Or some rapt creature, when the heavens unfold - To eyes yet dim with tears of earthly care, - The rest, the pleasures, and the glory there. - Long pilgrim bands from this auspicious day - To my pure hill shall bend their constant way. - Famed shall it be o'er all the lands around, - For where the good have been is holy ground. - Now am I doubly pure, for GANGÁ'S tide - Falls on my head from heaven and laves my side. - Henceforth I boast a second stream as sweet, - The water, Sages, that has touched your feet. - Twice by your favour is HIMÁLAYA blest,-- - This towery mountain that your feet have prest, - And this my moving form is happier still - To wait your bidding, to perform your will. - These mighty limbs that fill the heaven's expanse - Sink down, o'erpowered, in a blissful trance. - So bright your presence, at the glorious sight - My brooding shades of darkness turn to light. - The gloom that haunts my mountain caverns flies, - And cloudy passion in the spirit dies. - O say, if here your arrowy course ye sped - To throw fresh glory round my towering head. - Surely your wish, ye Mighty Ones, can crave - No aid, no service from your willing slave. - Yet deem me worthy of some high behest: - The lord commandeth, and the slave is blest. - Declare your pleasure, then, bright heavenly band: - We crave no guerdon but your sole command. - Yours are we all, HIMÁLAYA and his bride, - And this dear maiden child our hope and pride." - - Not once he spake: his cavern mouths around - In hollow echoings gave again the sound. - Of all who speak beyond compare the best, - ANGIRAS answered at the Saints' request: - "This power hast thou, great King, and mightier far, - Thy mind is lofty as thy summits are. - Sages say truly, VISH[N.]U is thy name: - His spirit breatheth in thy mountain frame. - Within the caverns of thy boundless breast - All things that move and all that move not rest. - How on his head so soft, so delicate, - Could the great Snake uphold the huge earth's weight, - Did not thy roots, far-reaching down to hell, - Bear up the burden and assist him well? - Thy streams of praise, thy pure rills' ceaseless flow - Make glad the nations wheresoe'er they go, - Till, shedding purity on every side, - They sink at length in boundless Ocean's tide. - Blest is fair GANGÁ, for her heavenly stream - Flows from the feet of him that sits supreme; - And blest once more, O mighty Hill, is she - That her bright waters spring anew from thee. - Vast grew his body when the avenging God - In three huge strides o'er all creation trod. - Above, below, his form increased, but thou - Wast ever glorious and as vast as now. - By thee is famed SUMERU forced to hide - His flashing rays and pinnacles of pride, - For thou hast won thy station in the skies - 'Mid the great Gods who claim the sacrifice. - Firm and unmoved remains thy lofty hill, - Yet thou canst bow before the holy still. - Now--for the glorious work will fall on thee,-- - Hear thou the cause of this our embassy. - We also, Mountain Monarch, since we bear - To thee the message, in the labour share. - The Highest, Mightiest, Noblest One, adored - By the proud title of our Sovran Lord: - The crescent moon upon his brow bears he, - And wields the wondrous powers of Deity. - He in this earth and varied forms displayed, - Bound each to other by exchange of aid, - Guides the great world and all the things that are, - As flying coursers whirl the glittering car. - Him good men seek with holy thought and prayer, - Who fills their breast and makes his dwelling there. - When saints, we read, his lofty sphere attain, - They ne'er may fall to this base earth again: - His messengers, great King, we crave the hand - Of thy fair daughter at the God's command. - At such blest union, as of TRUTH and VOICE, - A father's heart should grieve not, but rejoice. - Her Lord is Father of the world, and she - Of all that liveth shall the mother be. - Gods that adore him with the Neck of Blue - In homage bent shall hail the Lady too, - And give a glory to her feet with gems - That sparkle in their priceless diadems. - Hear what a roll shall blazon forth thy line,-- - Maid, Father, Suitor, Messengers divine! - Give him the chosen lady, and aspire - To call thy son the Universe's Sire, - Who laudeth none, but all mankind shall raise - To Him through endless time the songs of praise." - - Thus while he spake the lady bent her head - To hide her cheek, now blushing rosy red, - And numbered o'er with seeming care the while - Her lotus' petals in sweet maiden guile. - With pride and joy HIMÁLAYA'S heart beat high, - Yet ere he spake he looked to MENÁ'S eye: - Full well he knew a mother's gentle care - Learns her child's heart and love's deep secret there, - And this the hour, he felt, when fathers seek - Her eye for answer or her changing cheek. - His eager look HIMÁLAYA scarce had bent - When MENÁ'S eye beamed back her glad assent. - O gentle wives! your fondest wish is still - To have with him you love one heart, one will. - - He threw his arms around the blushing maid - In queenly garment and in gems arrayed, - Awhile was silent, then in rapture cried, - "Come, O my daughter! Come, thou destined bride - Of ['S]IVA, Lord of All: this glorious band - Of Saints have sought thee at the God's command; - And I thy sire this happy day obtain - The best reward a father's wish would gain." - Then to the Saints he cried: "Pure Hermits, see - The spouse of ['S]IVA greets your company." - They looked in rapture on the maid, and poured - Their fullest blessing on her heavenly lord. - So low she bowed, the gems that decked her hair - And sparkled in her ear fell loosened there; - Then with sweet modesty and joy opprest - She hid her blushes on the Lady's breast, - Who cheered the mother weeping for her child, - Her own dear UMÁ, till again she smiled: - Such bliss and glory should be hers above, - Yea, mighty ['S]IVA'S undivided love. - - They named the fourth for UMÁ'S nuptial day; - Then sped the Sages on their homeward way; - And thanked by ['S]IVA with a gracious eye - Sought their bright rest amid the stars on high. - Through all those weary days the lover sighed - To wind his fond arms round his gentle bride. - Oh, if the Lord of Heaven could find no rest, - Think, think how Love, strong Love, can tear a mortal's breast! - - - - -_CANTO SEVENTH._ - - - - -Canto Seventh. - -_UMÁ'S BRIDAL._ - - - In light and glory dawned the expected day - Blest with a kindly star's auspicious ray, - When gaily gathered at HIMÁLAYA'S call - His kinsmen to the solemn festival. - Through the broad city every dame's awake - To grace the bridal for her monarch's sake; - So great their love for him, this single care - Makes one vast household of the thousands there. - Heaven is not brighter than the royal street - Where flowers lie scattered 'neath the nobles' feet, - And banners waving to the breeze unfold - Their silken broidery over gates of gold. - And she, their child, upon her bridal day - Bears her dear parents' every thought away. - So, when from distant shores a friend returns, - With deeper love each inmost spirit burns. - So, when grim Death restores his prey again - Joy brighter shines from memory of pain. - Each noble matron of HIMÁLAYA'S race - Folds his dear UMÁ in a long embrace, - Pours blessings on her head, and prays her take - Some priceless jewel for her friendship's sake. - With sweetest influence a star of power - Had joined the spotted moon: at that blest hour - To deck fair UMÁ many a noble dame - And many a gentle maid assiduous came. - And well she graced their toil, more brightly fair - With feathery grass and wild flowers in her hair. - A silken robe flowed free below her waist; - Her sumptuous head a glittering arrow graced. - So shines the young unclouded moon at last, - Greeting the sun, its darksome season past. - Sweet-scented Lodhra dust and Sandal dyed - The delicate beauties of the fair young bride, - Veiled with a soft light robe. Her tiring-girls - Then led her to a chamber decked with pearls - And paved with sapphires, where the lulling sound - Of choicest music breathed divinely round. - There o'er the lady's limbs they poured by turns - Streams of pure water from their golden urns. - Fresh from the cooling bath the lovely maid - In fairest white her tender form arrayed. - So opens the Kása all her shining flowers - Lured from their buds by softly falling showers. - Then to a court with canopies o'erhead - A crowd of noble dames the maiden led-- - A court for solemn rites, where gems and gold - Adorn the pillars that the roof uphold. - There on a couch they set her with her face - Turned toward the east. So lovely then the grace - Of that dear maid, so ravishing her smile, - E'en her attendants turned to gaze awhile; - For though the brightest gems around her lay, - Her brighter beauty stole their eyes away. - Through her long tresses one a chaplet wound, - And one with fragrant grass her temples crowned, - While o'er her head sweet clouds of incense rolled - To try and perfume every shining fold. - Bright dyes of saffron and the scented wood - Adorned her beauty, till the maiden stood - Fairer than GANGÁ when the Love-birds play - O'er sandy islets in her silvery bay. - To what rare beauty shall her maids compare - Her clear brow shaded by her glossy hair? - Less dazzling pure the lovely lotus shines - Flecked by the thronging bees in dusky lines. - Less bright the moon, when a dark band of cloud - Enhances beauties which it cannot shroud. - Behind her ear a head of barley drew - The eye to gaze upon its golden hue. - But then her cheek, with glowing saffron dyed, - To richer beauty called the glance aside. - Though from those lips, where Beauty's guerdon lay, - The vermeil tints were newly washed away, - Yet o'er them, as she smiled, a ray was thrown - Of quivering brightness that was all their own. - - "Lay this dear foot upon thy lover's head - Crowned with the moon," the laughing maiden said, - Who dyed her lady's feet--no word spake she, - But beat her with her wreath in playful glee. - Then tiring-women took the jetty dye - To guard, not deck, the beauty of her eye, - Whose languid half-shut glances might compare - With lotus leaves just opening to the air; - And as fresh gems adorned her neck and arms, - So quickly changing grew the maiden's charms, - Like some fair plant where bud succeeding bud - Unfolds new beauty; or a silver flood - Where gay birds follow quickly; or like night, - When crowding stars come forth in all their light. - Oft as the mirror would her glance beguile - She longed to meet her Lord's approving smile. - Her tasteful skill the timid maid essays - To win one smile of love, one word of praise. - - The happy mother took the golden dye - And raised to hers young UMÁ'S beaming eye. - Then swelled her bosom with maternal pride - As thus she decked her darling for a bride. - Oh, she had longed to trace on that fair brow - The nuptial line, yet scarce could mark it now. - On UMÁ'S rounded arm the woollen band - Was fixt securely by the nurse's hand. - Blind with the tears that filled her swimming eye, - In vain the mother strove that band to tie. - Spotless as curling foam-flakes stood she there, - As yielding soft, as graceful and as fair: - Or like the glory of an autumn night - Robed by the full moon in a veil of light. - Then at her mother's hest, the maid adored - The spirit of each high ancestral lord, - Nor failed she next the noble dames to greet, - And give due honour to their reverend feet. - They raised the maiden as she bowed her head: - "Thine be the fulness of his love!" they said. - Half of his being, blessing high as this - Can add no rapture to her perfect bliss. - Well-pleased HIMÁLAYA viewed the pomp and pride - Meet for his daughter, meet for ['S]IVA'S bride; - Then sought the hall with all his friends to wait - The bridegroom's coming with a monarch's state. - - Meanwhile by heavenly matrons' care displayed - Upon KUVERA'S lofty mount were laid - The ornaments of ['S]IVA, which of yore - At his first nuptials the bridegroom wore. - He laid his hand upon the dress, but how - Shall robes so sad, so holy, grace him now? - His own dire vesture took a shape as fair - As gentle bridegroom's heart could wish to wear. - The withering skull that glazed the eye with dread, - Shone a bright coronal to grace his head. - That elephant's hide the God had worn of old - Was now a silken robe inwrought with gold. - Ere this his body was with dust besprent: - With unguent now it shed delightful scent; - And that mid-eye which glittering like a star - Shot the wild terror of its glance afar-- - So softly now its golden radiance beamed-- - A mark of glory on his forehead seemed. - His twining serpents, destined still to be - The pride and honour of the deity, - Changed but their bodies: in each sparkling crest - The blazing gems still shone their loveliest. - What need of jewels on the brow of Him - Who wears the crescent moon? No spot may dim - Its youthful beauty, e'en in light of day - Shedding the glory of its quenchless ray. - Well-pleased the God in all his pride arrayed - Saw his bright image mirrored in the blade - Of the huge sword they brought; then calmly leant - On NANDI'S arm, and toward his bull he went, - Whose broad back covered with a tiger's hide - Was steep to climb as Mount KAILÁSA'S side. - Yet the dread monster humbly shrank for fear, - And bowed in reverence as his Lord drew near. - The matrons followed him, a saintly throng, - Their ear-rings waving as they dashed along: - Sweet faces, with such glories round them shed - As made the air one lovely lotus bed. - On flew those bright ones: KÁLI came behind, - The skulls that decked her rattling in the wind: - Like the dark rack that scuds across the sky, - With herald lightning and the crane's shrill cry. - - Hark! from the glorious bands that lead the way, - Harp, drum, and pipe, and shrilling trumpet's bray, - Burst through the sky upon the startled ear - And tell the Gods the hour of worship's near. - They came; the SUN presents a silken shade - Which heaven's own artist for the God had made, - Gilding his brows, as though bright GANGÁ rolled - Adown his holy head her waves of gold. - She in her Goddess-shape divinely fair, - And YAMUNÁ, sweet river-Nymph, were there, - Fanning their Lord, that fancy still might deem - Swans waved their pinions round each Lady of the Stream. - E'en BRAHMÁ came, Creator, Lord of Might, - And VISH[N.]U glowing from the realms of light. - "Ride on," they cried, "thine, thine for ever be - The strength, the glory, and the victory." - To swell his triumph that high blessing came - Like holy oil upon the rising flame. - In those Three Persons the one God was shown, - Each first in place, each last,--not one alone; - Of ['S]IVA, VISH[N.]U, BRAHMÁ, each may be - First, second, third, among the Blessed Three. - By INDRA led, each world-upholding Lord - With folded hands the mighty God adored. - In humble robes arrayed, the pomp and pride - Of glorious deity they laid aside. - They signed to NANDI, and the favourite's hand - Guided his eye upon the suppliant band. - He spake to VISH[N.]U, and on INDRA smiled, - To BRAHMÁ bowed--the lotus' mystic child. - On all the hosts of heaven his friendly eye - Beamed duly welcome as they crowded nigh. - The Seven Great Saints their blessings o'er him shed, - And thus in answer, with a smile, he said: - "Hail, mighty Sages! hail, ye Sons of Light! - My chosen priests to celebrate this rite." - Now in sweet tones the heavenly minstrels tell - His praise, beneath whose might TRIPURA fell. - He moves to go: from his moon-crest a ray - Sheds quenchless light on his triumphant way. - On through the air his swift bull bore him well, - Decked with the gold of many a tinkling bell; - Tossing from time to time his head on high, - Enwreathed with clouds as he flew racing by, - As though in furious charge he had uptorn - A bank of clay upon his mighty horn. - - Swiftly they came where in its beauty lay - The city subject to HIMÁLAYA'S sway. - No foeman's foot had ever trod those halls, - No foreign bands encamped around the walls. - Then ['S]IVA'S glances fixed their eager hold - On that fair city as with threads of gold. - The God whose neck still gleams with cloudy blue - Burst on the wondering people's upturned view, - And on the earth descended, from the path - His shafts once dinted in avenging wrath. - Forth from the gates a noble army poured - To do meet honour to the mighty Lord. - With all his friends on elephants of state - The King of Mountains passed the city gate, - So gaily decked, the princes all were seen - Like moving hills inwrapt in bowery green. - As the full rushing of two streams that pour - Beneath one bridge with loud tumultuous roar, - So through the city's open gate streamed in - Mountains and Gods with tumult and with din. - So glorious was the sight, wonder and shame, - When ['S]IVA bowed him, o'er the Monarch came; - He knew not he had bent his lofty crest - In reverent greeting to his heavenly guest - HIMÁLAYA, joying in the festive day, - Before the immortal bridegroom led the way - Where heaps of gay flowers burying half the feet - Lay breathing odours through the crowded street. - Careless of all beside, each lady's eye - Must gaze on ['S]IVA as the troop sweeps by. - One dark-eyed beauty will not stay to bind - Her long black tresses, floating unconfined - Save by her little hand; her flowery crown - Hanging neglected and unfastened down. - One from her maiden tore her foot away - On which the dye, all wet and streaming, lay, - And o'er the chamber rushing in her haste, - Where'er she stepped, a crimson footprint traced. - Another at the window takes her stand; - One eye is dyed,--the pencil in her hand. - Here runs an eager maid, and running, holds - Loose and ungirt her flowing mantle's folds, - Whilst, as she strives to close the parting vest, - Its brightness gives new beauty to her breast. - Oh! what a sight! the crowded windows there - With eager faces excellently fair, - Like sweetest lilies, for their dark eyes fling - Quick glances quivering like the wild bee's wing. - - Onward in peerless glory ['S]IVA passed; - Gay banners o'er his way their shadows cast, - Each palace dome, each pinnacle and height - Catching new lustre from his crest of light. - On swept the pageant: on the God alone - The eager glances of the dames were thrown; - On his bright form they fed the rapturous gaze, - And only turned to marvel and to praise: - "Oh, well and wisely, such a lord to gain - The Mountain-Maid endured the toil and pain. - To be his slave were joy; but Oh, how blest - The wife--the loved one--lying on his breast! - Surely in vain, had not the Lord of Life - Matched this fond bridegroom and this loving wife, - Had been his wish to give the worlds a mould - Of perfect beauty! Falsely have they told - How the young flower-armed God was burnt by fire - At the red flash of ['S]IVA'S vengeful ire. - No: jealous LOVE a fairer form confessed, - And cast away his own, no more the loveliest. - How glorious is the Mountain King, how proud - Earth's stately pillar, girt about with cloud! - Now will he lift his lofty head more high, - Knit close to ['S]IVA by this holy tie." - - Such words of praise from many a bright-eyed dame - On ['S]IVA'S ear with soothing witchery came. - Through the broad streets 'mid loud acclaim he rode, - And reached the palace where the King abode. - There he descended from his monster's side, - As the sun leaves a cloud at eventide. - Leaning on VISH[N.]U'S arm he passed the door - Where mighty BRAHMÁ entered in before. - Next INDRA came, and all the host of heaven, - The noble Saints and those great Sages seven. - Then led they ['S]IVA to a royal seat; - Fair gifts they brought, for such a bridegroom meet: - With all due rites, the honey and the milk, - Rich gems were offered and two robes of silk. - - At length by skilful chamberlains arrayed - They led the lover to the royal maid. - Thus the fond Moon disturbs the tranquil rest - Of Ocean glittering with his foamy crest, - And leads him on, his proud waves swelling o'er, - To leap with kisses on the clasping shore. - He gazed on UMÁ. From his lotus eyes - Flashed out the rapture of his proud surprise. - Then calm the current of his spirit lay - Like the world basking in an autumn day. - They met; and true love's momentary shame - O'er the blest bridegroom and his darling came. - Eye looked to eye, but, quivering as they met, - Scarce dared to trust the rapturous gazing yet. - In the God's hand the priest has duly laid - The radiant fingers of the Mountain-Maid, - Bright, as if LOVE with his dear sprays of red - Had sought that refuge in his hour of dread. - From hand to hand the soft infection stole, - Till each confessed it in the inmost soul. - Fire filled his veins, with joy she trembled; such - The magic influence of that thrilling touch. - - How grows their beauty, when two lovers stand - Eye fixt on eye, hand fondly linkt in hand! - Then how, unblamed, may mortal minstrel dare - To paint in words the beauty of that pair! - Around the fire in solemn rite they trod, - The lovely lady and the glorious God; - Like day and starry midnight when they meet - In the broad plains at lofty MERU'S feet. - Thrice at the bidding of the priest they came - With swimming eyes around the holy flame. - Then at his word the bride in order due - Into the blazing fire the parched grain threw, - And toward her face the scented smoke she drew, - Which softly wreathing o'er her fair cheek hung, - And round her ears in flower-like beauty clung. - As o'er the incense the sweet lady stooped, - The ear of barley from her tresses drooped, - And rested on her cheek, beneath the eye - Still brightly beaming with the jetty dye. - - "This flame be witness of your wedded life: - Be just, thou husband, and be true, thou wife!" - Such was the priestly blessing on the bride. - Eager she listened, as the earth when dried - By parching summer suns drinks deeply in - The first soft droppings when the rains begin. - - "Look, gentle UMÁ," cried her Lord, "afar - Seest thou the brightness of yon polar star? - Like that unchanging ray thy faith must shine." - Sobbing, she whispered, "Yes, for ever thine." - - The rite is o'er. Her joyful parents now - At BRAHMÁ'S feet in duteous reverence bow. - Then to fair UMÁ spake the gracious Power - Who sits enthroned upon the lotus flower: - "O beautiful lady, happy shalt thou be, - And hero children shall be born of thee;" - Then looked in silence: vain the hope to bless - The bridegroom, ['S]IVA, with more happiness. - - Then from the altar, as prescribed of old, - They turned, and rested upon seats of gold; - And, as the holy books for men ordain, - Were sprinkled duly with the moistened grain. - High o'er their heads sweet Beauty's Queen displayed - Upon a stem of reed a cool green shade, - While the young lotus-leaves of which 'twas made - Seemed, as they glistened to the wondering view, - All richly pearled with drops of beady dew. - In twofold language on each glorious head - The Queen of Speech her richest blessings shed; - In strong, pure, godlike utterance for his ear, - To her in liquid tones, soft, beautifully clear. - - Now for awhile they gaze where maids divine - In graceful play the expressive dance entwine; - Whose eloquent motions, with an actor's art, - Show to the life the passions of the heart. - - The rite was ended; then the heavenly band - Prayed ['S]IVA, raising high the suppliant hand: - "Now, for the dear sake of thy lovely bride, - Have pity on the gentle God," they cried, - "Whose tender body thy fierce wrath has slain: - Give all his honour, all his might again." - Well pleased, he smiled, and gracious answer gave: - ['S]IVA himself now yields him KÁMA'S slave. - When duly given, the great will ne'er despise - The gentle pleading of the good and wise. - - Now have they left the wedded pair alone; - And ['S]IVA takes her hand within his own - To lead his darling to the bridal bower, - Decked with bright gold and all her sumptuous dower. - She blushes sweetly as her maidens there - Look with arch smiles and glances on the pair; - And for one moment, while the damsels stay, - From him she loves turns her dear face away. - - - - -NOTES. - - -_CANTO FIRST._ - -The Hindú Deity of War, the leader of the celestial armies, is known -by the names Kártikeya and Skanda. He is represented with six faces -and corresponding arms, and is mounted upon a peacock. - -_Himálaya._] Mansion of Snow; from _hima_, snow, and _álaya_, mansion. -The accent is on the _second_ syllable. - -_Prithu._] It is said that in the reign of this fabulous monarch, -gods, saints, demons, and other supernatural beings, drained or -_milked_ from the earth various treasures, appointing severally one of -their own class as the recipient, or _Calf_, to use the word of the -legend. Himálaya was thus highly favoured by the sacred Mount Meru, -and the other hills. The story is found in the sixth chapter of the -_Harivansa_, which forms a supplement to the _Mahabhárat_. - -_Still the fair pearls_, &c.] It was the belief of the Hindús that -elephants wore these precious jewels in their heads. - -_Till heavenly minstrels_, &c.] A class of demi-gods, the songsters of -the Hindú Paradise, or Indra's heaven. - -_There magic herbs_, &c.] Frequent allusion is made by Kálidás and -other Sanskrit poets to a phosphoric light emitted by plants at night. - -_E'en the wild kine_, &c.] The _Chouri_, or long brush, used to whisk -off insects and flies, was with the Hindús what the sceptre is with -us. It was usually made of the tail-hairs of the _Yak_, or _Bos -Grunniens_. Thus the poet represents these animals as doing honour to -the Monarch of Mountains with these emblems of sovereignty. - -_That the bright Seven._] The Hindús call the constellation _Ursa -Major_ the seven Rishis, or Saints. They will appear as actors in the -course of the poem. - -_And once when Indra's might._] We learn from the _Rámáyana_ that the -mountains were originally furnished with wings, and that they flew -through the air with the speed of the wind. For fear lest they should -suddenly fall in their flight, Indra, King of the Gods, struck off -their pinions with his thunderbolt; but Maináka was preserved from a -similar fate by the friendship of Ocean, to whom he fled for refuge. - -_Born once again_, &c.] The reader will remember the Hindú belief in -the Transmigration of Souls. The story alluded to by the poet is -this:--"_Daksha_ was the son of _Brahmá_ and father of _Satí_, whom, -at the recommendation of the _Rishis_, or Sages, he espoused to -_['S]iva_, but he was never wholly reconciled to the uncouth figure -and practices of his son-in-law. Having undertaken to celebrate a -solemn sacrifice, he invited all the Gods except _['S]iva_, which so -incensed _Satí_, that she threw herself into the sacrificial -fire."--(Wilson, Specimens of Hindú Theatre, Vol. II. p. 263.) The -name of _Satí_, meaning good, true, chaste woman, is the modern -_Suttee_, as it is corruptly written. - -_As the blue offspring of the Turquois Hills._] These hills are placed -in Ceylon. The precious stone grows, it is said, at the sound of -thunder in the rainy season. - -_At her stern penance._] This is described in the fifth canto. The -meaning of the name Umá is "Oh, do not." - -_The Gods' bright river._] The celestial Ganges, which falls from -heaven upon Himálaya's head, and continues its course on earth. - -_Young Káma's arrow._] Káma, the Hindú Cupid, is armed with a bow, the -arrows of which are made of flowers. - -_And brighter than A['s]oka's rich leaves._] Nothing, we are told, can -exceed the beauty of this tree when in full bloom. It is, of course, a -general favourite with the poets of India. - -_The strings of pearl._] - - "Then, too, the pearl from out its shell - Unsightly, in the sunless sea - (As 'twere a spirit, forced to dwell - In form unlovely) _was set free_, - And round the neck of woman threw - _A light it lent and borrowed too_." - MOORE--_Loves of the Angels._ - -Moore is frequently the best interpreter, unconsciously, of an Indian -poet's thought. It is worth remarking, that the Sanskrit word _muktá_, -pearl (literally _freed_), signifies also the _spirit_ released from -mundane existence, and re-integrated with its divine original. - -_The sweetest note that e'er the Köil poured._] The _Kokila_, or -_Köil_, the black or Indian cuckoo, is the bulbul or nightingale of -Hindústan. It is also the herald of spring, like its European -namesake, and the female bird is the especial messenger of Love. - -_When holy Nárad._] A divine sage, son of Brahmá. - -_The holy bull._] The animal on which the God ['S]iva rides, as Indra -on the elephant. - -_Who takes eight various forms._] ['S]iva is called Wearer of the -Eight Forms, as being identical with the Five Elements, Mind, -Individuality, and Crude Matter. - -_Where the pale moon on ['S]iva's forehead._] ['S]iva's crest is the -new moon, which is sometimes described as forming a third eye in his -forehead. We shall find frequent allusions to this in the course of -the poem. - - -_CANTO SECOND._ - -_While impious Tárak._] A demon who, by a long course of austerities, -had acquired power even over the Gods. This Hindú notion is familiar -to most of us from Southey's "Curse of Keháma." - -_Whose face turns every way._] Brahmá is represented with four faces, -one towards each point of the compass. - -_The mystic Three._] "The triad of qualities," a philosophical term -familiar to all the systems of Hindú speculation. They are thus -explained in the _Tattwa Samása_, a text-book of the Sánkhya -school:--"Now it is asked, What is the 'triad of qualities'? It is -replied, The triad of qualities consists of 'Goodness,' 'Foulness,' -and 'Darkness.' By the 'triad of qualities' is meant the 'three -qualities.' Goodness is endlessly diversified, accordingly as it is -exemplified in calmness, lightness, complacency, attainment of wishes, -kindliness, contentment, patience, joy, and the like; summarily, it -consists of happiness. 'Foulness' is endlessly diversified, -accordingly as it is exemplified in grief, distress, separation, -excitement, anxiety, fault-finding, and the like; summarily, it -consists of pain. 'Darkness' is endlessly diversified, accordingly as -it is exemplified in envelopment, ignorance, disgust, abjectness, -heaviness, sloth, drowsiness, intoxication, and the like; summarily, -it consists of delusion." - -_Thou, when a longing_, &c.] "Having divided his own substance, the -mighty power became half male, half female, or _nature active and -passive_."--_Manu_, Ch. I. - -So also in the old Orphic hymn it is said, - - [Greek: Zeus arsên geneto, Zeus ambrotos epleto numphê.] - "Zeus was a male; Zeus was a deathless damsel." - -_The sacred hymns._] Contained in the Vedas, or Holy Scriptures of the -Hindús. - -_The word of praise._] The mystic syllable OM, prefacing all the -prayers and most of the writings of the Hindús. It implies the Indian -triad, and expresses the Three in One. - -_They hail thee, Nature._] The object of Nature's activity, according -to the Sánkhya system, is "the final liberation of individual soul." -"The incompetency of nature, an irrational principle, to institute a -course of action for a definite purpose, and the unfitness of rational -soul to regulate the acts of an agent whose character it imperfectly -apprehends, constitute a principal argument with the theistical -Sánkhyas for the necessity of a Providence, to whom the ends of -existence are known, and by whom Nature is guided.... The atheistical -Sánkhyas, on the other hand, contend that there is no occasion for a -guiding Providence, but that the activity of nature, for the purpose -of accomplishing soul's object, is an intuitive necessity, as -illustrated in the following passage:--As it is a function of milk, an -unintelligent (substance), to nourish the calf, so it is the office of -the chief principle (nature) to liberate the soul."--Prof. Wilson's -_Sánkhya Káriká_. - -_Hail Thee the stranger Spirit_, &c.] "Soul is witness, solitary, -bystander, spectator, passive."--_Sánkh. Kár._ verse xix. - -_See, Varun's noose._] The God of Water. - -_Weak is Kuvera's hand._] The God of Wealth. - -_Yama's sceptre._] The God and Judge of the Dead. - -_The Lords of Light._] The Ádityas, twelve in number, are forms of the -sun, and appear to represent him as distinct in each month of the -year. - -_The Rudras._] A class of demi-gods, eleven in number, said to be -inferior manifestations of ['S]iva, who also bears this name. - -_E'en as on earth_, &c.] Thus the commandment,--Thou shalt not kill, -is abrogated by the injunction to kill animals for sacrifice. - -_The heavenly Teacher._] Vrihaspati, the son of Angiras. - -_His own dear flower._] The lotus, on which Brahmá is represented -reclining. - -_Their flashing jewels._] According to the Hindú belief, serpents wear -precious jewels in their heads. - -_Chakra._] A discus, or quoit, the weapon of Vishnu. - -_As water bears to me._] "HE, having willed to produce various beings -from his own divine substance, first with a thought created the -waters, and placed in them a productive seed."--_Manu_, Ch. I. - -_Mournful braids._] As a sign of mourning, especially for the loss of -their husbands, the Hindústáni women collect their long hair into a -braid, called in Sanskrit _ve[n.]i_. - -_The mango twig._] We shall meet with several allusions to this tree -as the favourite of Love and the darling of the bees. - - -_CANTO THIRD._ - -_Who angers thee, &c._] To understand properly this speech of Káma, it -is necessary to be acquainted with some of the Hindú notions regarding -a future state. "The highest kind of happiness is absorption into the -divine essence, or the return of that portion of spirit which is -combined with the attributes of humanity to its original source. This -happiness, according to the philosopher, is to be obtained only by the -most perfect abstraction from the world and freedom from passion, even -while in a state of terrestrial existence.... Besides this ultimate -felicity, the Hindús have several minor degrees of happiness, amongst -which is the enjoyment of Indra's Swarga, or, in fact, of a Muhammadan -Paradise. The degree and duration of the pleasures of this paradise -are proportioned to the merits of those admitted to it; and they who -have enjoyed this lofty region of Swarga, but whose virtue is -exhausted, revisit the habitation of mortals."--Prof. Wilson's _Megha -Dúta_. Compare also "The Lord's Song."--_Specimens of Old Indian -Poetry_, pp. 67, 68. - -Indra, therefore, may be supposed to feel jealous whenever a human -being aspires to something higher than that heaven of which he is the -Lord. - -The "chain of birth" alluded to is of course the metempsychosis, or -transmigration of souls, a belief which is not to be looked upon (says -Prof. Wilson in the preface to his edition of the _Sánkhya Káriká_) as -a mere popular superstition. It is the main principle of all Hindú -metaphysics; it is the foundation of all Hindú philosophy. The great -object of their philosophical research in every system, Brahminical -or Buddhist, is the discovery of the means of putting a stop to -further transmigration; the discontinuance of corporeal being; the -liberation of soul from body. - -_As on that Snake._] Sesha, the Serpent King, is in the Hindú -mythology the supporter of the earth, as, in one of the fictions of -the Edda,-- - - "That sea-snake, tremendous curled, - Whose monstrous circle girds the world." - -He is also the couch and canopy of the God Vishnu, or, as he -is here called, Krish[n.]a,--that hero being one of his incarnations, -and considered identical with the deity himself. - -_The threefold world._] Earth, heaven, and hell. - -_His fearful Rati._] The wife of Káma, or Love. - -_To where Kuvera &c._] The demi-god Kuvera was regent -of the north. - -_Nor waited for the maiden's touch._] Referring to the Hindú -notion that the A['s]oka blossoms at the touch of a woman's -foot. So Shelley says, - - "I doubt not, the flowers of that garden sweet - Rejoiced in the sound of her gentle feet." - _Sensitive Plant._ - -_Grouping the syllables._] This comparison seems forced rather too far -to suit a European taste. Kálidás is not satisfied with calling the -mango-spray the Arrow of Love; he must tell us that its leaves are the -feathers, and that the bees have marked it with the owner's name. - -_That loveliest flower._] The Karnikára. - -_His flowery Tilaka._] The name of a tree; it also means a mark made -with coloured earths or unguents upon the forehead and between the -eyebrows, either as an ornament or a sectarial distinction; the poet -intends the word to convey both ideas at once here. In this passage is -another comparison of the mango-spray: it is called the _lip_ of Love; -its _rouge_ is the blush of morning, and its darker beautifying powder -the clustering bees. From the universal custom of dying the lips, the -Sanskrit poets are constantly speaking of their "vermeil tints," &c., -as will be sufficiently evident in the course of this work. - -_The Hermit's servant._] By name Nandi. - -_His neck of brightly-beaming blue._] An ancient legend tells us that -after the deluge the ocean was churned by Gods and demons, in order to -recover the Amrit and other treasures that had been lost in it:-- - - "Then loud and long a joyous sound - Rang through the startled sky: - 'Hail to the Amrit, lost and found!' - A thousand voices cry. - But from the wondrous churning streamed - A poison fierce and dread, - Burning like fire: where'er it streamed - Thick noisome mists were spread. - The wanting venom onwards went, - And filled the Worlds with fear, - Till Brahmá to their misery bent - His gracious pitying ear; - And ['S]iva those destroying streams - Drank up at Brahmá's beck. - Still in thy throat the dark flood gleams, - God of the azure neck!" - Specimens of Old Indian Poetry--_Churning of the Ocean._ - -_Gates of sense._] The eyes, ears, &c. - - -_CANTO FOURTH._ - -_Late, dim, and joyless shall his rising be._] The Moon, in Hindú -mythology, is a male deity. - -_This line of bees._] Káma's bow is sometimes represented as strung in -this extraordinary manner. - -_And stain this foot._] "Staining the soles of the feet with a red -colour, derived from the Mehndee, the Lac, &c., is a favourite -practice of the Hindú toilet."--WILSON. - - -_CANTO FIFTH._ - -_And worn with resting on her rosary._] The Hindús use their rosaries -much as we do, carrying them in their hands or on their wrists. As -they turn them over, they repeat an inaudible prayer, or the name of -the particular deity they worship, as Vish[n.]u or S'iva. The -_Rudrákshá málá_ (which we may suppose Umá to have used) is a string -of the seeds or berries of the Eleocarpus, and especially dedicated to -S'iva. It should contain 108 berries or beads, each of which is -fingered with the mental repetition of one of S'iva's 108 -appellations. - -_Not e'en her boy._] Kártikeya, the God of War. - -_Of those poor birds._] The Chakraváki. These birds are always -observed to fly in pairs during the day, but are supposed to remain -separate during the night. - -_That friendship soon in gentle heart is bred._] - - "Amor in cor gentil ratto s'apprende." - DANTE. - - -_CANTO SIXTH._ - -_The Heavenly Dame._] Arundhatí, wife of one of the Seven Saints. - -_The Boar._] An Avatár, or incarnation of Vish[n.]u. In this form he -preserved the world at the deluge. - -_That thirsty bird._] The Chátaka, supposed to drink nothing but -rain-water. - -_Proud Alaká._] The capital of Kuvera, the God of Wealth. - -_The bright Champac._] - - "The maid of India blest again to hold - In her broad lap the Champac's leaves of gold." - _Lalla Rookh._ - -_Angiras._] One of the Seven Saints; the father of Vrihaspati, the -teacher of the gods. - -_Vast grew his body._] Alluding to the Vámana, or Dwarf Avatár of -Vish[n.]u, wrought to restrain the pride of the giant Bali, who had -expelled the Gods from heaven. In that form he presented himself -before the giant, and asked him for three paces of land to build a -hut. Bali ridiculed and granted the request. The dwarf immediately -grew to a prodigious size, so that he measured the earth with one -pace, and the heavens with another. - -_Sumeru._] Another name of the sacred Mount Meru; or rather the same -word, with su, good, prefixed. - - -_CANTO SEVENTH._ - -_Kailása's side._] A mountain, the fabulous residence of Kuvera, and -favourite haunt of S'iva, placed by the Hindús among the Himálayas. - -_Kalí came behind._] The name of one of the divine matrons. The word -also signifies in Sanskrit a row or succession of clouds, suggesting -the comparison which follows. - -_In twofold language._] In Sanskrit and Prakrit. The latter is a -softened modification of the former, to which it bears the same -relation as Italian to Latin; it is spoken by the female characters -of the Hindú drama. - - - - THE END. - - - PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO. - EDINBURGH AND LONDON - - - - - TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES - - -1. Passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_. - -2. For this text version the Greek letters have been replaced with -transliterations in brackets [Greek:] using English alphabet table, -without diacritical marks. - -3. The following words use accented characters in the original: - ['S]iva has S with an acute - A['s]oka has s with an acute - Vish[n.]u has n with with dot below - Krish[n.]a has n with with dot below - ve[n.]i has n with with dot below - -4. Other than the changes listed above, printer's inconsistencies -in spelling, punctuation, hyphenation, and ligature usage have been -retained. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Birth of the War-God, by Kalidasa - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BIRTH OF THE WAR-GOD *** - -***** This file should be named 31968-8.txt or 31968-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/9/6/31968/ - -Produced by David Edwards and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was -produced from scanned images of public domain material -from the Google Print project.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Birth of the War-God - A Poem by Kalidasa - -Author: Kalidasa - -Translator: Ralph T. H. Griffith - -Release Date: April 12, 2010 [EBook #31968] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BIRTH OF THE WAR-GOD *** - - - - -Produced by David Edwards and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was -produced from scanned images of public domain material -from the Google Print project.) - - - - - - -</pre> - - - -<h2><small>THE</small><br /> - -<big>BIRTH OF THE WAR-GOD.</big><br /><br /></h2> - -<h3><i>A POEM BY KÁLIDÁSA.</i><br /><br /></h3> - -<h3>Translated from the Sanskrit into English Verse</h3> - -<h5>BY</h5> - -<h3><big>RALPH T. H. GRIFFITH, M.A.</big><br /> - -<small>PRINCIPAL OF BENARES COLLEGE.</small><br /><br /></h3> - -<h3>Second Edition.<br /><br /></h3> - -<h3>LONDON:<br /> - -TRÜBNER & CO., LUDGATE HILL.<br /> - -<small>1879.<br /> - -[<i>All rights reserved.</i>]</small></h3> - - -<hr style="width: 65%;" /> -<h5>TRÜBNER'S</h5> - -<h4>ORIENTAL SERIES.<br /> - -V.</h4> - - - -<hr style="width: 65%;" /> -<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg vii]</span></p> -<h2>PREFACE.</h2> - - -<p>Of the history of <span class="smcap">Kálidása</span>, to whom by general assent -the <span class="smcap">Kumára Sambhava</span>, or <span class="smcap">Birth of the War-God</span>, -is attributed, we know but little with any certainty; we can only gather -from a memorial-verse which enumerates their names, that he was one of the -'Nine Precious Stones' that shone at the Court of <span class="smcap">Vikramáditya</span>, -King of <span class="smcap">Oujein</span>, in the half century immediately preceding the -Christian era.<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> -As the examination of arguments for and against the correctness of -this date is not likely to interest general readers, I must request -them to rest satisfied with the belief that about the time when <span class="smcap">Virgil</span> -and <span class="smcap">Horace</span> were shedding an undying lustre upon the reign of <span class="smcap">Augustus</span>, -our poet <span class="smcap">Kálidása</span> lived, loved, and sang, giving and -taking honour, at the polished court of the no less munificent patron -of Sanskrit literature, at the period of its highest perfection.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg viii]</span>Little as we know of Indian poetry, here and there an -English reader may be found, who is not entirely unacquainted with the -name or works of the author of the beautiful dramas of <span -class="smcap">Sakontalá</span> and <span class="smcap">The Hero and the Nymph</span>, the former -of which has long enjoyed an European celebrity in the translation of -<span class="smcap">Sir William Jones</span>, and the latter is one of the most charming of -<span class="smcap">Professor Wilson's</span> specimens of the Hindú -Theatre; here and there even in England may be found a lover of the -graceful, tender, picturesque, and fanciful, who knows something, and -would gladly know more, of the sweet poet of the <span class="smcap">Cloud Messenger</span>, and -<span class="smcap">The Seasons</span>; whilst in Germany he has been deeply studied in the -original, and enthusiastically admired in translation,—not the -Orientalist merely, but the poet, the critic, the natural philosopher,—a -<span class="smcap">Goethe</span>, a <span class="smcap">Schlegel</span>, a <span class="smcap">Humboldt</span>, -having agreed, on account of his tenderness of feeling and his rich creative imagination, -to set <span class="smcap">Kálidása</span> very high among the glorious -company of the Sons of Song.<a name="FNanchor_A_2" id="FNanchor_A_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a></p> - -<p>That the poem which is now for the first time offered <span class='pagenum'>[Pg ix]</span> -to the general reader, in an English dress, will not diminish this reputation -is the translator's earnest hope, yet my admiration of the grace and -beauty that pervade so much of the work must not allow me to deny that -occasionally, even in the noble Sanskrit, if we judge him by an -European standard, <span class="smcap">Kálidása</span> is bald and prosaic. Nor is -this a defence of the translator at the expense of the poet. Fully am -I conscious how far I am from being able adequately to reproduce the -fanciful creation of the sweet singer of <span class="smcap">Oujein</span>; that numerous -beauties of thought and expression I may have passed by, mistaken, -marred; that in many of the more elaborate descriptions my own -versification is 'harsh as the jarring of a tuneless -chord' compared with the melody of <span class="smcap">Kálidása's</span> -rhythm, to rival whose sweetness and purity of language, -so admirably adapted to the soft repose and celestial -rosy hue of his pictures, would have tried all the fertility -of resource, the artistic skill, and the exquisite ear of -the author of <span class="smcap">Lalla Rookh</span> himself. I do not think -this poem deserves, and I am sure it will not obtain, -that admiration which the author's masterpieces already -made known at once commanded; at all events, if the -work itself is not inferior, it has not enjoyed the good -fortune of having a <span class="smcap">Jones</span> or a <span class="smcap">Wilson</span> for translator.</p> - -<p>It may be as well to inform the reader, before he wonder at the -misnomer, that the <span class="smcap">Birth of the War-God</span> -<span class='pagenum'>[Pg x]</span> was either left unfinished by its author, or time has robbed us -of the conclusion; the latter is the more probable supposition, -tradition informing us that the poem originally consisted of -twenty-two cantos, of which only seven now -remain.<a name="FNanchor_A_3" id="FNanchor_A_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a></p> - -<p>I have derived great assistance in the work of translation -from the Calcutta printed edition of the poem in -the Library of the East-India House; but although the -Sanskrit commentaries accompanying the text are sometimes -of the greatest use in unravelling the author's -meaning, they can scarcely claim infallibility; and, not -unfrequently, are so matter-of-fact and prosaic, that I -have not scrupled to think, or rather to feel, for myself. -It is, however, <span class="smcap">Professor Stenzler's</span> -edition,<a name="FNanchor_B_4" id="FNanchor_B_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_4" class="fnanchor">[D]</a> -published under the auspices of the Oriental Translation Fund (a -society that has liberally encouraged my own undertaking), -that I have chiefly used. Valuable as this work -is (and I will not disown my great obligations to it), it -is much to be regretted that the extracts from the native -commentators are so scanty, and the annotations so few -and brief.</p> - -<p>And now one word as to the manner in which I have -endeavoured to perform my task. Though there is much, -<span class='pagenum'>[Pg xi]</span> -I think, that might be struck out, to the advantage of -the poem, this I have in no instance ventured to do, -my aim having been to give the English reader as faithful -a cast of the original as my own power and the -nature of things would permit, and, without attempting -to give word for word or line for line, to produce upon -the imagination impressions similar to those which one -who studies the work in Sanskrit would experience.</p> - -<p>I will not seek to anticipate the critics, nor to deprecate -their animadversions, by pointing out the beauties of the -poet, or particularising the defects of him and his translator. -That the former will be appreciated, and the -latter kindly dealt with, late experience makes me confident; -so that now, in the words of the Manager in the -Prelude to the <span class="smcap">Hero and the Nymph</span>, -"I have only to request the audience that they will listen to this -work of <span class="smcap">Kálidása</span> with attention and kindness, in -consideration of its subject and respect for the Author."</p> - -<p> -<span class="smcap">Adderley Library, Marlborough College</span>,<br /> - <i>April</i>, 1853.<br /><br /> -</p> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">A</span></a> -[This date is much too early. It has been shown by H. Jacobi from the -astrological data contained in the poem that the date of its -composition cannot be placed earlier than about the middle of the -fourth century <span class="smcap">A.D.</span>]</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_2" id="Footnote_A_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_2"><span class="label">B</span></a> -Goethe says:</p> -<div class="poem"> -<span class="i0">Willst du die Blüthe des frühen, die Früchte des späteren Jahres,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Willst du was reizt and entzückt, willst du was sättigt and nährt,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Willst du den Himmel, die Erde, mit einem Namen begreifen;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Nenn' ich Sakontalá, Dich, und so ist Alles gesagt.<br /></span> -</div> -<p>See also Schlegel's Dramatic Literature, Lect. II., and Humboldt's -Kosmos, Vol. II. p. 40, and note.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_3" id="Footnote_A_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_3"><span class="label">C</span></a> -[Ten more cantos, of very inferior merit, have been published since this was written.]</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_4" id="Footnote_B_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_4"><span class="label">D</span></a> -[With a Latin translation.]</p></div> - - -<hr style="width: 65%;" /> -<p><span class='pagenum'>[Pg xii]</span></p> -<h2>PRELIMINARY NOTE.</h2> - -<h4>PRONUNCIATION.</h4> - - -<p>As a general rule, the Sanskrit vowels are to be sounded -like those of the Italian alphabet, except the short or unaccented -<i>a</i>, which has the sound of that letter in the word -<i>America</i>: "<i>pandit</i>," a learned man, being pronounced <i>pundit</i>.</p> - -<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="Pronunciations"> -<tr> - <td><i>á</i>, long or accented</td> - <td>like <i>a</i> in <i>father</i>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td><i>e</i></td> - <td>like <i>e</i> in <i>they</i>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td><i>i</i>, short or unaccented,</td> - <td>like <i>i</i> in <i>pick</i>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td><i>í</i>, long or accented</td> - <td>like <i>i</i> in <i>pique</i>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td><i>o</i></td> - <td>like <i>o</i> in <i>go</i>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td><i>u</i>, short or unaccented,</td> - <td>like <i>u</i> in <i>full</i>.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td><i>ú</i>, long or accented</td> - <td>like <i>u</i> in <i>rule</i>.</td> -</tr> -</table> - -<p>The diphthongs <i>ai</i> and <i>au</i> are pronounced severally like <i>i</i> in -<i>rise</i> and <i>ou</i> in <i>our</i>.</p> - -<p>The consonants are sounded as in English. In the aspirates, -however, the sound of <i>h</i> is kept distinct; <i>dh</i>, <i>th</i>, <i>ph</i>, <i>bh</i>, &c., -being pronounced as in <i>red-hot</i>, <i>pent-house</i>, <i>up-hill</i>, <i>abhor</i>, &c. -<i>G</i> is always hard, whatever vowel follows.</p> - -<p>In <span class="smcap">Himálaya</span> the accent is on the <i>second</i> syllable.</p> - - - - -<hr style="width: 65%;" /> -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> -<h2><small>THE</small><br /> - -<big>BIRTH OF THE WAR-GOD.</big></h2> - - -<h2>Canto First.</h2> - -<h3><i>UMÁ'S NATIVITY.</i></h3> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Far in the north <a name="HIManchor_A_1" id="HIManchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Himalaya"><span class="smcap">Himálaya</span></a>, lifting high<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His towery summits till they cleave the sky,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Spans the wide land from east to western sea,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Lord of the hills, instinct with deity.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For him, when <a name="PRIanchor_A_1" id="PRIanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Prithu"><span class="smcap">Prithu</span></a> ruled in days of old<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The rich earth, teeming with her gems and gold,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The vassal hills and <span class="smcap">Meru</span> drained her breast,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To deck <span class="smcap">Himálaya</span>, for they loved him best;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And earth, the mother, gave her store to fill<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With herbs and sparkling ores the royal hill.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Proud mountain-king! his diadem of snow<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dims not the beauty of his gems below.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For who can gaze upon the moon, and dare<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To mark one spot less brightly glorious there?<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span><span class="i0">Who, 'mid a thousand virtues, dares to blame<br /></span> -<span class="i0">One shade of weakness in a hero's fame?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Oft, when the gleamings of his mountain brass<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Flash through the clouds and tint them as they pass,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Those glories mock the hues of closing day,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And heaven's bright wantons hail their hour of play;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Try, ere the time, the magic of their glance,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And deck their beauty for the twilight dance.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dear to the sylphs are the cool shadows thrown<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By dark clouds wandering round the mountain's zone,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Till frightened by the storm and rain they seek<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Eternal sunshine on each loftier peak.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Far spread the wilds where eager hunters roam,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Tracking the lion to his dreary home.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For though the melting snow has washed away<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The crimson blood-drops of the wounded prey,<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="PEARLanchor_A_1" id="PEARLanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Pearls">Still the fair pearls</a> that graced his forehead tell<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where the strong elephant, o'ermastered, fell,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And clinging to the lion's claws, betray,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Falling at every step, the mighty conqueror's way.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There birch-trees wave, that lend their friendly aid<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To tell the passion of the love-lorn maid,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So quick to learn in metal tints to mark<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her hopes and fears upon the tender bark.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">List! breathing from each cave, <span class="smcap">Himálaya</span> leads<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The glorious hymn with all his whispering reeds,<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span><span class="i0"><a name="MINanchor_A_1" id="MINanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Mins">Till heavenly minstrels</a> raise their voice in song,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And swell his music as it floats along.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There the fierce elephant wounds the scented bough<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To ease the torment of his burning brow;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And bleeding pines their odorous gum distil<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To breathe rare fragrance o'er the sacred hill.<br /></span> -<span class="i1"><a name="HERBanchor_A_1" id="HERBanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Herbs">There magic herbs</a> pour forth their streaming light<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From mossy caverns through the darksome night,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And lend a torch to guide the trembling maid<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where waits her lover in the leafy shade.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet hath he caves within whose inmost cells<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In tranquil rest the murky darkness dwells,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And, like the night-bird, spreads the brooding wing<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Safe in the shelter of the mountain-king,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Unscorned, uninjured; for the good and great<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Spurn not the suppliant for his lowly state.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Why lingers yet the heavenly minstrel's bride<br /></span> -<span class="i0">On the wild path that skirts <span class="smcap">Himálaya's</span> side?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Cold to her tender feet—oh, cold—the snow,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Why should her steps—her homeward steps—be slow?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">'Tis that her slender ankles scarce can bear<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The weight of beauty that impedes her there;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Each rounded limb, and all her peerless charms,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That broad full bosom, those voluptuous arms.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span><span class="i1"><a name="kine_a" id="kine_a"></a><a href="#kine">E'en the wild kine</a> that roam his forests bring<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The royal symbols to the mountain-king.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With tails outspread, their bushy streaming hair<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Flashes like moonlight through the parted air.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What monarch's fan more glorious might there be,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">More meet to grace a king as proud as he?<br /></span> -<span class="i1">There, when the nymphs, within the cave's recess,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In modest fear their gentle limbs undress,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thick clouds descending yield a friendly screen,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And blushing beauty bares her breast unseen.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">With pearly dewdrops <span class="smcap">Gangá</span> loads the gale<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That waves the dark pines towering o'er the vale,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And breathes in welcome freshness o'er the face<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of wearied hunters when they quit the chase.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">So far aloft, amid Himálayan steeps,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Crouched on the tranquil pool the lotus sleeps,<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="seven_a" id="seven_a"></a><a href="#seven">That the bright <span class="smcap">Seven</span></a> who star the northern sky<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Cull the fair blossoms from their seats on high;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And when the sun pours forth his morning glow<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In streams of glory from his path below,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They gain new beauty as his kisses break<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His darlings' slumber on the mountain lake.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Well might that ancient hill by merit claim<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The power and glory of a monarch's name;<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span><span class="i0">Nurse of pure herbs that grace each holy rite,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Earth's meetest bearer of unyielding might.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Lord of Life for this ordained him king,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And bade him share the sacred offering.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Gladly obedient to the law divine,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He chose a consort to prolong his line.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No child of earth, born of the Sage's will,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The fair nymph <span class="smcap">Mená</span> pleased the sovran hill.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To her he sued, nor was his prayer denied,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Saints' beloved was the mountain's bride.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Crowned with all bliss and beauty were the pair,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He passing glorious, she was heavenly fair.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Swiftly the seasons, winged with love, flew on,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And made her mother of a noble son,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The great <span class="smcap">Maináka</span>, who in triumph led<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His Serpent beauties to the bridal bed;<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="indra_a" id="indra_a"></a><a href="#indra">And once when <span class="smcap">Indra's</span> might</a> those pinions rent<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That bare the swift hills through the firmament,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">(So fierce his rage, no mountain could withstand<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The wild bolt flashing from his red right hand,)<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He fled to Ocean, powerful to save,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And hid his glory 'neath the friendly wave.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">A gentle daughter came at length to bless<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The royal mother with her loveliness;<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="born_a" id="born_a"></a><a href="#born">Born once again</a>, for in an earlier life<br /></span> -<span class="i0">High fame was hers, as <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> faithful wife.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span><span class="i0">But her proud sire had dared the God to scorn;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then was her tender soul with anguish torn,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And jealous for the lord she loved so well,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her angered spirit left its mortal cell.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now deigned the maid, a lovely boon, to spring<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From that pure lady and the mountain-king.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When Industry and Virtue meet and kiss,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Holy their union, and the fruit is bliss.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Blest was that hour, and all the world was gay,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When <span class="smcap">Mená's</span> daughter saw the light of day.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A rosy glow suffused the brightening sky;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">An odorous breeze came sweeping softly by.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Breathed round the hill a sweet unearthly strain,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And the glad heavens poured down their flowery rain.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">That fair young maiden diademmed with light<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Made her dear mother's fame more sparkling bright.<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="turq_a" id="turq_a"></a><a href="#turq">As the blue offspring of the Turquois Hills</a><br /></span> -<span class="i0">The parent mount with richer glory fills,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When the cloud's voice has caused the gem to spring,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Responsive to its gentle thundering.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Then was it sweet, as days flew by, to trace<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The dawning charm of every infant grace,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Even as the crescent moons their glory pour<br /></span> -<span class="i0">More full, more lovely than the eve before.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">As yet the maiden was unknown to fame;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Child of the Mountain was her only name.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span><span class="i0">But when her mother, filled with anxious care<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="stern_a" id="stern_a"></a><a href="#stern">At her stern penance</a>, cried Forbear! Forbear!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To a new title was the warning turned,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And <span class="smcap">Umá</span> was the name the maiden earned.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Loveliest was she of all his lovely race,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And dearest to her father. On her face<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Looking with love he ne'er could satisfy<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The thirsty glances of a parent's eye.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When spring-tide bids a thousand flowerets bloom<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Loading the breezes with their rich perfume,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Though here and there the wandering bee may rest,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He loves his own—his darling mango—best.<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="ganga_a" id="ganga_a"></a><a href="#ganga">The Gods' bright river</a> bathes with gold the skies,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And pure sweet eloquence adorns the wise.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The flambeau's glory is the shining fire;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She was the pride, the glory of her sire,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shedding new lustre on his old descent,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His loveliest child, his richest ornament.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">The sparkling <span class="smcap">Gangá</span> laved her heavenly home,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And o'er her islets would the maiden roam<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Amid the dear companions of her play<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With ball and doll to while the hours away.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">As swans in autumn in assembling bands<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fly back to <span class="smcap">Gangá's</span> well-remembered sands:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As herbs beneath the darksome shades of night<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Collect again their scattered rays of light:<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span><span class="i0">So dawned upon the maiden's waking mind<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The far-off memory of her life resigned,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And all her former learning in its train,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Feelings, and thoughts, and knowledge came again.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Now beauty's prime, that craves no artful aid,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ripened the loveliness of that young maid:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That needs no wine to fire the captive heart,—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The bow of Love without his flowery dart.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There was a glory beaming from her face,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With love's own light, and every youthful grace:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ne'er had the painter's skilful hand portrayed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A lovelier picture than that gentle maid;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ne'er sun-kissed lily more divinely fair<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Unclosed her beauty to the morning air.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Bright as a lotus, springing where she trod,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her glowing feet shed radiance o'er the sod.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That arching neck, the step, the glance aside,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The proud swans taught her as they stemmed the tide,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Whilst of the maiden they would fondly learn<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her anklets' pleasant music in return.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">When the Almighty Maker first began<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The marvellous beauty of that child to plan,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In full fair symmetry each rounded limb<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Grew neatly fashioned and approved by Him:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The rest was faultless, for the Artist's care<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Formed each young charm most excellently fair,<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span><span class="i0">As if his moulding hand would fain express<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The visible type of perfect loveliness.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">What thing of beauty may the poet dare<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With the smooth wonder of those limbs compare?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The young tree springing by the brooklet's side?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The rounded trunk, the forest-monarch's pride?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Too rough that trunk, too cold that young tree's stem;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A softer, warmer thing must vie with them.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Her hidden beauties though no tongue may tell,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> love will aid the fancy well:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No other maid could deem her boasted charms<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Worthy the clasp of such a husband's arms.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Between the partings of fair <span class="smcap">Umá's</span> vest<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Came hasty glimpses of a lovely breast:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So closely there the sweet twin hillocks rose,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Scarce could the lotus in the vale repose.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And if her loosened zone e'er slipped below,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">All was so bright beneath the mantle's flow,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So dazzling bright, as if the maid had braced<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A band of gems to sparkle round her waist;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And the dear dimples of her downy skin<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Seemed fitting couch for Love to revel in.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her arms were softer than the flowery dart,<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="kama_a" id="kama_a"></a><a href="#kama">Young <span class="smcap">Káma's</span> arrow</a>, that subdues the heart;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For vain his strife with <span class="smcap">Śiva</span>, till at last<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He chose those chains to bind his conqueror fast.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span><span class="i0">E'en the new moon poured down a paler beam<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When her long fingers flashed their rosy gleam,<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="asoka_a" id="asoka_a"></a><a href="#asoka">And brighter than Aśoka's blossom</a> threw<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A glory round, like summer's evening hue.<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="pearl_a" id="pearl_a"></a><a href="#pearl">The strings of pearl</a> across her bosom thrown<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Increased its beauty, and enhanced their own,—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her breast, her jewels seeming to agree,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The adorner now, and now the adorned to be.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When <span class="smcap">Beauty</span> gazes on the fair full moon,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No lotus charms her, for it blooms at noon:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">If on that flower she feed her raptured eye,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No moon is shining from the mid-day sky;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She looked on <span class="smcap">Umá's</span> face, more heavenly fair,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And found their glories both united there.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The loveliest flower that ever opened yet<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Laid in the fairest branch: a fair pearl set<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In richest coral, with her smile might vie<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Flashing through lips bright with their rosy dye.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And when she spoke, upon the maiden's tongue,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Distilling nectar, such rare accents hung,<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="koil_a" id="koil_a"></a><a href="#koil">The sweetest note that e'er the Koïl poured</a><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Seemed harsh and tuneless as a jarring chord.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The melting glance of that soft liquid eye,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Tremulous like lilies when the breezes sigh,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Which learnt it first—so winning and so mild—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The gentle fawn, or <span class="smcap">Mená's</span> gentler child?<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span><span class="i0">And oh, the arching of her brow! so fine<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Was the rare beauty of its pencilled line,<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Love</span> gazed upon her forehead in despair<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And spurned the bow he once esteemed so fair:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her long bright tresses too might shame the pride<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of envious yaks who roamed the mountain-side.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Surely the Maker's care had been to bring<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From Nature's store each sweetest, loveliest thing,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As if the world's Creator would behold<br /></span> -<span class="i0">All beauty centred in a single mould.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1"><a name="narad_a" id="narad_a"></a><a href="#narad">When holy <span class="smcap">Nárad</span></a>—Saint who roams at will—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">First saw the daughter of the royal hill,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He hailed the bride whom <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> love should own<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Half of himself, and partner of his throne.<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Himálaya</span> listened, and the father's pride<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Would yield the maiden for no other's bride:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To Fire alone of all bright things we raise<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The holy hymn, the sacrifice of praise.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But still the monarch durst not, could not bring<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His child, unsought, to Heaven's supremest King;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But as a good man fears his earnest prayer<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Should rise unheeded, and with thoughtful care<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Seeks for some friend his eager suit to aid,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thus great <span class="smcap">Himálaya</span> in his awe delayed.<br /></span> -</div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Since the sad moment when his gentle bride<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In the full glory of her beauty died,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The mournful <span class="smcap">Śiva</span> in the holy grove<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Had dwelt in solitude, and known not love.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">High on that hill where musky breezes throw<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Their balmy odours o'er eternal snow;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where heavenly minstrels pour their notes divine,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And rippling <span class="smcap">Gangá</span> laves the mountain pine,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Clad in a coat of skin all rudely wrought<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He lived for prayer and solitary thought.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The faithful band that served the hermit's will<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Lay in the hollows of the rocky hill,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where from the clefts the dark bitumen flowed.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Tinted with mineral dyes their bodies glowed;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Clad in rude mantles of the birch-tree's rind,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With bright red garlands was their hair entwined.<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="bull_a" id="bull_a"></a><a href="#bull">The holy bull</a> before his master's feet<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shook the hard-frozen earth with echoing feet,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And as he heard the lion's roaring swell<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In distant thunder from the rocky dell,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In angry pride he raised his voice of fear<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And from the mountain drove the startled deer.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Bright fire—a shape the God would sometimes wear<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="eight_a" id="eight_a"></a><a href="#eight">Who takes eight various forms</a>—was glowing there.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then the great deity who gives the prize<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of penance, prayer, and holy exercise,<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span><span class="i0">As though to earn the meed he grants to man,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Himself the penance and the pain began.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Now to that holy lord, to whom is given<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Honour and glory by the Gods in heaven,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The worship of a gift <span class="smcap">Himálaya</span> paid,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And towards his dwelling sent the lovely maid;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her task, attended by her youthful train,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To woo his widowed heart to love again.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">The hermit welcomed with a courteous brow<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That gentle enemy of hermit vow.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The still pure breast where Contemplation dwells<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Defies the charmer and the charmer's spells.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Calm and unmoved he viewed the wondrous maid,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And bade her all his pious duties aid.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She culled fresh blossoms at the God's command,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sweeping the altar with a careful hand;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The holy grass for sacred rites she sought,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And day by day the fairest water brought.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And if the unwonted labour caused a sigh,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The fair-haired lady turned her languid eye<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="pale_a" id="pale_a"></a><a href="#pale">Where the pale moon on <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> forehead</a> gleamed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And swift through all her frame returning vigour streamed.<br /></span> -</div></div> -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p> - - -<hr style="width: 65%;" /> -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="CANTO_SECOND" id="CANTO_SECOND"></a><i>CANTO SECOND.</i></h2> -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span></p> - - -<hr style="width: 65%;" /> -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span></p> -<h2>Canto Second.</h2> - -<h3><i>THE ADDRESS TO BRAHMÁ.</i></h3> - - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0"><a name="tarak_a" id="tarak_a"></a><a href="#tarak">While impious <span class="smcap">Tárak</span></a> in resistless might<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Was troubling heaven and earth with wild affright,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To <span class="smcap">Brahmá's</span> high abode, by <span class="smcap">Indra</span> led,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The mournful deities for refuge fled.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As when the Day-God's loving beams awake<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The lotus slumbering on the silver lake,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So <span class="smcap">Brahmá</span> deigned his glorious face to show,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And poured sweet comfort on their looks of woe.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Then nearer came the suppliant Gods to pay<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Honour to him <a name="face_a" id="face_a"></a><a href="#face">whose face turns every way</a>.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They bowed them low before the Lord of Speech,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And sought with truthful words his heart to reach:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"Glory to Thee! before the world was made,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">One single form thy Majesty displayed.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Next Thou, to body forth <a name="mystic_a" id="mystic_a"></a><a href="#mystic">the mystic Three</a>,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Didst fill three Persons: Glory, Lord, to Thee!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Unborn and unbegotten! from thy hand<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The fruitful seed rained down; at thy command<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span><span class="i0">From that small germ o'er quickening waters thrown<br /></span> -<span class="i0">All things that move not, all that move have grown.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Before thy triple form in awe they bow:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Maker, preserver, and destroyer, Thou!<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="longing_a" id="longing_a"></a><a href="#longing">Thou, when a longing</a> urged thee to create,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thy single form in twain didst separate.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Sire, the Mother that made all things be<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By their first union were but parts of Thee.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From them the life that fills this earthly frame,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And fruitful Nature, self-renewing, came.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thou countest not thy time by mortals' light;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With Thee there is but one vast day and night.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When <span class="smcap">Brahmá</span> slumbers fainting Nature dies,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When <span class="smcap">Brahmá</span> wakens all again arise.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Creator of the world, and uncreate!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Endless! all things from Thee their end await.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Before the world wast Thou! each Lord shall fall<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Before Thee, mightiest, highest, Lord of all.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thy self-taught soul thine own deep spirit knows;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Made by thyself thy mighty form arose;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Into the same, when all things have their end,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shall thy great self, absorbed in Thee, descend.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Lord, who may hope thy essence to declare?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Firm, yet as subtile as the yielding air:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fixt, all-pervading; ponderous, yet light,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Patent to all, yet hidden from the sight.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span><span class="i0">Thine are <a name="hymns_a" id="hymns_a"></a><a href="#hymns">the sacred hymns</a> which mortals raise,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Commencing ever with <a name="praise_a" id="praise_a"></a><a href="#praise">the word of praise</a>,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With three-toned chant the sacrifice to grace,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And win at last in heaven a blissful place.<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="nature_a" id="nature_a"></a><a href="#nature">They hail Thee Nature</a> labouring to free<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Immortal Soul from low humanity;<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="spirit_a" id="spirit_a"></a><a href="#spirit">Hail Thee the stranger Spirit</a>, unimpressed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Gazing on Nature from thy lofty rest.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Father of fathers, God of gods art thou,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Creator, highest, hearer of the vow!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thou art the sacrifice, and Thou the priest,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thou, he that eateth; Thou, the holy feast.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thou art the knowledge which by Thee is taught,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The mighty thinker, and the highest thought!"<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Pleased with their truthful praise, his favouring eye<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He turned upon the dwellers in the sky,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">While from four mouths his words in gentle flow<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Come welling softly to assuage their woe:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"Welcome! glad welcome, Princes! ye who hold<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Your lofty sovereignties ordained of old.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But why so mournful? what has dimmed your light?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Why shine your faces less divinely bright?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Like stars that pour forth weaker, paler gleams,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When the fair moon with brighter radiance beams.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span><span class="i0">O say, in vain doth mighty <span class="smcap">Indra</span> bear<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The thunderbolt of heaven, unused to spare?<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Vritra</span>, the furious fiend, 'twas strong to slay:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Why dull and blunted is that might to-day?<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="varun_a" id="varun_a"></a><a href="#varun">See, <span class="smcap">Varun's</span> noose</a> hangs idly on his arm,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Like some fell serpent quelled by magic charm.<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="kuvera_a" id="kuvera_a"></a><a href="#kuvera">Weak is <span class="smcap">Kuvera's</span> hand</a>, his arm no more<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Wields the dread mace it once so proudly bore;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But like a tree whose boughs are lopped away,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It tells of piercing woe, and dire dismay.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In days of yore how <a name="yama_a" id="yama_a"></a><a href="#yama"><span class="smcap">Yama's</span> sceptre</a> shone!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fled are its glories, all its terrors gone;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Despised and useless as a quenched brand,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">All idly now it marks the yielding sand.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fallen are <a name="lords_a" id="lords_a"></a><a href="#lords">the Lords of Light</a>, ere now the gaze<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shrank from the coming of their fearful blaze;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So changed are they, the undazzled eye may see<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Like pictured forms, each rayless deity.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Some baffling power has curbed the breezes' swell:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Vainly they chafe against the secret spell.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We know some barrier checks their wonted course,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When refluent waters seek again their source.<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="rudras_a" id="rudras_a"></a><a href="#rudras">The <span class="smcap">Rudras</span></a> too—fierce demigods who bear<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The curved moon hanging from their twisted hair—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Tell by their looks of fear, and shame, and woe,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of threats now silenced, of a mightier foe.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span><span class="i0">Glory and power, ye Gods, were yours of right:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Have ye now yielded to some stronger might,<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="earth_a" id="earth_a"></a><a href="#earth">Even as on earth</a> a general law may be<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Made powerless by a special text's decree?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then say, my sons, why seek ye <span class="smcap">Brahmá's</span> throne?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">'Tis mine to frame the worlds, and yours to guard your own."<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Then <span class="smcap">Indra</span> turned his thousand glorious eyes,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Glancing like lilies when the soft wind sighs,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And in the Gods' behalf, their mighty chief<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Urged the Most Eloquent to tell their grief.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then rose <a name="teacher_a" id="teacher_a"></a><a href="#teacher">the heavenly Teacher</a>, by whose side<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dim seemed the glories of the Thousand-eyed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And with his hands outspread, to <span class="smcap">Brahmá</span> spake,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Couched on <a name="flower_a" id="flower_a"></a><a href="#flower">his own dear flower</a>, the daughter of the lake:<br /></span> -<span class="i1">"O mighty Being! surely thou dost know<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The unceasing fury of our ruthless foe;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For thou canst see the secret thoughts that lie<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Deep in the heart, yet open to thine eye.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The vengeful <span class="smcap">Tárak</span>, in resistless might,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Like some dire Comet, gleaming wild affright,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">O'er all the worlds an evil influence sheds,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And, in thy favour strong, destruction spreads.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">All bow before him: on his palace wall<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The sun's first ray and parting splendour fall;<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span><span class="i0">Ne'er could he waken with a lovelier glance<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His own dear lotus from her nightly trance.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For him, proud fiend, the moon no waning knows,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But with unminished full-orbed lustre glows.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Too faint for him the crescent glory set<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Amid the blaze of <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> coronet.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">How fair his garden, where the obedient breeze<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dares steal no blossom from the slumbering trees!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The wild wind checks his blustering pinions there,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And gently whispering fans the balmy air;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">While through the inverted year the seasons pour,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To win the demon's grace, their flowery store.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For him, the River-god beneath the stream,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Marks the young pearl increase its silver gleam,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Until, its beauty and its growth complete,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He bears the offering to his master's feet.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Serpents, led by <span class="smcap">Vásuki</span>, their king,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Across his nightly path their lustre fling;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bright as a torch <a name="jewels_a" id="jewels_a"></a><a href="#jewels">their flashing jewels</a> blaze,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Nor wind, nor rain, can dim their dazzling rays.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">E'en <span class="smcap">Indra</span>, sovereign of the blissful skies,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To gain his love by flattering homage tries,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And sends him oft those flowers of wondrous hue<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That on the heavenly tree in beauty grew.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet all these offerings brought from day to day,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This flattery, fail his ruthless hand to stay.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span><span class="i0">Earth, hell, and heaven, beneath his rage must groan,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Till force can hurl him from his evil throne.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Alas! where glowed the bright celestial bowers,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And gentle fair ones nursed the opening flowers,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where heavenly trees a heavenly odour shed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">O'er a sad desert ruin reigns instead.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He roots up <span class="smcap">Meru's</span> sacred peaks, where stray<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The fiery coursers of the God of Day,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To form bright slopes, and glittering mounds of ease,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In the broad gardens of his palaces.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There, on his couch, the mighty lord is fanned<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To sweetest slumber by a heavenly band;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Poor captive nymphs, who stand in anguish by,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Drop the big tear, and heave the ceaseless sigh.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And now have <span class="smcap">Indra's</span> elephants defiled<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The sparkling stream where heavenly <span class="smcap">Gangá</span> smiled,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And her gold lotuses the fiend has taken<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To deck his pools, and left her all forsaken.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Gods of heaven no more delight to roam<br /></span> -<span class="i0">O'er all the world, far from their glorious home.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They dread the demon's impious might, nor dare<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Speed their bright chariots through the fields of air.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And when our worshippers in duty bring<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The appointed victims for the offering,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He tears them from the flame with magic art,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">While we all powerless watch with drooping heart.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span><span class="i0">He too has stolen from his master's side<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The steed of heavenly race, great <span class="smcap">Indra's</span> pride.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No more our hosts, so glorious once, withstand<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The fierce dominion of the demon's hand,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As herbs of healing virtue fail to tame<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The sickness raging through the infected frame.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Idly the <a name="chakra_a" id="chakra_a"></a><a href="#chakra">discus</a> hangs on <span class="smcap">Vishṇu's</span> neck,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And our last hope is vain, that it would check<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The haughty <span class="smcap">Tárak's</span> might, and flash afar<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ruin and death—the thunderbolt of war.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">E'en <span class="smcap">Indra's</span> elephant has felt the might<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of his fierce monsters in the deadly fight,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Which spurn the dust in fury, and defy<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The threatening clouds that sail along the sky.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Therefore, O Lord, we seek a chief, that he<br /></span> -<span class="i0">May lead the hosts of heaven to victory,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Even as holy men who long to sever<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The immortal spirit from its shell for ever,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Seek lovely Virtue's aid to free the soul<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From earthly ties and action's base control.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thus shall he save us: proudly will we go<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Under his escort 'gainst the furious foe;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And <span class="smcap">Indra</span>, conqueror in turn, shall bring<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Fortune</span>, dear captive, home with joy and triumphing."<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Sweet as the rains—the fresh'ning rains—that pour<br /></span> -<span class="i0">On the parched earth when thunders cease to roar,<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span><span class="i0">Were <span class="smcap">Brahmá's</span> words: "Gods, I have heard your grief;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Wait ye in patience: time will bring relief.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">'Tis not for me, my children, to create<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A chief to save you from your mournful fate.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Not by my hand the fiend must be destroyed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For my kind favour has he once enjoyed;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And well ye know that e'en a poisonous tree<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By him who planted it unharmed should be.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He sought it eagerly, and long ago<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I gave my favour to your demon-foe,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And stayed his awful penance, that had hurled<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Flames, death, and ruin o'er the subject world.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When that great warrior battles for his life,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">O, who may conquer in the deadly strife,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Save one of <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> seed? He is the light,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Reigning supreme beyond the depths of night.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Nor I, nor <span class="smcap">Vishṇu</span>, his full power may share,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Lo, where he dwells in solitude and prayer!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Go, seek the Hermit in the grove alone,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And to the God be <span class="smcap">Umá's</span> beauty shown.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Perchance, the Mountain-child, with magnet's force,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">May turn the iron from its steadfast course,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bride of the mighty God; for only she<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Can bear to Him <a name="water_a" id="water_a"></a><a href="#water">as water bears to me</a>.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then from their love a mighty Child shall rise,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And lead to war the armies of the skies.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span><span class="i0">Freed by his hand, no more the heavenly maids<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shall twine their glittering hair in <a name="braids_a" id="braids_a"></a><a href="#braids">mournful braids</a>."<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">He spake, and vanished from their wondering sight;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And they sped homeward to their world of light.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But <span class="smcap">Indra</span>, still on <span class="smcap">Brahmá's</span> words intent,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To <span class="smcap">Káma's</span> dwelling-place his footsteps bent.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Swiftly he came: the yearning of his will<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Made <span class="smcap">Indra's</span> lightning course more speedy still.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The <span class="smcap">Love-God</span>, armed with flowers divinely sweet,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In lowly homage bowed before his feet.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Around his neck, where bright love-tokens clung,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Arched like a maiden's brow, his bow was hung,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And blooming <span class="smcap">Spring</span>, his constant follower, bore<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="twig_a" id="twig_a"></a><a href="#twig">The mango twig</a>, his weapon famed of yore.<br /></span></div></div> - - - -<hr style="width: 65%;" /> -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> -<h2><i>CANTO THIRD.</i></h2> -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span></p> - - -<hr style="width: 65%;" /> -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> -<h2>Canto Third.</h2> - -<h3><i>THE DEATH OF LOVE.</i></h3> - - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Is eager gaze the sovereign of the skies<br /></span> -<span class="i0">looked full on <i>Káma</i> with his thousand eyes:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">E'en such a gaze as trembling suppliants bend,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When danger threatens, on a mighty friend.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Close by his side, where <span class="smcap">Indra</span> bade him rest,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The <span class="smcap">Love-God</span> sate, and thus his lord addressed:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"All-knowing <span class="smcap">Indra</span>, deign, my Prince, to tell<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thy heart's desire in earth, or heaven, or hell:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Double the favour, mighty sovereign, thou<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Hast thought on <span class="smcap">Káma</span>, O, command him now:<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="angers_a" id="angers_a"></a><a href="#angers">Who angers thee</a> by toiling for the prize,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By penance, prayer, or holy sacrifice?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What mortal being dost thou count thy foe?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Speak, I will tame him with my darts and bow.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Has some one feared the endless change of birth,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And sought the path that leads the soul from earth?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Slave to a glancing eye thy foe shall bow,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And own the witchery of a woman's brow;<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span><span class="i0">E'en though the object of thine envious rage<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Were taught high wisdom by the immortal sage,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With billowy passions will I whelm his soul,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Like rushing waves that spurn the bank's control.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Or has the ripe full beauty of a spouse,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Too fondly faithful to her bridal vows,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ravished thy spirit from thee? Thine, all thine<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Around thy neck her loving arms shall twine.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Has thy love, jealous of another's charms,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Spurned thee in wrath when flying to her arms?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I'll rack her yielding bosom with such pain,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Soon shall she be all love and warmth again,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And wildly fly in fevered haste to rest<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her aching heart close, close to thy dear breast.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Lay, <span class="smcap">Indra</span>, lay thy threatening bolt aside:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My gentle darts shall tame the haughtiest pride,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And all that war with heaven and thee shall know<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The magic influence of thy <span class="smcap">Káma's</span> bow;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For woman's curling lip shall bow them down,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fainting in terror at her threatening frown.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Flowers are my arms, mine only warrior <span class="smcap">Spring</span>,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet in thy favour am I strong, great King.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What can their strength who draw the bow avail<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Against my matchless power when I assail?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Strong is the Trident-bearing God, yet he,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The mighty <span class="smcap">Śiva</span>, e'en, must yield to me."<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Then <span class="smcap">Indra</span> answered with a dawning smile,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Resting his foot upon a stool the while:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"Dear God of Love, thou truly hast displayed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The power unrivalled of thy promised aid.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My hope is all in thee: my weapons are<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The thunderbolt and thou, more mighty far.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But vain, all vain the bolt of heaven to fright<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Those holy Saints whom penance arms aright.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thy power exceeds all bound: thou, only thou,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">All-conquering Deity, canst help me now!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Full well I know thy nature, and assign<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This toil to thee, which needs a strength like thine:<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="snake_a" id="snake_a"></a><a href="#snake">As on that snake</a> alone will <span class="smcap">Krishṇa</span> rest,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That bears the earth upon his haughty crest.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Our task is well-nigh done: thy boasted dart<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Has power to conquer even <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> heart.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Hear what the Gods, oppressed with woe, would fain<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From mighty <span class="smcap">Śiva</span> through thine aid obtain.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He may beget—and none in heaven but he—A<br /></span> -<span class="i0">chief to lead our hosts to victory.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But all his mind with holiest lore is fraught,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bent on the Godhead is his every thought.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thy darts, O <span class="smcap">Love</span>, alone can reach him now,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And lure his spirit from the hermit vow.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Go, seek <span class="smcap">Himálaya's</span> Mountain-child, and aid<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With all thy loveliest charms the lovely maid,<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span><span class="i0">So may she please his fancy: only she<br /></span> -<span class="i0">May wed with <span class="smcap">Śiva</span>: such the fixt decree.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">E'en now my bands of heavenly maids have spied<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fair <span class="smcap">Umá</span> dwelling by the Hermit's side.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There by her father's bidding rests she still,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sweet minister, upon the cold bleak hill.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Go, <span class="smcap">Káma</span>, go! perform this great emprise,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And free from fear the Rulers of the Skies;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We need thy favour, as the new-sown grain<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Calls for the influence of the gentle rain.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Go, <span class="smcap">Káma</span>, go! thy flowery darts shall be<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Crowned with success o'er this great deity.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yea, and thy task is e'en already done,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For praise and glory are that instant won<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When a bold heart dares manfully essay<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The deed which others shrink from in dismay.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Gods are thy suppliants, <span class="smcap">Káma</span>, and on thee<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Depends <a name="three_a" id="three_a"></a><a href="#three">the triple world's</a> security.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No cruel deed will stain thy flowery bow:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With all thy gentlest, mightiest valour, go!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And now, Disturber of the spirit, see<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Spring</span>, thy beloved, will thy comrade be,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And gladly aid thee <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> heart to tame:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">None bids the whispering Wind, and yet he fans the flame."<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">He spake, and <span class="smcap">Káma</span> bowed his bright head down,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And took his bidding like a flowery crown.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span><span class="i0">Above his wavy curls great <span class="smcap">Indra</span> bent,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And fondly touched his soldier ere he went,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With that hard hand—but, O, how gentle now—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That fell so heavy on his elephant's brow.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Then for that snow-crowned hill he turned away,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where all alone the heavenly Hermit lay.<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="rati_a" id="rati_a"></a><a href="#rati">His fearful <span class="smcap">Rati</span></a> and his comrade <span class="smcap">Spring</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Followed the guidance of Love's mighty king.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There will he battle in unwonted strife,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Return a conqueror or be reft of life.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">How fair was <span class="smcap">Spring</span>! To fill the heart with love,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And lure the Hermit from his thoughts above,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In that pure grove he grew so heavenly bright<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That <span class="smcap">Káma's</span> envy wakened at the sight.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Now the bright Day-God turned his burning ray<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="kuber_a" id="kuber_a"></a><a href="#kuber">To where <span class="smcap">Kuvera</span></a> holds his royal sway,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">While the sad South in whispering breezes sighed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And mourned his absence like a tearful bride.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then from its stem the red Aśoka threw<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Full buds and flowerets of celestial hue,<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="touch_a" id="touch_a"></a><a href="#touch">Nor waited for the maiden's touch</a>, the sweet<br /></span> -<span class="i0">beloved pressure of her tinkling feet.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There grew <span class="smcap">Love's</span> arrow, his dear mango spray,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Winged with young leaves to speed its airy way,<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span><span class="i0">And at the call of <span class="smcap">Spring</span> the wild bees came,<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="syll_a" id="syll_a"></a><a href="#syll">Grouping the syllables</a> of <span class="smcap">Káma's</span> name.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">How sighed the spirit o'er <a name="flowe_a" id="flowe_a"></a><a href="#flowe">that loveliest flower</a><br /></span> -<span class="i0">That boasts no fragrance to enrich its dower!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For Nature, wisest mother, oft prefers<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To part more fairly those good gifts of hers.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There from the tree Palása blossoms spread,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Curved like the crescent moon, their rosiest red,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With opening buds that looked as if young <span class="smcap">Spring</span><br /></span> -<span class="i0">Had pressed his nails there in his dallying:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sweet wanton <span class="smcap">Spring</span>, to whose enchanting face<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="tilak_a" id="tilak_a"></a><a href="#tilak">His flowery Tilaka</a> gave fairer grace:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who loves to tint his lip, the mango spray,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With the fresh colours of the early day,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And powder its fine red with many a bee<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That sips the oozing nectar rapturously.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The cool gale speeding o'er the shady lawns<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shook down the sounding leaves, while startled fawns<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ran wildly at the viewless foe, all blind<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With pollen wafted by the fragrant wind.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sweet was the Köil's voice, his neck still red<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With mango buds on which he late had fed:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Twas as the voice of <span class="smcap">Love</span> to bid the dame<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Spurn her cold pride, nor quench the gentle flame.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What though the heat has stained the tints that dyed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With marvellous bloom the heavenly minstrel's bride?<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span><span class="i0">Neither her smile nor sunny glances fail:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bright is her lip, although her check be pale<br /></span> -<span class="i0">E'en the pure hermits owned the secret power<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of warm <span class="smcap">Spring</span> coming in unwonted hour,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">While <span class="smcap">Love's</span> delightful witchery gently stole<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With strong sweet influence o'er the saintly soul.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">On came the Archer-God, and at his side<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The timid <span class="smcap">Rati</span>, his own darling bride,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">While breathing nature showed how deep it felt,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">At passion's glowing touch, the senses melt.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For there in eager love the wild bee dipp'd<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In the dark flower-cup where his partner sipp'd.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Here in the shade the hart his horn declined,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And, while joy closed her eyes, caressed the hind.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There from her trunk the elephant had poured<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A lily-scented stream to cool her lord,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">While the fond love-bird by the silver flood<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Gave to his mate the tasted lotus bud.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Full in his song the minstrel stayed to sip<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The heavenlier nectar of his darling's lip.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Pure pearls of heat had late distained the dye,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But flowery wine was sparkling in her eye.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">How the young creeper's beauty charmed the view,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fair as the fairest maid, as playful too!<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span><span class="i0">Here some bright blossoms, lovelier than the rest,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In full round beauty matched her swelling breast.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Here in a thin bright line, some delicate spray,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Red as her lip, ravished the soul away.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And then how loving, and how close they clung<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To the tall trees that fondly o'er them hung!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bright, heavenly wantons poured the witching strain,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Quiring for <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> ear, but all in vain.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No charmer's spell may check the firm control<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Won by the holy o'er the impassioned soul.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1"><a name="hermit_a" id="hermit_a"></a><a href="#hermit">The Hermit's servant</a> hasted to the door:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In his left hand a branch of gold he bore.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He touched his lip for silence: "Peace! be still!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Nor mar the quiet of this holy hill."<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He spake: no dweller of the forest stirred,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No wild bee murmured, hushed was every bird.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Still and unmoved, as in a picture stood<br /></span> -<span class="i0">All life that breathed within the waving wood.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">As some great monarch when he goes to war<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shuns the fierce aspect of a baleful star,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So <span class="smcap">Káma</span> hid him from the Hermit's eye,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And sought a path that led unnoticed by,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where tangled flowers and clustering trailers spread<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Their grateful canopy o'er <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> head.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bent on his hardy enterprise, with awe<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Three-eyed Lord—great Penitent—he saw.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span><span class="i0">There sate the God beneath a pine-tree's shade,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where on a mound a tiger's skin was laid.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Absorbed in holiest thought, erect and still,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Hermit rested on the gentle hill.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His shoulders drooping down, each foot was bent<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Beneath the body of the Penitent.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With open palms the hands were firmly pressed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As though a lotus lay upon his breast.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A double rosary in each ear, behind<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With wreathing serpents were his locks entwined.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His coat of hide shone blacker to the view<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Against <a name="blue_a" id="blue_a"></a><a href="#blue">his neck of brightly beaming blue</a>.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">How wild the look, how terrible the frown<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of his dark eyebrows bending sternly down!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">How fiercely glared his eyes' unmoving blaze<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fixed in devotion's meditating gaze:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Calm as a full cloud resting on a hill,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A waveless lake when every breeze is still,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Like a torch burning in a sheltered spot,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So still was he, unmoving, breathing not.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">So full the stream of marvellous glory poured<br /></span> -<span class="i0">from the bright forehead of that mighty Lord,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Pale seemed the crescent moon upon his head,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And slenderer than a slender lotus thread.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">At all the body's nine-fold <a name="gates_a" id="gates_a"></a><a href="#gates">gates of sense</a><br /></span> -<span class="i0">He had barred in the pure Intelligence,<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span><span class="i0">To ponder on the Soul which sages call<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Eternal Spirit, highest, over all.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">How sad was <span class="smcap">Káma</span> at the awful sight,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">How failed his courage in a swoon of fright!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As near and nearer to the God he came<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Whom wildest thought could never hope to tame,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Unconsciously his hands, in fear and woe,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dropped the sweet arrows and his flowery bow.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">But <span class="smcap">Umá</span> came with all her maiden throng,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And <span class="smcap">Káma's</span> fainting heart again was strong;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bright flowers of spring, in every lovely hue,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Around the lady's form rare beauty threw.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Some clasped her neck like strings of purest pearls,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Some shot their glory through her wavy curls.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bending her graceful head as half-oppressed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With swelling charms even too richly blest,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fancy might deem that beautiful young maiden<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Some slender tree with its sweet flowers o'erladen.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From time to time her gentle hand replaced<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The flowery girdle slipping from her waist:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It seemed that <span class="smcap">Love</span> could find no place more fair,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So hung his newest, dearest bowstring there.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A greedy bee kept hovering round to sip<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The fragrant nectar of her blooming lip.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She closed her eyes in terror of the thief,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And beat him from her with a lotus leaf.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span><span class="i0">The angry curl of <span class="smcap">Rati's</span> lip confessed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The shade of envy that stole o'er her breast.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Through <span class="smcap">Káma's</span> soul fresh hope and courage flew,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As that sweet vision blessed his eager view.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So bright, so fair, so winning soft was she,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who could not conquer in such company?<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Now <span class="smcap">Umá</span> came, fair maid, his destined bride,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With timid steps approaching <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> side.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In contemplation will he brood no more,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He sees the Godhead, and his task is o'er.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He breathes, he moves, the earth begins to rock,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Snake, her bearer, trembling at the shock.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Due homage then his own dear servant paid,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And told him of the coming of the maid.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He learnt his Master's pleasure by the nod,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And led <span class="smcap">Himálaya's</span> daughter to the God.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Before his feet her young companions spread<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fresh leaves and blossoms as they bowed the head,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">While <span class="smcap">Umá</span> stooped so low, that from her hair<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dropped the bright flower that starred the midnight there.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To him whose ensign bears the bull she bent,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Till each spray fell, her ear's rich ornament.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"Sweet maid," cried <span class="smcap">Śiva</span>, "surely thou shalt be<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Blessed with a husband who loves none but thee!"<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span><span class="i1">Her fear was banished, and her hope was high:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A God had spoken, and Gods cannot lie.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Rash as some giddy moth that wooes the flame,<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Love</span> seized the moment, and prepared to aim.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Close by the daughter of the Mountain-King,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He looked on <span class="smcap">Śiva</span>, and he eyed his string.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">While with her radiant hand fair <span class="smcap">Umá</span> gave<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A rosary, of the lotuses that lave<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Their beauties in the heavenly <span class="smcap">Gangá's</span> wave,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And the great Three-Eyed God was fain to take<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The offering for the well-loved suppliant's sake,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">On his bright bow <span class="smcap">Love</span> placed the unerring dart,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The soft beguiler of the stricken heart.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Like the Moon's influence on the sea at rest,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Came passion stealing o'er the Hermit's breast,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">While on the maiden's lip that mocked the dye<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of ripe red fruit, he bent his melting eye.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And oh! how showed the lady's love for him,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The heaving bosom, and each quivering limb!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Like young Kadambas, when the leaf-buds swell,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">At the warm touch of Spring they love so well.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But still, with downcast eyes, she sought the ground,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And durst not turn their burning glances round.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Then with strong effort, <span class="smcap">Śiva</span> lulled to rest,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The storm of passion in his troubled breast,<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span><span class="i0">And seeks, with angry eyes that round him roll,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Whence came the tempest o'er his tranquil soul.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He looked, and saw the bold young archer stand,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His bow bent ready in his skilful hand,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Drawn towards the eye; his shoulder well depressed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And the left foot thrown forward as a rest.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Then was the Hermit-God to madness lashed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then from his eye red flames of fury flashed.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So changed the beauty of that glorious brow,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Scarce could the gaze support its terror now.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Hark! heavenly voices sighing through the air:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"Be calm, great <span class="smcap">Śiva</span>, O be calm and spare!"<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Alas! that angry eye's resistless flashes<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Have scorched the gentle King of Love to ashes!<br /></span> -<span class="i1">But <span class="smcap">Rati</span> saw not, for she swooned away;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Senseless and breathless on the earth she lay;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sleep while thou mayst, unconscious lady, sleep!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Soon wilt thou rise to sigh and wake to weep.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">E'en as the red bolt rives the leafy bough,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So <span class="smcap">Śiva</span> smote the hinderer of his vow;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then fled with all his train to some lone place<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Far from the witchery of a female face.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Sad was <span class="smcap">Himaláya's</span> daughter: grief and shame<br /></span> -<span class="i0">O'er the young spirit of the maiden came:<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span><span class="i0">Grief—for she loved, and all her love was vain;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shame—she was spurned before her youthful train.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She turned away, with fear and woe oppressed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To hide her sorrow on her father's breast;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then, in the fond arms of her pitying sire,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Closed her sad eyes for fear of <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> ire.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Still in his grasp the weary maiden lay,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">While he sped swiftly on his homeward way.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Thus have I seen the elephant stoop to drink,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And lift a lily from the fountain's brink.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thus, when he rears his mighty head on high,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Across his tusks I've seen that lily lie.<br /></span></div></div> - - - -<hr style="width: 65%;" /> -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p> -<h2><i>CANTO FOURTH.</i></h2> -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p> - - -<hr style="width: 65%;" /> -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p> -<h2>Canto Fourth.</h2> - -<h3><i>RATI'S LAMENT.</i></h3> - - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Sad, solitary, helpless, faint, forlorn,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Woke <span class="smcap">Káma's</span> darling from her swoon to mourn.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Too soon her gentle soul returned to know<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The pangs of widowhood—that word of woe.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Scarce could she raise her, trembling, from the ground,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Scarce dared to bend her anxious gaze around,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Unconscious yet those greedy eyes should never<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Feed on his beauty more—gone, gone for ever.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">"Speak to me, <span class="smcap">Káma</span>! why so silent? give<br /></span> -<span class="i0">One word in answer—doth my <span class="smcap">Káma</span> live?"<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There on the turf his dumb cold ashes lay,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Whose soul that fiery flash had scorched away.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She clasped the dank earth in her wild despair,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her bosom stained, and rent her long bright hair,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Till hill and valley caught the mourner's cry,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And pitying breezes echoed sigh for sigh.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span><span class="i0">"Oh thou wast beautiful: fond lovers sware<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Their own bright darlings were like <span class="smcap">Káma</span>, fair.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sure woman's heart is stony: can it be<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That I still live while this is all of thee?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where art thou, <span class="smcap">Káma</span>? Could my dearest leave<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His own fond <span class="smcap">Rati</span> here alone to grieve?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So must the sad forsaken lotus die<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When her bright river leaves his channel dry.<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Káma</span>, dear <span class="smcap">Káma</span>, call again to mind<br /></span> -<span class="i0">How thou wast ever gentle, I was kind.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Let not my prayer, thy <span class="smcap">Rati's</span> prayer, be vain;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Come as of old, and bless these eyes again!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Wilt thou not hear me? Think of those sweet hours<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When I would bind thee with my zone of flowers,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Those soft gay fetters o'er thee fondly wreathing,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thine only punishment when gently breathing<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In tones of love thy heedless sigh betrayed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The name, dear traitor! of some rival maid.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then would I pluck a floweret from my tress<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And beat thee till I forced thee to confess,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">While in my play the falling leaves would cover<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The eyes—the bright eyes—of my captive lover.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And then those words that made me, oh, so blest—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"Dear love, thy home is in my faithful breast!"<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Alas, sweet words, too blissful to be true,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Or how couldst thou have died, nor <span class="smcap">Rati</span> perish too?<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Yes, I will fly to thee, of thee bereft,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And leave this world which thou, my life, hast left.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Cold, gloomy, now this wretched world must be,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For all its pleasures came from only thee.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When night has veiled the city in its shade,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thou, only thou, canst soothe the wandering maid,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And guide her trembling at the thunder's roar<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Safe through the darkness to her lover's door.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In vain the wine-cup, as it circles by,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Lisps in her tongue and sparkles in her eye.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Long locks are streaming, and the cheek glows red:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But all is mockery, <span class="smcap">Love</span>—dear <span class="smcap">Love</span>—is dead.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The <span class="smcap">Moon</span>, sweet spirit, shall lament for thee,<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="dim_a" id="dim_a"></a><a href="#dim">Late, dim, and joyless shall his rising be</a>.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Days shall fly on, and he forget to take<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His full bright glory, mourning for thy sake.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Say, <span class="smcap">Káma</span>, say, whose arrow now shall be<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The soft green shoot of thy dear mango tree,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The favourite spray which Köils love so well,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And praise in sweetest strain its wondrous spell?<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="bees_a" id="bees_a"></a><a href="#bees">This line of bees</a> which strings thy useless bow<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Hums mournful echo to my cries of woe.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Come in thy lovely shape and teach again<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Köil's mate, that knows the tender strain,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her gentle task to waft to longing ears<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The lover's hope, the distant lover's fears.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span><span class="i0">Come, bring once more that ecstasy of bliss,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The fond dear look, the smile, and ah! that kiss!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fainting with woe, my soul refuses rest<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When memory pictures how I have been blest.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">See, thou didst weave a garland, love, to deck<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With all spring's fairest buds thy <span class="smcap">Rati's</span> neck.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sweet are those flowers as they were culled to-day,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And is my <span class="smcap">Káma's</span> form more frail than they?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His pleasant task my lover had begun,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But stern Gods took him ere the work was done;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Return, my <span class="smcap">Káma</span>, at thy <span class="smcap">Rati's</span> cry,<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="stain_a" id="stain_a"></a><a href="#stain">And stain this foot</a> which waits the rosy dye.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Now will I hie me to the fatal pile,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And ere heaven's maids have hailed thee with a smile,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Or on my love their winning glances thrown,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I will be there, and claim thee for mine own.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet though I come, my lasting shame will be<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That I have lived one moment after thee.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ah, how shall I thy funeral rites prepare,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Gone soul and body to the viewless air?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"With thy dear <span class="smcap">Spring</span> I've seen thee talk and smile,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shaping an arrow for thy bow the while.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where is he now, thy darling friend, the giver<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of many a bright sweet arrow for thy quiver?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Is he too sent upon death's dreary path,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Scorched by the cruel God's inexorable wrath?"<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Stricken in spirit by her cries of woe,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Like venomed arrows from a mighty bow,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A moment fled, and gentle <span class="smcap">Spring</span> was there,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To ask her grief, to soothe her wild despair.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She beat her breast more wildly than before,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With greater floods her weeping eyes ran o'er.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When friends are nigh the spirit finds relief<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In the full gushing torrent of its grief.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">"Turn, gentle friend, thy weeping eyes, and see<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That dear companion who was all to me.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His crumbling dust with which the breezes play,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bearing it idly in their course away,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">White as the silver feathers of a dove,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Is all that's left me of my murdered love.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Now come, my <span class="smcap">Káma</span>. <span class="smcap">Spring</span>, who was so dear,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Longs to behold thee. Oh, appear, appear!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fickle to women <span class="smcap">Love</span> perchance may bend<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His ear to listen to a faithful friend.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Remember, he walked ever at thy side<br /></span> -<span class="i0">O'er bloomy meadows in the warm spring-tide,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That Gods above, and men, and fiends below<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Should own the empire of thy mighty bow,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That ruthless bow, which pierces to the heart,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Strung with a lotus-thread, a flower its dart.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span><span class="i0">As dies a torch when winds sweep roughly by,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So is my light for ever fled, and I,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The lamp his cheering rays no more illume,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Am wrapt in darkness, misery and gloom.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fate took my love, and spared the widow's breath,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet fate is guilty of a double death.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When the wild monster tramples on the ground<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The tree some creeper garlands closely round,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Reft of the guardian which it thought so true,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Forlorn and withered, it must perish too.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then come, dear friend, the true one's pile prepare,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And send me quickly to my husband there.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Call it not vain: the mourning lotus dies<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When the bright <span class="smcap">Moon</span>, her lover, quits the skies.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When sinks the red cloud in the purple west,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Still clings his bride, the lightning, to his breast.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">All nature keeps the eternal high decree:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shall woman fail? I come, my love, to thee!<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Now on the pile my faint limbs will I throw,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Clasping his ashes, lovely even so,—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As if beneath my weary frame were spread<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Soft leaves and blossoms for a flowery bed.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And oh, dear comrade (for in happier hours<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Oft have I heaped a pleasant bed of flowers<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For thee and him beneath the spreading tree),<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now quickly raise the pile for <span class="smcap">Love</span> and me.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span><span class="i0">And in thy mercy gentle breezes send<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To fan the flame that wafts away thy friend,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And shorten the sad moments that divide<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Impatient <span class="smcap">Káma</span> from his <span class="smcap">Rati's</span> side;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Set water near us in a single urn,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We'll sip in heaven from the same in turn;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And let thine offering to his spirit be<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sprays fresh and lovely from the mango tree,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Culled when the round young buds begin to swell,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For <span class="smcap">Káma</span> loved those fragrant blossoms well."<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">As <span class="smcap">Rati</span> thus complained in faithful love,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A heavenly voice breathed round her from above,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Falling in pity like the gentle rain<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That brings the dying herbs to life again:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"Bride of the flower-armed God, thy lord shall be<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Not ever distant, ever deaf to thee.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Give me thine ear, sad lady, I will tell<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Why perished <span class="smcap">Káma</span>, whom thou lovedst well.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Lord of Life in every troubled sense<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Too warmly felt his fair child's influence.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He quenched the fire, but mighty vengeance came<br /></span> -<span class="i0">On <span class="smcap">Káma</span>, fanner of the unholy flame.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When <span class="smcap">Śiva</span> by her penance won has led<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Himálaya's</span> daughter to her bridal bed,<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span><span class="i0">His bliss to <span class="smcap">Káma</span> shall the God repay,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And give again the form he snatched away.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thus did the gracious God, at <span class="smcap">Justice'</span> prayer,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The term of <span class="smcap">Love's</span> sad punishment declare.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Gods, like clouds, are fierce and gentle too,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now hurl the bolt, now drop sweet heavenly dew.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Live, widowed lady, for thy lover's arms<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shall clasp again—oh, fondly clasp—thy charms.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In summer-heat the streamlet dies away<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Beneath the fury of the God of Day:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then, in due season, comes the pleasant rain,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And all is fresh, and fair, and full again."<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Thus breathed the spirit from the viewless air,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And stilled the raging of her wild despair;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">While <span class="smcap">Spring</span> consoled with every soothing art,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Cheered by that voice from heaven, the mourner's heart,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who watched away the hours, so sad and slow,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That brought the limit of her weary woe,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As the pale moon, quenched by the conquering light<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of garish day, longs for its own dear night.<br /></span></div></div> - - - -<hr style="width: 65%;" /> -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> -<h2><i>CANTO FIFTH.</i></h2> -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> - - -<hr style="width: 65%;" /> -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span></p> -<h2>Canto Fifth.</h2> - -<h3><i>UMÁ'S REWARD.</i></h3> - - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Now woe to <span class="smcap">Umá</span>, for young Love is slain,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her Lord hath left her, and her hope is vain.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Woe, woe to <span class="smcap">Umá</span>! how the Mountain-Maid<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Cursed her bright beauty for its feeble aid!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">'Tis Beauty's guerdon which she loves the best,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To bless her lover, and in turn be blest.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Penance must aid her now—or how can she<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Win the cold heart of that stern deity?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Penance, long penance: for that power alone<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Can make such love, so high a Lord, her own.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">But, ah! how troubled was her mother's brow<br /></span> -<span class="i0">At the sad tidings of the mourner's vow!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She threw her arms around her own dear maid,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Kissed, fondly kissed her, sighed, and wept, and prayed:<br /></span> -<span class="i1">"Are there no Gods, my child, to love thee here?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Frail is thy body, yet thy vow severe.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span><span class="i0">The lily, by the wild bee scarcely stirred,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bends, breaks, and dies beneath the weary bird."<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Fast fell her tears, her prayer was strong, but still<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That prayer was weaker than her daughter's will.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who can recall the torrent's headlong force,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Or the bold spirit in its destined course?<br /></span> -<span class="i1">She sent a maiden to her sire, and prayed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He for her sake would grant some bosky shade,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That she might dwell in solitude, and there<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Give all her soul to penance and to prayer.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In gracious love the great <span class="smcap">Himálaya</span> smiled,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And did the bidding of his darling child.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then to that hill which peacocks love she came,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Known to all ages by the lady's name.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Still to her purpose resolutely true,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her string of noble pearls aside she threw,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Which, slipping here and there, had rubbed away<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The sandal dust that on her bosom lay,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And clad her in a hermit coat of bark,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Rough to her gentle limbs, and gloomy dark,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Pressing too tightly, till her swelling breast<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Broke into freedom through the unwonted vest.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her matted hair was full as lovely now<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As when 'twas braided o'er her polished brow.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span><span class="i0">Thus the sweet beauties of the lotus shine<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When bees festoon it in a graceful line;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And, though the tangled weeds that crown the rill<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Cling o'er it closely, it is lovely still.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With zone of grass the votaress was bound,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Which reddened the fair form it girdled round:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Never before the lady's waist had felt<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The ceaseless torment of so rough a belt.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Alas! her weary vow has caused to fade<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The lovely colours that adorned the maid.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Pale is her hand, and her long finger-tips<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Steal no more splendour from her paler lips,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Or, from the ball which in her play would rest,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Made bright and fragrant, on her perfumed breast.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Rough with the sacred grass those hands must be,<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="rosary_a" id="rosary_a"></a><a href="#rosary">And worn with resting on her rosary</a>.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Cold earth her couch, her canopy the skies,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Pillowed upon her arm the lady lies:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She who before was wont to rest her head<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In the soft luxury of a sumptuous bed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Vext by no troubles as she slumbered there,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But sweet flowers slipping from her loosened hair.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The maid put off, but only for awhile,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her passioned glances and her witching smile.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She lent the fawn her moving, melting gaze,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And the fond creeper all her winning ways.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span><span class="i0">The trees that blossomed on that lonely mount<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She watered daily from the neighbouring fount:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">If she had been their nursing mother, she<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Could not have tended them more carefully.<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="boy_a" id="boy_a"></a><a href="#boy">Not e'en her boy</a>—her own bright boy—shall stay<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her love for them: her first dear children they.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her gentleness had made the fawns so tame,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To her kind hand for fresh sweet grain they came,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And let the maid before her friends compare<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her own with eyes that shone as softly there.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Then came the hermits of the holy wood<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To see the votaress in her solitude;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Grey elders came; though young the maid might seem,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her perfect virtue must command esteem.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They found her resting in that lonely spot,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The fire was kindled, and no rite forgot.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In hermit's mantle was she clad; her look<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fixt in deep thought upon the Holy Book.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So pure that grove: all war was made to cease,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And savage monsters lived in love and peace.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Pure was that grove: each newly built abode<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Had leafy shrines where fires of worship glowed.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">But far too mild her penance, <span class="smcap">Umá</span> thought,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To win from heaven the lordly meed she sought.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span><span class="i0">She would not spare her form, so fair and frail,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">If sterner penance could perchance prevail.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Oft had sweet pastime wearied her, and yet<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fain would she match in toil the anchoret.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sure the soft lotus at her birth had lent<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dear <span class="smcap">Umá's</span> form its gentle element;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But gold, commingled with her being, gave<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That will so strong, so beautifully brave.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Full in the centre of four blazing piles<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sate the fair lady of the winning smiles,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">While on her head the mighty God of Day<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shot all the fury of his summer ray;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet her fixt gaze she turned upon the skies,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And quenched his splendour with her brighter eyes.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To that sweet face, though scorched by rays from heaven,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Still was the beauty of the lotus given,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet, worn by watching, round those orbs of light<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A blackness gathered like the shades of night.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She cooled her dry lips in the bubbling stream,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And lived on Amrit from the pale moon-beam,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sometimes in hunger culling from the tree<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The rich ripe fruit that hung so temptingly.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Scorched by the fury of the noon-tide rays,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And fires that round her burned with ceaseless blaze,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Summer passed o'er her: rains of Autumn came<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And throughly drenched the lady's tender frame.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span><span class="i0">So steams the earth, when mighty torrents pour<br /></span> -<span class="i0">On thirsty fields all dry and parched before.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The first clear rain-drops falling on her brow,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Gem it one moment with their light, and now<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Kissing her sweet lip find a welcome rest<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In the deep valley of the lady's breast;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then wander broken by the fall within<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The mazy channels of her dimpled skin.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There as she lay upon her rocky bed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No sumptuous roof above her gentle head,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dark Night, her only witness, turned her eyes,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Red lightnings flashing from the angry skies,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And gazed upon her voluntary pain,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In wind, in sleet, in thunder, and in rain.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Still lay the maiden on the cold damp ground,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Though blasts of winter hurled their snows around,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Still pitying in her heart the mournful fate<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="birds_a" id="birds_a"></a><a href="#birds">Of those poor birds</a>, so fond, so desolate,—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Doomed, hapless pair, to list each other's moan<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Through the long hours of night, sad and alone.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Chilled by the rain, the tender lotus sank:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She filled its place upon the streamlet's bank.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sweet was her breath as when that lovely flower<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sheds its best odour in still evening's hour.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Red as its leaves her lips of coral hue:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Red as those quivering leaves they quivered too.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Of all stern penance it is called the chief<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To nourish life upon the fallen leaf.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But even this the ascetic maiden spurned,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And for all time a glorious title earned.<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Aparná</span>—Lady of the unbroken fast—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Have sages called her, saints who knew the past.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fair as the lotus fibres, soft as they,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In these stern vows she passed her night and day.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No mighty anchoret had e'er essayed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The ceaseless penance of this gentle maid.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">There came a hermit: reverend was he<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As Bráhmanhood's embodied sanctity.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With coat of skin, with staff and matted hair,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His face was radiant, and he spake her fair.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Up rose the maid the holy man to greet,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And humbly bowed before the hermit's feet.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Though meditation fill the pious breast,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It finds a welcome for a glorious guest:<br /></span> -<span class="i1">The sage received the honour duly paid,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And fixed his earnest gaze upon the maid.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">While through her frame unwonted vigour ran,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thus, in his silver speech, the blameless saint began:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"How can thy tender frame, sweet lady, bear<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In thy firm spirit's task its fearful share?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Canst thou the grass and fuel duly bring,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And still unwearied seek the freshening spring?<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span><span class="i0">Say, do the creeper's slender shoots expand,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Seeking each day fresh water from thy hand,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Till like thy lip each ruddy tendril glows,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That lip which, faded, still outreds the rose?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With loving glance the timid fawns draw nigh:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Say dost thou still with joy their wants supply?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For thee, O lotus-eyed, their glances shine,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Mocking the brightness of each look of thine.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">O Mountain-Lady, it is truly said<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That heavenly charms to sin have never led,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For even penitents may learn of thee<br /></span> -<span class="i0">How pure, how gentle Beauty's self may be.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bright <span class="smcap">Gangá</span> falling with her heavenly waves,<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Himálaya's</span> head with sacred water laves,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bearing the flowers the seven great Sages fling<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To crown the forehead of the Mountain-King.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet do thy deeds, O bright-haired maiden, shed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A richer glory round his awful head.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Purest of motives, Duty leads thy heart:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Pleasure and gain therein may claim no part.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">O noble maid, the wise have truly said<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="friends_a" id="friends_a"></a><a href="#friends">That friendship soon in gentle heart is bred</a>.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Seven steps together bind the lasting tie:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then bend on me, dear Saint, a gracious eye.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fain, lovely <span class="smcap">Umá</span>, would a Bráhman learn<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What noble guerdon would thy penance earn.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span><span class="i0">Say, art thou toiling for a second birth,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where dwells the great Creator? O'er the earth<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Resistless sway? Or fair as Beauty's Queen,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Peerless, immortal, shall thy form be seen?<br /></span> -<span class="i1">The lonely soul bowed down by grief and pain,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By penance' aid some gracious boon may gain.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But what, O faultless one, can move thy heart<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To dwell in solitude and prayer apart?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Why should the cloud of grief obscure thy brow,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">'Mid all thy kindred, who so loved as thou?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Foes hast thou none: for what rash hand would dare<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From serpent's head the magic gem to tear?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Why dost thou seek the hermit's garb to try,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thy silken raiment and thy gems thrown by?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As though the sun his glorious state should leave,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Rayless to harbour 'mid the shades of eve.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Wouldst thou win heaven by thy holy spells?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Already with the Gods thy father dwells.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A husband, lady? O forbear the thought,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A priceless jewel seeks not, but is sought.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Maiden, thy deep sighs tell me it is so;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet, doubtful still, my spirit seeks to know<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Couldst thou e'er love in vain? What heart so cold<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That hath not eagerly its worship told?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ah! could the cruel loved one, thou fair maid,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Look with cold glances on that bright hair's braid?<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span><span class="i0">Thy locks are hanging loosely o'er thy brow,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thine ear is shaded by no lotus now.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">See, where the sun hath scorched that tender neck<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Which precious jewels once were proud to deck.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Still gleams the line where they were wont to cling,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As faintly shows the moon's o'ershadowed ring.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now sure thy loved one, vain in beauty's pride,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dreamed of himself when wandering at thy side,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Or he would count him blest to be the mark<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of that dear eye, so soft, so lustrous dark.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But, gentle <span class="smcap">Umá</span>, let thy labour cease;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Turn to thy home, fair Saint, and rest in peace.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By many a year of penance duly done<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Rich store of merit has my labour won.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Take then the half, thy secret purpose name;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Nor in stern hardships wear thy tender frame."<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">The holy Bráhman ceased: but <span class="smcap">Umá's</span> breast<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In silence heaved, by love and fear opprest.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In mute appeal she turned her languid eye,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Darkened with weeping, not with softening dye,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To bid her maiden's friendly tongue declare<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The cherished secret of her deep despair:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"Hear, holy Father, if thou still wouldst know,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Why her frail form endures this pain and woe,<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span><span class="i0">As the soft lotus makes a screen to stay<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The noontide fury of the God of Day.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Proudly disdaining all the blest above,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With heart and soul she seeks for <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> love.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For him alone, the Trident-wielding God,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The thorny paths of penance hath she trod.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But since that mighty one hath <span class="smcap">Káma</span> slain,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Vain every hope, and every effort vain.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">E'en as life fled, a keen but flowery dart<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Young <span class="smcap">Love</span>, the Archer, aimed at <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> heart.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The God in anger hurled the shaft away,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But deep in <span class="smcap">Umá's</span> tender soul it lay;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Alas, poor maid! she knows no comfort now,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her soul's on fire, her wild locks hide her brow.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She quits her father's halls, and frenzied roves<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The icy mountain and the lonely groves.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Oft as the maidens of the minstrel throng<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To hymn great <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> praises raised the song,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The lovelorn lady's sobs and deep-drawn sighs<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Drew tears of pity from their gentle eyes.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Wakeful and fevered in the dreary night<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Scarce closed her eyes, and then in wild affright<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Rang through the halls her very bitter cry,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"God of the azure neck, why dost thou fly?"<br /></span> -<span class="i0">While their soft bands her loving arms would cast<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Hound the dear vision fading all too fast.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span><span class="i0">Her skilful hand, with true love-guided art,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Had traced the image graven on her heart.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"Art thou all present? Dost thou fail to see<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Poor <span class="smcap">Umá's</span> anguish and her love for thee?"<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thus oft in frenzied grief her voice was heard,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Chiding the portrait with reproachful word.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Long thus in vain for <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> love she strove,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then turned in sorrow to this holy grove.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Since the sad maid hath sought these forest glades<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To hide her grief amid the dreary shades,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The fruit hath ripened on the spreading bough;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But ah! no fruit hath crowned her holy vow.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her faithful friends alone must ever mourn<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To see that beauteous form by penance worn,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But oh! that <span class="smcap">Śiva</span> would some favour deign,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As <span class="smcap">Indra</span> pitieth the parching plain!"<br /></span> -<span class="i1">The maiden ceased: his secret joy dissembling,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Bráhman turned to <span class="smcap">Umá</span> pale and trembling:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"And is it thus, or doth the maiden jest?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Is this the darling secret of thy breast?"<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Scarce could the maid her choking voice command,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Or clasp her rosary with quivering hand:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"O holy Sage, learned in the Vedas' lore,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">'Tis even thus. Great <span class="smcap">Śiva</span> I adore.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thus would my steadfast heart his love obtain,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For this I gladly bear the toil and pain.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span><span class="i0">Surely the strong desire, the earnest will,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">May win some favour from his mercy still."<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">"Lady," cried he, "that mighty Lord I know;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ever his presence bringeth care and woe.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And wouldst thou still a second time prepare<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The sorrows of his fearful life to share?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Deluded maid, how shall thy tender hand,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Decked with the nuptial bracelet's jewelled band,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Be clasped in his, when fearful serpents twine<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In scaly horror round that arm divine?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">How shall thy robe, with gay flamingoes gleaming,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Suit with his coat of hide with blood-drops streaming?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of old thy pathway led where flowerets sweet<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Made pleasant carpets for thy gentle feet.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And e'en thy foes would turn in grief away<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To see these vermeil-tinted limbs essay,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where scattered tresses strew the mournful place,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Their gloomy path amid the tombs to trace.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">On <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> heart the funeral ashes rest,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Say, gentle lady, shall they stain thy breast,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where the rich tribute of the Sandal trees<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sheds a pure odour on the amorous breeze?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A royal bride returning in thy state,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The king of elephants should bear thy weight.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">How wilt thou brook the mockery and the scorn<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When thou on <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> bull art meanly borne?<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span><span class="i0">Sad that the crescent moon his crest should be:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And shall that mournful fate be shared by thee?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His crest, the glory of the evening skies,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His bride, the moonlight of our wondering eyes!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Deformed is he, his ancestry unknown;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By vilest garb his poverty is shown.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">O fawn-eyed lady, how should <span class="smcap">Śiva</span> gain<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That heart for which the glorious strive in vain<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No charms hath he to win a maiden's eye:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Cease from thy penance, hush the fruitless sigh!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Unmeet is he thy faithful heart to share,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Child of the Mountain, maid of beauty rare!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Not 'mid the gloomy tombs do sages raise<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The holy altar of their prayer and praise."<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Impatient <span class="smcap">Umá</span> listened: the quick blood<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Rushed to her temples in an angry flood.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her quivering lip, her darkly-flashing eye<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Told that the tempest of her wrath was nigh.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Proudly she spoke: "How couldst thou tell aright<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of one like <span class="smcap">Śiva</span>, perfect, infinite?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">'Tis ever thus, the mighty and the just<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Are scorned by souls that grovel in the dust.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Their lofty goodness and their motives wise<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shine all in vain before such blinded eyes.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span><span class="i0">Say who is greater, he who strives for power,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Or he who succours in misfortune's hour?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Refuge of worlds, O how should <span class="smcap">Śiva</span> deign<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To look on men enslaved to paltry gain?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The spring of wealth himself, he careth naught<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For the vile treasures that mankind have sought.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His dwelling-place amid the tombs may be,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet Monarch of the three great worlds is he.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What though no love his outward form may claim,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The stout heart trembles at his awful name.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who can declare the wonders of his might?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Trident-wielding God, who knows aright?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Whether around him deadly serpents twine,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Or if his jewelled wreaths more brightly shine;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Whether in rough and wrinkled hide arrayed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Or silken robe, in glittering folds displayed;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">If on his brow the crescent moon he bear,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Or if a shrunken skull be withering there;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The funeral ashes touched by him acquire<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The glowing lustre of eternal fire;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Falling in golden showers, the heavenly maids<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Delight to pour them on their shining braids.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What though no treasures fill his storehouse full,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What though he ride upon his horned bull,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Not e'en may <span class="smcap">Indra</span> in his pride withhold<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The lowly homage that is his of old,<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span><span class="i0">But turns his raging elephant to meet<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His mighty Lord, and bows before his feet,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Right proud to colour them rich rosy red<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With the bright flowers that deck his prostrate head.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thy slanderous tongue proclaims thy evil mind,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet in thy speech one word of truth we find.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Unknown thou call'st him: how should mortal man<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Count when the days of <span class="smcap">Brahmá's</span> Lord began?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But cease these idle words: though all be true,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His failings many and his virtues few,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Still clings my heart to him, its chosen lord,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Nor fails nor falters at thy treacherous word.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dear maiden, bid yon eager boy depart:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Why should the slanderous tale defile his heart?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Most guilty who the faithless speech begins,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But he who stays to listen also sins."<br /></span> -<span class="i1">She turned away: with wrath her bosom swelling,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Its vest of bark in angry pride repelling:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But sudden, lo, before her wondering eyes<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In altered form she sees the sage arise;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">'Tis <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> self before the astonished maid,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In all his gentlest majesty displayed.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She saw, she trembled, like a river's course,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Checked for a moment in its onward force,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By some huge rock amid the torrent hurled<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where erst the foaming waters madly curled.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span><span class="i0">One foot uplifted, shall she turn away?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Unmoved the other, shall the maiden stay?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The silver moon on <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> forehead shone,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">While softly spake the God in gracious tone:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"O gentle maiden, wise and true of soul,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Lo, now I bend beneath thy sweet control.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Won by thy penance, and thy holy vows,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thy willing slave <span class="smcap">Śiva</span> before thee bows."<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">He spake, and rushing through her languid frame,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">At his dear words returning vigour came.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She knew but this, that all her cares were o'er,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her sorrows ended, she should weep no more!<br /></span> -</div></div> -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p> - - -<hr style="width: 65%;" /> -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p> -<h2><a name="CANTO_SIXTH" id="CANTO_SIXTH"></a><i>CANTO SIXTH.</i></h2> -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> - - -<hr style="width: 65%;" /> -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p> -<h2>Canto Sixth.</h2> - -<h3><i>UMÁ'S ESPOUSALS.</i></h3> - - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Now gentle <span class="smcap">Umá</span> bade a damsel bear<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To <span class="smcap">Śiva</span>, Soul of All, her maiden prayer:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"Wait the high sanction of <span class="smcap">Himálaya's</span> will,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And ask his daughter from the royal hill."<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then ere the God, her own dear Lord, replied,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In blushing loveliness she sought his side.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thus the young mango hails the approaching spring<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By its own tuneful bird's sweet welcoming.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">In <span class="smcap">Umá's</span> ear he softly whispered, yea,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then scarce could tear him from her arms away.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Swift with a thought he summoned from above<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Seven bright Saints to bear his tale of love.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They came, and She, <a name="dome_a" id="dome_a"></a><a href="#dome">the Heavenly Dame</a>, was there,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Lighting with glories all the radiant air;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Just freshly bathed in sacred <span class="smcap">Gangá's</span> tide,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Gemmed with the dancing flowers that deck her side,<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span><span class="i0">And richly scented with the nectarous rill<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That heavenly elephants from their brows distil.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fair strings of pearl their radiant fingers hold,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Clothed are their limbs in hermit-coats of gold;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Their rosaries, large gems of countless price,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shone like the fruit that glows in Paradise,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As though the glorious trees that blossom there<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Had sought the forest for a life of prayer.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With all his thousand beams the God of Day,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Urging his coursers down the sloping way,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His banner furled at the approach of night,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Looks up in reverence on those lords of light.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ancient creators: thus the wise, who know,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Gave them a name in ages long ago:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With <span class="smcap">Brahmá</span> joining in creation's plan,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And perfecting the work His will began;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Still firm in penance, though the hermit-vow<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bears a ripe harvest for the sages now.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Brightest in glory 'mid that glorious band<br /></span> -<span class="i0">See the fair Queen, the Heavenly Lady, stand.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fixing her loving eyes upon her spouse,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She seemed sent forth to crown the sage's vows<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With sweet immortal joy, the dearest prize<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Strong prayer could merit from the envious skies.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With equal honour on the Queen and all<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Did the kind glance of <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> welcome fall.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span><span class="i0">No partial favour by the good is shown:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They count not station, but the deed alone.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So fair she shone upon his raptured view,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He longed for wedlock's heavenly pleasures too.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What hath such power to lead the soul above<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By virtue's pleasant path as wedded love!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Scarce had the holy motive lent its aid<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To knit great <span class="smcap">Śiva</span> to the Mountain-Maid,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When <span class="smcap">Káma's</span> spirit that had swooned in fear<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Breathed once again and deemed forgiveness near.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">The ancient Sages reverently adored<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The world's great Father and its Sovran Lord,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And while a soft ecstatic thrilling ran<br /></span> -<span class="i0">O'er their celestial frames, they thus began:<br /></span> -<span class="i1">"Glorious the fruit our holy studies bear,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Our constant penance, sacrifice and prayer.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For that high place within thy thoughts we gain<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Which fancy strives to reach, but longs in vain.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">How blest is he, the glory of the wise,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Deep in whose thoughtful breast thy Godhead lies!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But who may tell his joy who rests enshrined,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">O <span class="smcap">Brahmá's</span> great Creator, in thy mind!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We dwell on high above the cold moon's ray;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Beneath our mansion glows the God of Day,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But now thy favour lends us brighter beams,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Blest with thy love our star unchanging gleams.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span><span class="i0">How should we tell what soul-entrancing bliss<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Enthrals our spirit at an hour like this?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Great Lord of All, thou Soul of Life indwelling,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We crave one word thy wondrous nature telling.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Though to our eyes thy outward form be shown,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">How can we know thee as thou shouldst be known?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In this thy present shape, we pray thee, say<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dost thou create? dost thou preserve or slay?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But speak thy wish; called from our starry rest<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We wait, O <span class="smcap">Śiva</span>, for our Lord's behest"<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Then answered thus the Lord of glory, while<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Flashed from his dazzling teeth so white a smile,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The moon that crowned him poured a larger stream<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of living splendour from that pearly gleam:<br /></span> -<span class="i1">"Ye know, great Sages of a race divine,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No selfish want e'er prompts a deed of mine.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Do not the forms—eight varied forms—I wear,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The truth of this to all the world declare?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now, as <a name="thirsty_a" id="thirsty_a"></a><a href="#thirsty">that thirsty bird</a> that drinks the rain<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Prays the kind clouds of heaven to soothe its pain,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So the Gods pray me, trembling 'neath their foe,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To send a child of mine and end their woe.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">I seek the Mountain-Maiden as my bride:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Our hero son shall tame the demon's pride.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span><span class="i0">Thus the priest bids the holy fire arise,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Struck from the wood to aid the sacrifice.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Go, ask <span class="smcap">Himálaya</span> for the lovely maid:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Blest are those bridals which the holy aid.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So shall more glorious honours gild my name,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And win the father yet a prouder fame.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Nor, O ye heavenly Sages, need I teach<br /></span> -<span class="i0">What for the maiden's hand shall be your speech,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For still the wise in worthiest honour hold<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The rules and precepts ye ordained of old.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This Lady too shall aid your mission there:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Best for such task a skilful matron's care.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And now, my heralds, to your task away,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where proud <span class="smcap">Himálaya</span> holds his royal sway;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then meet me where this mighty torrent raves<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Down the steep channel with its headlong waves."<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Thus while that holiest One his love confessed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The hermits listened: from each saintly breast<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fled the false shame that yet had lingered there,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And love and wedlock showed divinely fair.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">On through the heaven, o'er tracts of swordlike blue,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Towards the gay city, swift as thought, they flew,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bright with high domes and palaces most fair,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As if <a name="alaka_a" id="alaka_a"></a><a href="#alaka">proud <span class="smcap">Alaká</span></a> were planted there,<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span><span class="i0">Or <span class="smcap">Paradise</span> poured forth, in showers that bless,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The rich o'erflowings of its loveliness.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Round lofty towers adorned with gems and gold<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her guardian stream the holy <span class="smcap">Gangá</span> rolled.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">On every side, the rampart's glowing crown,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bright wreaths of fragrant flowers hung waving down,—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Flowers that might tempt the maids of heavenly birth<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To linger fondly o'er that pride of earth.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Its noble elephants, unmoved by fear,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The distant roaring of the lions hear.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In beauty peerless, and unmatched in speed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Its thousand coursers of celestial breed.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Through the broad streets bright sylphs and minstrels rove:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Its dames are Goddesses of stream and grove.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Hark! the drum echoes louder and more loud<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From glittering halls whose spires are wrapt in cloud.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">It were the thunder, but that voice of fear<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Falls not in measured time upon the ear.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">'Tis balmy cool, for many a heavenly tree,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With quivering leaves and branches waving free,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sheds a delightful freshness through the air,—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fans which no toil of man has stationed there.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The crystal chambers where they feast at night<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Flash back the beamings of the starry light.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So brightly pure that silver gleam is shed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Playing so fondly round each beauteous head,<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span><span class="i0">That all seem gifted from those lights above<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With richest tokens of superior love.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">How blest its maidens! cloudless is their day,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And radiant herbs illume their nightly way.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No term of days, but endless youth they know;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No Death save him who bears the Flowery Bow:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Their direst swoon, their only frenzy this—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The trance of love, the ecstasy of bliss!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ne'er can their lovers for one hour withstand<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The frown, the quivering lip, the scornful hand;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But seek forgiveness of the angry fair,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And woo her smile with many an earnest prayer.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Around, wide gardens spread their pleasant bowers,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where <a name="champac_a" id="champac_a"></a><a href="#champac">the bright Champac</a> opes her fragrant flowers:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Dear shades, beloved by the sylphs that roam<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In dewy evening from their mountain home.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Ah! why should mortals fondly strive to gain<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Heaven and its joys by ceaseless toil and pain?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">E'en the Saints envied as their steps drew near,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And owned a brighter heaven was opened here.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They lighted down; braided was each long tress,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bright as the pictured flame, as motionless.<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Himálaya's</span> palace-warders in amaze<br /></span> -<span class="i0">On the Seven Sages turned their eager gaze,—<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span><span class="i0">A noble company of celestial race<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where each in order of his years had place,—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Glorious, as when the sun, his head inclining,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sees his own image 'mid the waters shining.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">To greet them with a gift <span class="smcap">Himálaya</span> sped,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Earth to her centre shaking at his tread.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By his dark lips with mountain metals dyed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His arms like pines that clothe his lofty side:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By his proud stature, by his stony breast,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Lord of the Snowy Hills he stood confest.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">On to his Council-hall he led the way,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Nor failed due honour to the Saints to pay.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">On couch of reed the Monarch bade them rest,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And thus with uplift hands those Heavenly Lords addressed:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"Like soft rain falling from a cloudless sky,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Or fruit, when bloom has failed to glad the eye,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So are ye welcome, Sages; thus I feel<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ecstatic thrilling o'er my spirit steal,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Changed, like dull senseless iron to burning gold,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Or some rapt creature, when the heavens unfold<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To eyes yet dim with tears of earthly care,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The rest, the pleasures, and the glory there.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Long pilgrim bands from this auspicious day<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To my pure hill shall bend their constant way.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Famed shall it be o'er all the lands around,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For where the good have been is holy ground.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span><span class="i0">Now am I doubly pure, for <span class="smcap">Gangá's</span> tide<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Falls on my head from heaven and laves my side.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Henceforth I boast a second stream as sweet,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The water, Sages, that has touched your feet.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Twice by your favour is <span class="smcap">Himálaya</span> blest,—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">This towery mountain that your feet have prest,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And this my moving form is happier still<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To wait your bidding, to perform your will.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">These mighty limbs that fill the heaven's expanse<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sink down, o'erpowered, in a blissful trance.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So bright your presence, at the glorious sight<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My brooding shades of darkness turn to light.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The gloom that haunts my mountain caverns flies,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And cloudy passion in the spirit dies.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">O say, if here your arrowy course ye sped<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To throw fresh glory round my towering head.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Surely your wish, ye Mighty Ones, can crave<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No aid, no service from your willing slave.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet deem me worthy of some high behest:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The lord commandeth, and the slave is blest.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Declare your pleasure, then, bright heavenly band:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We crave no guerdon but your sole command.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yours are we all, <span class="smcap">Himálaya</span> and his bride,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And this dear maiden child our hope and pride."<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Not once he spake: his cavern mouths around<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In hollow echoings gave again the sound.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span><span class="i0">Of all who speak beyond compare the best,<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="angiras_a" id="angiras_a"></a><a href="#angiras"><span class="smcap">Angiras</span></a> answered at the Saints' request:<br /></span> -<span class="i1">"This power hast thou, great King, and mightier far,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thy mind is lofty as thy summits are.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sages say truly, <span class="smcap">Vishṇu</span> is thy name:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His spirit breatheth in thy mountain frame.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Within the caverns of thy boundless breast<br /></span> -<span class="i0">All things that move and all that move not rest.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">How on his head so soft, so delicate,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Could the great Snake uphold the huge earth's weight,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Did not thy roots, far-reaching down to hell,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bear up the burden and assist him well?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thy streams of praise, thy pure rills' ceaseless flow<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Make glad the nations wheresoe'er they go,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Till, shedding purity on every side,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They sink at length in boundless Ocean's tide.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Blest is fair <span class="smcap">Gangá</span>, for her heavenly stream<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Flows from the feet of him that sits supreme;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And blest once more, O mighty Hill, is she<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That her bright waters spring anew from thee.<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="vast_a" id="vast_a"></a><a href="#vast">Vast grew his body</a> when the avenging God<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In three huge strides o'er all creation trod.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Above, below, his form increased, but thou<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Wast ever glorious and as vast as now.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By thee is famed <a name="sumeru_a" id="sumeru_a"></a><a href="#sumeru"><span class="smcap">Sumeru</span></a> forced to hide<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His flashing rays and pinnacles of pride,<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span><span class="i0">For thou hast won thy station in the skies<br /></span> -<span class="i0">'Mid the great Gods who claim the sacrifice.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Firm and unmoved remains thy lofty hill,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet thou canst bow before the holy still.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now—for the glorious work will fall on thee,—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Hear thou the cause of this our embassy.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">We also, Mountain Monarch, since we bear<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To thee the message, in the labour share.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Highest, Mightiest, Noblest One, adored<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By the proud title of our Sovran Lord:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The crescent moon upon his brow bears he,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And wields the wondrous powers of Deity.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He in this earth and varied forms displayed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bound each to other by exchange of aid,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Guides the great world and all the things that are,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As flying coursers whirl the glittering car.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Him good men seek with holy thought and prayer,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who fills their breast and makes his dwelling there.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When saints, we read, his lofty sphere attain,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They ne'er may fall to this base earth again:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His messengers, great King, we crave the hand<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of thy fair daughter at the God's command.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">At such blest union, as of <span class="smcap">Truth</span> and <span class="smcap">Voice</span>,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A father's heart should grieve not, but rejoice.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her Lord is Father of the world, and she<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of all that liveth shall the mother be.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span><span class="i0">Gods that adore him with the Neck of Blue<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In homage bent shall hail the Lady too,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And give a glory to her feet with gems<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That sparkle in their priceless diadems.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Hear what a roll shall blazon forth thy line,—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Maid, Father, Suitor, Messengers divine!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Give him the chosen lady, and aspire<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To call thy son the Universe's Sire,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who laudeth none, but all mankind shall raise<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To Him through endless time the songs of praise."<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Thus while he spake the lady bent her head<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To hide her cheek, now blushing rosy red,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And numbered o'er with seeming care the while<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her lotus' petals in sweet maiden guile.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With pride and joy <span class="smcap">Himálaya's</span> heart beat high,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet ere he spake he looked to <span class="smcap">Mená's</span> eye:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Full well he knew a mother's gentle care<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Learns her child's heart and love's deep secret there,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And this the hour, he felt, when fathers seek<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her eye for answer or her changing cheek.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His eager look <span class="smcap">Himálaya</span> scarce had bent<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When <span class="smcap">Mená's</span> eye beamed back her glad assent.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">O gentle wives! your fondest wish is still<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To have with him you love one heart, one will.<br /></span> -</div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">He threw his arms around the blushing maid<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In queenly garment and in gems arrayed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Awhile was silent, then in rapture cried,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"Come, O my daughter! Come, thou destined bride<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of <span class="smcap">Śiva</span>, Lord of All: this glorious band<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of Saints have sought thee at the God's command;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And I thy sire this happy day obtain<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The best reward a father's wish would gain."<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Then to the Saints he cried: "Pure Hermits, see<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The spouse of <span class="smcap">Śiva</span> greets your company."<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They looked in rapture on the maid, and poured<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Their fullest blessing on her heavenly lord.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So low she bowed, the gems that decked her hair<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And sparkled in her ear fell loosened there;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then with sweet modesty and joy opprest<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She hid her blushes on the Lady's breast,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who cheered the mother weeping for her child,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her own dear <span class="smcap">Umá</span>, till again she smiled:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Such bliss and glory should be hers above,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yea, mighty <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> undivided love.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">They named the fourth for <span class="smcap">Umá's</span> nuptial day;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then sped the Sages on their homeward way;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And thanked by <span class="smcap">Śiva</span> with a gracious eye<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sought their bright rest amid the stars on high.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span><span class="i0">Through all those weary days the lover sighed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To wind his fond arms round his gentle bride.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Oh, if the Lord of Heaven could find no rest,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Think, think how Love, strong Love, can tear a mortal's breast!<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span></div></div> - - - -<hr style="width: 65%;" /> -<h2><a name="CANTO_SEVENTH" id="CANTO_SEVENTH"></a><i>CANTO SEVENTH.</i></h2> -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span></p> - - -<hr style="width: 65%;" /> -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p> -<h2>Canto Seventh.</h2> - -<h3><i>UMÁ'S BRIDAL.</i></h3> - - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">In light and glory dawned the expected day<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Blest with a kindly star's auspicious ray,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When gaily gathered at <span class="smcap">Himálaya's</span> call<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His kinsmen to the solemn festival.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Through the broad city every dame's awake<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To grace the bridal for her monarch's sake;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So great their love for him, this single care<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Makes one vast household of the thousands there.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Heaven is not brighter than the royal street<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where flowers lie scattered 'neath the nobles' feet,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And banners waving to the breeze unfold<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Their silken broidery over gates of gold.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And she, their child, upon her bridal day<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bears her dear parents' every thought away.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So, when from distant shores a friend returns,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With deeper love each inmost spirit burns.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span><span class="i0">So, when grim Death restores his prey again<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Joy brighter shines from memory of pain.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Each noble matron of <span class="smcap">Himálaya's</span> race<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Folds his dear <span class="smcap">Umá</span> in a long embrace,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Pours blessings on her head, and prays her take<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Some priceless jewel for her friendship's sake.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With sweetest influence a star of power<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Had joined the spotted moon: at that blest hour<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To deck fair <span class="smcap">Umá</span> many a noble dame<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And many a gentle maid assiduous came.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And well she graced their toil, more brightly fair<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With feathery grass and wild flowers in her hair.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A silken robe flowed free below her waist;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her sumptuous head a glittering arrow graced.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So shines the young unclouded moon at last,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Greeting the sun, its darksome season past.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sweet-scented Lodhra dust and Sandal dyed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The delicate beauties of the fair young bride,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Veiled with a soft light robe. Her tiring-girls<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then led her to a chamber decked with pearls<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And paved with sapphires, where the lulling sound<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of choicest music breathed divinely round.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There o'er the lady's limbs they poured by turns<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Streams of pure water from their golden urns.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fresh from the cooling bath the lovely maid<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In fairest white her tender form arrayed.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span><span class="i0">So opens the Kása all her shining flowers<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Lured from their buds by softly falling showers.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then to a court with canopies o'erhead<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A crowd of noble dames the maiden led—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A court for solemn rites, where gems and gold<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Adorn the pillars that the roof uphold.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There on a couch they set her with her face<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Turned toward the east. So lovely then the grace<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of that dear maid, so ravishing her smile,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">E'en her attendants turned to gaze awhile;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">For though the brightest gems around her lay,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her brighter beauty stole their eyes away.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Through her long tresses one a chaplet wound,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And one with fragrant grass her temples crowned,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">While o'er her head sweet clouds of incense rolled<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To try and perfume every shining fold.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bright dyes of saffron and the scented wood<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Adorned her beauty, till the maiden stood<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fairer than <span class="smcap">Gangá</span> when the Love-birds play<br /></span> -<span class="i0">O'er sandy islets in her silvery bay.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To what rare beauty shall her maids compare<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her clear brow shaded by her glossy hair?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Less dazzling pure the lovely lotus shines<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Flecked by the thronging bees in dusky lines.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Less bright the moon, when a dark band of cloud<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Enhances beauties which it cannot shroud.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span><span class="i0">Behind her ear a head of barley drew<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The eye to gaze upon its golden hue.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But then her cheek, with glowing saffron dyed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To richer beauty called the glance aside.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Though from those lips, where Beauty's guerdon lay,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The vermeil tints were newly washed away,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet o'er them, as she smiled, a ray was thrown<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of quivering brightness that was all their own.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">"Lay this dear foot upon thy lover's head<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Crowned with the moon," the laughing maiden said,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who dyed her lady's feet—no word spake she,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But beat her with her wreath in playful glee.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Then tiring-women took the jetty dye<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To guard, not deck, the beauty of her eye,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Whose languid half-shut glances might compare<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With lotus leaves just opening to the air;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And as fresh gems adorned her neck and arms,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So quickly changing grew the maiden's charms,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Like some fair plant where bud succeeding bud<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Unfolds new beauty; or a silver flood<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where gay birds follow quickly; or like night,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When crowding stars come forth in all their light.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Oft as the mirror would her glance beguile<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She longed to meet her Lord's approving smile.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span><span class="i0">Her tasteful skill the timid maid essays<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To win one smile of love, one word of praise.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">The happy mother took the golden dye<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And raised to hers young <span class="smcap">Umá's</span> beaming eye.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then swelled her bosom with maternal pride<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As thus she decked her darling for a bride.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Oh, she had longed to trace on that fair brow<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The nuptial line, yet scarce could mark it now.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">On <span class="smcap">Umá's</span> rounded arm the woollen band<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Was fixt securely by the nurse's hand.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Blind with the tears that filled her swimming eye,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In vain the mother strove that band to tie.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Spotless as curling foam-flakes stood she there,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As yielding soft, as graceful and as fair:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Or like the glory of an autumn night<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Robed by the full moon in a veil of light.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Then at her mother's hest, the maid adored<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The spirit of each high ancestral lord,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Nor failed she next the noble dames to greet,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And give due honour to their reverend feet.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They raised the maiden as she bowed her head:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"Thine be the fulness of his love!" they said.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Half of his being, blessing high as this<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Can add no rapture to her perfect bliss.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Well-pleased <span class="smcap">Himálaya</span> viewed the pomp and pride<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Meet for his daughter, meet for <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> bride;<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span><span class="i0">Then sought the hall with all his friends to wait<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The bridegroom's coming with a monarch's state.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Meanwhile by heavenly matrons' care displayed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Upon <span class="smcap">Kuvera's</span> lofty mount were laid<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The ornaments of <span class="smcap">Śiva</span>, which of yore<br /></span> -<span class="i0">At his first nuptials the bridegroom wore.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He laid his hand upon the dress, but how<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shall robes so sad, so holy, grace him now?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His own dire vesture took a shape as fair<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As gentle bridegroom's heart could wish to wear.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The withering skull that glazed the eye with dread,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shone a bright coronal to grace his head.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">That elephant's hide the God had worn of old<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Was now a silken robe inwrought with gold.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Ere this his body was with dust besprent:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With unguent now it shed delightful scent;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And that mid-eye which glittering like a star<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shot the wild terror of its glance afar—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So softly now its golden radiance beamed—<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A mark of glory on his forehead seemed.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His twining serpents, destined still to be<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The pride and honour of the deity,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Changed but their bodies: in each sparkling crest<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The blazing gems still shone their loveliest.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span><span class="i0">What need of jewels on the brow of Him<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who wears the crescent moon? No spot may dim<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Its youthful beauty, e'en in light of day<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Shedding the glory of its quenchless ray.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Well-pleased the God in all his pride arrayed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Saw his bright image mirrored in the blade<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of the huge sword they brought; then calmly leant<br /></span> -<span class="i0">On <span class="smcap">Nandi's</span> arm, and toward his bull he went,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Whose broad back covered with a tiger's hide<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Was steep to climb as Mount <a name="kailasa_a" id="kailasa_a"></a><a href="#kailasa"><span class="smcap">Kailása's</span> side</a>.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Yet the dread monster humbly shrank for fear,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And bowed in reverence as his Lord drew near.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The matrons followed him, a saintly throng,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Their ear-rings waving as they dashed along:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sweet faces, with such glories round them shed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As made the air one lovely lotus bed.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">On flew those bright ones: <a name="kali_a" id="kali_a"></a><a href="#kali"><span class="smcap">Káli</span> came behind</a>,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The skulls that decked her rattling in the wind:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Like the dark rack that scuds across the sky,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With herald lightning and the crane's shrill cry.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Hark! from the glorious bands that lead the way,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Harp, drum, and pipe, and shrilling trumpet's bray,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Burst through the sky upon the startled ear<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And tell the Gods the hour of worship's near.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span><span class="i1">They came; the <span class="smcap">Sun</span> presents a silken shade<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Which heaven's own artist for the God had made,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Gilding his brows, as though bright <span class="smcap">Gangá</span> rolled<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Adown his holy head her waves of gold.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She in her Goddess-shape divinely fair,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And <span class="smcap">Yamuná</span>, sweet river-Nymph, were there,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fanning their Lord, that fancy still might deem<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Swans waved their pinions round each Lady of the Stream.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">E'en <span class="smcap">Brahmá</span> came, Creator, Lord of Might,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And <span class="smcap">Vishṇu</span> glowing from the realms of light.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"Ride on," they cried, "thine, thine for ever be<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The strength, the glory, and the victory."<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To swell his triumph that high blessing came<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Like holy oil upon the rising flame.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In those Three Persons the one God was shown,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Each first in place, each last,—not one alone;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of <span class="smcap">Śiva</span>, <span class="smcap">Vishṇu</span>, <span class="smcap">Brahmá</span>, each may be<br /></span> -<span class="i0">First, second, third, among the Blessed Three.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By <span class="smcap">Indra</span> led, each world-upholding Lord<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With folded hands the mighty God adored.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In humble robes arrayed, the pomp and pride<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of glorious deity they laid aside.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They signed to <span class="smcap">Nandi</span>, and the favourite's hand<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Guided his eye upon the suppliant band.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He spake to <span class="smcap">Vishṇu</span>, and on <span class="smcap">Indra</span> smiled,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To <span class="smcap">Brahmá</span> bowed—the lotus' mystic child.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span><span class="i0">On all the hosts of heaven his friendly eye<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Beamed duly welcome as they crowded nigh.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Seven Great Saints their blessings o'er him shed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And thus in answer, with a smile, he said:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"Hail, mighty Sages! hail, ye Sons of Light!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">My chosen priests to celebrate this rite."<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Now in sweet tones the heavenly minstrels tell<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His praise, beneath whose might <span class="smcap">Tripura</span> fell.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He moves to go: from his moon-crest a ray<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sheds quenchless light on his triumphant way.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">On through the air his swift bull bore him well,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Decked with the gold of many a tinkling bell;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Tossing from time to time his head on high,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Enwreathed with clouds as he flew racing by,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As though in furious charge he had uptorn<br /></span> -<span class="i0">A bank of clay upon his mighty horn.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Swiftly they came where in its beauty lay<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The city subject to <span class="smcap">Himálaya's</span> sway.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No foeman's foot had ever trod those halls,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No foreign bands encamped around the walls.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> glances fixed their eager hold<br /></span> -<span class="i0">On that fair city as with threads of gold.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The God whose neck still gleams with cloudy blue<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Burst on the wondering people's upturned view,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And on the earth descended, from the path<br /></span> -<span class="i0">His shafts once dinted in avenging wrath.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span><span class="i0">Forth from the gates a noble army poured<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To do meet honour to the mighty Lord.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With all his friends on elephants of state<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The King of Mountains passed the city gate,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So gaily decked, the princes all were seen<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Like moving hills inwrapt in bowery green.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As the full rushing of two streams that pour<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Beneath one bridge with loud tumultuous roar,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So through the city's open gate streamed in<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Mountains and Gods with tumult and with din.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">So glorious was the sight, wonder and shame,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When <span class="smcap">Śiva</span> bowed him, o'er the Monarch came;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He knew not he had bent his lofty crest<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In reverent greeting to his heavenly guest<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Himálaya</span>, joying in the festive day,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Before the immortal bridegroom led the way<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where heaps of gay flowers burying half the feet<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Lay breathing odours through the crowded street.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Careless of all beside, each lady's eye<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Must gaze on <span class="smcap">Śiva</span> as the troop sweeps by.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">One dark-eyed beauty will not stay to bind<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Her long black tresses, floating unconfined<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Save by her little hand; her flowery crown<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Hanging neglected and unfastened down.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">One from her maiden tore her foot away<br /></span> -<span class="i0">On which the dye, all wet and streaming, lay,<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span><span class="i0">And o'er the chamber rushing in her haste,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where'er she stepped, a crimson footprint traced.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Another at the window takes her stand;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">One eye is dyed,—the pencil in her hand.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Here runs an eager maid, and running, holds<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Loose and ungirt her flowing mantle's folds,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Whilst, as she strives to close the parting vest,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Its brightness gives new beauty to her breast.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Oh! what a sight! the crowded windows there<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With eager faces excellently fair,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Like sweetest lilies, for their dark eyes fling<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Quick glances quivering like the wild bee's wing.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Onward in peerless glory <span class="smcap">Śiva</span> passed;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Gay banners o'er his way their shadows cast,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Each palace dome, each pinnacle and height<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Catching new lustre from his crest of light.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">On swept the pageant: on the God alone<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The eager glances of the dames were thrown;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">On his bright form they fed the rapturous gaze,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And only turned to marvel and to praise:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"Oh, well and wisely, such a lord to gain<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Mountain-Maid endured the toil and pain.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To be his slave were joy; but Oh, how blest<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The wife—the loved one—lying on his breast!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Surely in vain, had not the Lord of Life<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Matched this fond bridegroom and this loving wife,<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span><span class="i0">Had been his wish to give the worlds a mould<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of perfect beauty! Falsely have they told<br /></span> -<span class="i0">How the young flower-armed God was burnt by fire<br /></span> -<span class="i0">At the red flash of <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> vengeful ire.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">No: jealous <span class="smcap">Love</span> a fairer form confessed,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And cast away his own, no more the loveliest.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">How glorious is the Mountain King, how proud<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Earth's stately pillar, girt about with cloud!<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Now will he lift his lofty head more high,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Knit close to <span class="smcap">Śiva</span> by this holy tie."<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Such words of praise from many a bright-eyed dame<br /></span> -<span class="i0">On <span class="smcap">Śiva's</span> ear with soothing witchery came.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Through the broad streets 'mid loud acclaim he rode,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And reached the palace where the King abode.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">There he descended from his monster's side,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As the sun leaves a cloud at eventide.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Leaning on <span class="smcap">Vishṇu's</span> arm he passed the door<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Where mighty <span class="smcap">Brahmá</span> entered in before.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Next <span class="smcap">Indra</span> came, and all the host of heaven,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The noble Saints and those great Sages seven.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then led they <span class="smcap">Śiva</span> to a royal seat;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fair gifts they brought, for such a bridegroom meet:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With all due rites, the honey and the milk,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Rich gems were offered and two robes of silk.<br /></span> -</div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">At length by skilful chamberlains arrayed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They led the lover to the royal maid.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thus the fond Moon disturbs the tranquil rest<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of Ocean glittering with his foamy crest,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And leads him on, his proud waves swelling o'er,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To leap with kisses on the clasping shore.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">He gazed on <span class="smcap">Umá</span>. From his lotus eyes<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Flashed out the rapture of his proud surprise.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then calm the current of his spirit lay<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Like the world basking in an autumn day.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">They met; and true love's momentary shame<br /></span> -<span class="i0">O'er the blest bridegroom and his darling came.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Eye looked to eye, but, quivering as they met,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Scarce dared to trust the rapturous gazing yet.<br /></span> -<span class="i1">In the God's hand the priest has duly laid<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The radiant fingers of the Mountain-Maid,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Bright, as if <span class="smcap">Love</span> with his dear sprays of red<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Had sought that refuge in his hour of dread.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From hand to hand the soft infection stole,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Till each confessed it in the inmost soul.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Fire filled his veins, with joy she trembled; such<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The magic influence of that thrilling touch.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">How grows their beauty, when two lovers stand<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Eye fixt on eye, hand fondly linkt in hand!<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span><span class="i0">Then how, unblamed, may mortal minstrel dare<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To paint in words the beauty of that pair!<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Around the fire in solemn rite they trod,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The lovely lady and the glorious God;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Like day and starry midnight when they meet<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In the broad plains at lofty <span class="smcap">Meru's</span> feet.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Thrice at the bidding of the priest they came<br /></span> -<span class="i0">With swimming eyes around the holy flame.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then at his word the bride in order due<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Into the blazing fire the parched grain threw,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And toward her face the scented smoke she drew,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Which softly wreathing o'er her fair cheek hung,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And round her ears in flower-like beauty clung.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">As o'er the incense the sweet lady stooped,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The ear of barley from her tresses drooped,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And rested on her cheek, beneath the eye<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Still brightly beaming with the jetty dye.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">"This flame be witness of your wedded life:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Be just, thou husband, and be true, thou wife!"<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Such was the priestly blessing on the bride.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Eager she listened, as the earth when dried<br /></span> -<span class="i0">By parching summer suns drinks deeply in<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The first soft droppings when the rains begin.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">"Look, gentle <span class="smcap">Umá</span>," cried her Lord, "afar<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Seest thou the brightness of yon polar star?<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span><span class="i0">Like that unchanging ray thy faith must shine."<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Sobbing, she whispered, "Yes, for ever thine."<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">The rite is o'er. Her joyful parents now<br /></span> -<span class="i0">At <span class="smcap">Brahmá's</span> feet in duteous reverence bow.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then to fair <span class="smcap">Umá</span> spake the gracious Power<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Who sits enthroned upon the lotus flower:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"O beautiful lady, happy shalt thou be,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And hero children shall be born of thee;"<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Then looked in silence: vain the hope to bless<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The bridegroom, <span class="smcap">Śiva</span>, with more happiness.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Then from the altar, as prescribed of old,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">They turned, and rested upon seats of gold;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And, as the holy books for men ordain,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Were sprinkled duly with the moistened grain.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">High o'er their heads sweet Beauty's Queen displayed<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Upon a stem of reed a cool green shade,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">While the young lotus-leaves of which 'twas made<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Seemed, as they glistened to the wondering view,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">All richly pearled with drops of beady dew.<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><a name="twofold_a" id="twofold_a"></a><a href="#twofold">In twofold language</a> on each glorious head<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The Queen of Speech her richest blessings shed;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In strong, pure, godlike utterance for his ear,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To her in liquid tones, soft, beautifully clear.<br /></span> -</div><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Now for awhile they gaze where maids divine<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In graceful play the expressive dance entwine;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Whose eloquent motions, with an actor's art,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Show to the life the passions of the heart.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">The rite was ended; then the heavenly band<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Prayed <span class="smcap">Śiva</span>, raising high the suppliant hand:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"Now, for the dear sake of thy lovely bride,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Have pity on the gentle God," they cried,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"Whose tender body thy fierce wrath has slain:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Give all his honour, all his might again."<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Well pleased, he smiled, and gracious answer gave:<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><span class="smcap">Śiva</span> himself now yields him <span class="smcap">Káma's</span> slave.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">When duly given, the great will ne'er despise<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The gentle pleading of the good and wise.<br /></span> -</div><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i1">Now have they left the wedded pair alone;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And <span class="smcap">Śiva</span> takes her hand within his own<br /></span> -<span class="i0">To lead his darling to the bridal bower,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Decked with bright gold and all her sumptuous dower.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">She blushes sweetly as her maidens there<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Look with arch smiles and glances on the pair;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And for one moment, while the damsels stay,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">From him she loves turns her dear face away.<br /></span> -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></div></div> - - - -<hr style="width: 65%;" /> -<h2>NOTES.</h2> - - -<h4><i>CANTO FIRST.</i></h4> - -<p>The Hindú Deity of War, the leader of the celestial armies, is -known by the names Kártikeya and Skanda. He is represented with -six faces and corresponding arms, and is mounted upon a peacock.</p> - -<p><a name="Himalaya" id="Himalaya"></a><a href="#HIManchor_A_1"><i>Himálaya.</i></a>] -Mansion of Snow; from <i>hima</i>, snow, and <i>álaya</i>, mansion. The -accent is on the <i>second</i> syllable.</p> - -<p><a name="Prithu" id="Prithu"></a><a href="#PRIanchor_A_1"><i>Prithu.</i></a>] -It is said that in the reign of this fabulous monarch, gods, saints, -demons, and other supernatural beings, drained or <i>milked</i> from the -earth various treasures, appointing severally one of their own class -as the recipient, or <i>Calf</i>, to use the word of the legend. -Himálaya was thus highly favoured by the sacred Mount Meru, and -the other hills. The story is found in the sixth chapter of the -<i>Harivansa</i>, which forms a supplement to the <i>Mahabhárat</i>.</p> - -<p><a name="Pearls" id="Pearls"></a><a href="#PEARLanchor_A_1"><i>Still the fair pearls</i>, &c.</a>] -It was the belief of the Hindús that elephants wore these -precious jewels in their heads.</p> - -<p><a name="Mins" id="Mins"></a><a href="#MINanchor_A_1"><i>Till heavenly minstrels</i>, &c.</a>] -A class of demi-gods, the songsters of the Hindú Paradise, or -Indra's heaven.</p> - -<p><a name="Herbs" id="Herbs"></a><a href="#HERBanchor_A_1"><i>There magic herbs</i>, &c.</a>] -Frequent allusion is made by Kálidás and other Sanskrit -poets to a phosphoric light emitted by plants at night.</p> - -<p><a name="kine" id="kine"></a><a href="#kine_a"><i>E'en the wild kine</i>, &c.</a>] -The <i>Chouri</i>, or long brush, used to whisk off insects and flies, was -with the Hindús what the sceptre is with us. It was usually -made of the tail-hairs of the <i>Yak</i>, or <i>Bos Grunniens</i>. Thus the poet -represents these animals as doing honour to the Monarch of Mountains -with these emblems of sovereignty.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> -<a name="seven" id="seven"></a><a href="#seven_a"><i>That the bright Seven.</i></a>] -The Hindús call the constellation <i>Ursa Major</i> the seven -Rishis, or Saints. They will appear as actors in the course of the -poem.</p> - -<p><a name="indra" id="indra"></a><a href="#indra_a"><i>And once when Indra's might.</i></a>] -We learn from the <i>Rámáyana</i> that the mountains were -originally furnished with wings, and that they flew through the air -with the speed of the wind. For fear lest they should suddenly fall in -their flight, Indra, King of the Gods, struck off their pinions with -his thunderbolt; but Maináka was preserved from a similar fate -by the friendship of Ocean, to whom he fled for refuge.</p> - -<p><a name="born" id="born"></a><a href="#born_a"><i>Born once again</i>, &c.</a>] -The reader will remember the Hindú belief in the Transmigration -of Souls. The story alluded to by the poet is this:—"<i>Daksha</i> -was the son of <i>Brahmá</i> and father of <i>Satí</i>, whom, at -the recommendation of the <i>Rishis</i>, or Sages, he espoused to -<i>Śiva</i>, but he was never wholly reconciled to the uncouth figure -and practices of his son-in-law. Having undertaken to celebrate a -solemn sacrifice, he invited all the Gods except <i>Śiva</i>, which so -incensed <i>Satí</i>, that she threw herself into the sacrificial -fire."—(Wilson, Specimens of Hindú Theatre, Vol. II. p. -263.) The name of <i>Satí</i>, meaning good, true, chaste woman, is -the modern <i>Suttee</i>, as it is corruptly written.</p> - -<p><a name="turq" id="turq"></a><a href="#turq_a"><i>As the blue offspring of the Turquois Hills.</i></a>] -These hills are placed in Ceylon. The precious stone grows, it is said, at -the sound of thunder in the rainy season.</p> - -<p><a name="stern" id="stern"></a><a href="#stern_a"><i>At her stern penance.</i></a>] -This is described in the fifth canto. The meaning of the name Umá -is "Oh, do not."</p> - -<p><a name="ganga" id="ganga"></a><a href="#ganga_a"><i>The Gods' bright river.</i></a>] -The celestial Ganges, which falls from heaven upon Himálaya's head, -and continues its course on earth.</p> - -<p><a name="kama" id="kama"></a><a href="#kama_a"><i>Young Káma's arrow.</i></a>] -Káma, the Hindú Cupid, is armed with a bow, the arrows of which are made of flowers.</p> - -<p><a name="asoka" id="asoka"></a><a href="#asoka_a"><i>And brighter than Aśoka's rich leaves.</i></a>] -Nothing, we are told, can exceed the beauty of this tree when in full -bloom. It is, of course, a general favourite with the poets of India.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> -<a name="pearl" id="pearl"></a><a href="#pearl_a"><i>The strings of pearl.</i></a>]</p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">"Then, too, the pearl from out its shell<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Unsightly, in the sunless sea<br /></span> -<span class="i0">(As 'twere a spirit, forced to dwell<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In form unlovely) <i>was set free</i>,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And round the neck of woman threw<br /></span> -<span class="i0"><i>A light it lent and borrowed too</i>."<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p class="author"> -<span class="smcap">Moore</span>—<i>Loves of the Angels.</i><br /> -</p> - -<p>Moore is frequently the best interpreter, unconsciously, of an Indian -poet's thought. It is worth remarking, that the Sanskrit word -<i>muktá</i>, pearl (literally <i>freed</i>), signifies also the <i>spirit</i> -released from mundane existence, and re-integrated with its divine -original.</p> - -<p><a name="koil" id="koil"></a><a href="#koil_a"><i>The sweetest note that e'er the Köil poured.</i></a>] -The <i>Kokila</i>, or <i>Köil</i>, the black or Indian cuckoo, is the -bulbul or nightingale of Hindústan. It is also the herald of -spring, like its European namesake, and the female bird is the -especial messenger of Love.</p> - -<p><a name="narad" id="narad"></a><a href="#narad_a"><i>When holy Nárad.</i></a>] -A divine sage, son of Brahmá.</p> - -<p><a name="bull" id="bull"></a><a href="#bull_a"><i>The holy bull.</i></a>] -The animal on which the God Śiva rides, as Indra on the elephant.</p> - -<p><a name="eight" id="eight"></a><a href="#eight_a"><i>Who takes eight various forms.</i></a>] -Śiva is called Wearer of the Eight Forms, as being identical with -the Five Elements, Mind, Individuality, and Crude Matter.</p> - -<p><a name="pale" id="pale"></a><a href="#pale_a"><i>Where the pale moon on Śiva's forehead.</i></a>] -Śiva's crest is the new moon, which is sometimes described as -forming a third eye in his forehead. We shall find frequent allusions -to this in the course of the poem.</p> - - -<hr style="width: 35%;" /> -<h4><i>CANTO SECOND.</i></h4> - -<p><a name="tarak" id="tarak"></a><a href="#tarak_a"><i>While impious Tárak.</i></a>] -A demon who, by a long course of austerities, had acquired power even -over the Gods. This Hindú notion is familiar to most of us from -Southey's "Curse of Keháma."</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> -<a name="face" id="face"></a><a href="#face_a"><i>Whose face turns every way.</i></a>] -Brahmá is represented with four faces, one towards each point of the compass.</p> - -<p><a name="mystic" id="mystic"></a><a href="#mystic_a"><i>The mystic Three.</i></a>] -"The triad of qualities," a philosophical term familiar to all the -systems of Hindú speculation. They are thus explained in the -<i>Tattwa Samása</i>, a text-book of the Sánkhya -school:—"Now it is asked, What is the 'triad of qualities'? It -is replied, The triad of qualities consists of 'Goodness,' 'Foulness,' -and 'Darkness.' By the 'triad of qualities' is meant the 'three -qualities.' Goodness is endlessly diversified, accordingly as it is -exemplified in calmness, lightness, complacency, attainment of wishes, -kindliness, contentment, patience, joy, and the like; summarily, it -consists of happiness. 'Foulness' is endlessly diversified, -accordingly as it is exemplified in grief, distress, separation, -excitement, anxiety, fault-finding, and the like; summarily, it -consists of pain. 'Darkness' is endlessly diversified, accordingly as -it is exemplified in envelopment, ignorance, disgust, abjectness, -heaviness, sloth, drowsiness, intoxication, and the like; summarily, -it consists of delusion."</p> - -<p><a name="longing" id="longing"></a><a href="#longing_a"><i>Thou, when a longing</i>, &c.</a>] -"Having divided his own substance, the mighty power became half male, -half female, or <i>nature active and passive</i>."—<i>Manu</i>, Ch. I.</p> - -<p>So also in the old Orphic hymn it is said,</p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">[Greek: Zeus arsên geneto, Zeus ambrotos epleto numphê.]<br /></span> -<span class="i0">"Zeus was a male; Zeus was a deathless damsel."<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p><a name="hymns" id="hymns"></a><a href="#hymns_a"><i>The sacred hymns.</i></a>] -Contained in the Vedas, or Holy Scriptures of the Hindús.</p> - -<p><a name="praise" id="praise"></a><a href="#praise_a"><i>The word of praise.</i></a>] -The mystic syllable <span class="smcap">OM</span>, prefacing all the prayers and most of the -writings of the Hindús. It implies the Indian triad, and -expresses the Three in One.</p> - -<p><a name="nature" id="nature"></a><a href="#nature_a"><i>They hail thee, Nature.</i></a>] -The object of Nature's activity, according to the Sánkhya system, -is "the final liberation of individual soul." "The incompetency of nature, -an irrational principle, to institute a course of action for a definite -purpose, and the unfitness of rational soul to regulate the acts of an -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> -agent whose character it imperfectly apprehends, constitute a -principal argument with the theistical Sánkhyas for the -necessity of a Providence, to whom the ends of existence are known, -and by whom Nature is guided.... The atheistical Sánkhyas, on -the other hand, contend that there is no occasion for a guiding -Providence, but that the activity of nature, for the purpose of -accomplishing soul's object, is an intuitive necessity, as illustrated -in the following passage:—As it is a function of milk, an -unintelligent (substance), to nourish the calf, so it is the office of -the chief principle (nature) to liberate the soul."—Prof. -Wilson's <i>Sánkhya Káriká</i>.</p> - -<p><a name="spirit" id="spirit"></a><a href="#spirit_a"><i>Hail Thee the stranger Spirit</i>, &c.</a>] -"Soul is witness, solitary, bystander, spectator, -passive."—<i>Sánkh. Kár.</i> verse xix.</p> - -<p><a name="varun" id="varun"></a><a href="#varun_a"><i>See, Varun's noose.</i></a>] -The God of Water.</p> - -<p><a name="kuvera" id="kuvera"></a><a href="#kuvera_a"><i>Weak is Kuvera's hand.</i></a>] -The God of Wealth.</p> - -<p><a name="yama" id="yama"></a><a href="#yama_a"><i>Yama's sceptre.</i></a>] -The God and Judge of the Dead.</p> - -<p><a name="lords" id="lords"></a><a href="#lords_a"><i>The Lords of Light.</i></a>] -The Ádityas, twelve in number, are forms of the sun, and appear -to represent him as distinct in each month of the year.</p> - -<p><a name="rudras" id="rudras"></a><a href="#rudras_a"><i>The Rudras.</i></a>] -A class of demi-gods, eleven in number, said to be inferior -manifestations of Śiva, who also bears this name.</p> - -<p><a name="earth" id="earth"></a><a href="#earth_a"><i>E'en as on earth</i>, &c.</a>] -Thus the commandment,—Thou shalt not kill, is abrogated by the -injunction to kill animals for sacrifice.</p> - -<p><a name="teacher" id="teacher"></a><a href="#teacher_a"><i>The heavenly Teacher.</i></a>] -Vrihaspati, the son of Angiras.</p> - -<p><a name="flower" id="flower"></a><a href="#flower_a"><i>His own dear flower.</i></a>] -The lotus, on which Brahmá is represented reclining.</p> - -<p><a name="jewels" id="jewels"></a><a href="#jewels_a"><i>Their flashing jewels.</i></a>] -According to the Hindú belief, serpents wear precious jewels in -their heads.</p> - -<p><a name="chakra" id="chakra"></a><a href="#chakra_a"><i>Chakra.</i></a>] -A discus, or quoit, the weapon of Vishṇu.</p> - -<p><a name="water" id="water"></a><a href="#water_a"><i>As water bears to me.</i></a>] -"HE, having willed to produce various beings from his own divine -substance, first with a thought created the waters, and placed in them -a productive seed."—<i>Manu</i>, Ch. I.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> -<a name="braids" id="braids"></a><a href="#braids_a"><i>Mournful braids.</i></a>] -As a sign of mourning, especially for the loss of their husbands, the -Hindústáni women collect their long hair into a braid, -called in Sanskrit <i>veṇi</i>.</p> - -<p><a name="twig" id="twig"></a><a href="#twig_a"><i>The mango twig.</i></a>] -We shall meet with several allusions to this tree as the favourite of -Love and the darling of the bees.</p> - - -<hr style="width: 35%;" /> -<h4><i>CANTO THIRD.</i></h4> - -<p><a name="angers" id="angers"></a><a href="#angers_a"><i>Who angers thee, &c.</i></a>] -To understand properly this speech of Káma, it is necessary to -be acquainted with some of the Hindú notions regarding a future -state. "The highest kind of happiness is absorption into the divine -essence, or the return of that portion of spirit which is combined -with the attributes of humanity to its original source. This -happiness, according to the philosopher, is to be obtained only by the -most perfect abstraction from the world and freedom from passion, even -while in a state of terrestrial existence.... Besides this ultimate -felicity, the Hindús have several minor degrees of happiness, -amongst which is the enjoyment of Indra's Swarga, or, in fact, of a -Muhammadan Paradise. The degree and duration of the pleasures of this -paradise are proportioned to the merits of those admitted to it; and -they who have enjoyed this lofty region of Swarga, but whose virtue is -exhausted, revisit the habitation of mortals."—Prof. Wilson's -<i>Megha Dúta</i>. Compare also "The Lord's Song."—<i>Specimens -of Old Indian Poetry</i>, pp. 67, 68.</p> - -<p>Indra, therefore, may be supposed to feel jealous whenever a human -being aspires to something higher than that heaven of which he is the -Lord.</p> - -<p>The "chain of birth" alluded to is of course the metempsychosis, or -transmigration of souls, a belief which is not to be looked upon (says -Prof. Wilson in the preface to his edition of the <i>Sánkhya -Káriká</i>) as a mere popular superstition. It is the main -principle of all Hindú metaphysics; it is the foundation of all -Hindú philosophy. The great object of -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> -their philosophical research in every system, Brahminical or Buddhist, -is the discovery of the means of putting a stop to further -transmigration; the discontinuance of corporeal being; the liberation -of soul from body.</p> - -<p><a name="snake" id="snake"></a><a href="#snake_a"><i>As on that Snake.</i></a>] -Sesha, the Serpent King, is in the Hindú mythology the -supporter of the earth, as, in one of the fictions of the Edda,—</p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">"That sea-snake, tremendous curled,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Whose monstrous circle girds the world."<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p>He is also the couch and canopy of the God Vishṇu, or, as he -is here called, Krishṇa,—that hero being one of his incarnations, -and considered identical with the deity himself.</p> - -<p><a name="three" id="three"></a><a href="#three_a"><i>The threefold world.</i></a>] -Earth, heaven, and hell.</p> - -<p><a name="rati" id="rati"></a><a href="#rati_a"><i>His fearful Rati.</i></a>] -The wife of Káma, or Love.</p> - -<p><a name="kuber" id="kuber"></a><a href="#kuber_a"><i>To where Kuvera &c.</i></a>] -The demi-god Kuvera was regent of the north.</p> - -<p><a name="touch" id="touch"></a><a href="#touch_a"><i>Nor waited for the maiden's touch.</i></a>] -Referring to the Hindú notion that the Aśoka blossoms at -the touch of a woman's foot. So Shelley says,</p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">"I doubt not, the flowers of that garden sweet<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Rejoiced in the sound of her gentle feet."<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p class="author"><i>Sensitive Plant.</i></p> - -<p><a name="syll" id="syll"></a><a href="#syll_a"><i>Grouping the syllables.</i></a>] -This comparison seems forced rather too far to suit a European taste. -Kálidás is not satisfied with calling the mango-spray -the Arrow of Love; he must tell us that its leaves are the feathers, -and that the bees have marked it with the owner's name.</p> - -<p><a name="flowe" id="flowe"></a><a href="#flowe_a"><i>That loveliest flower.</i></a>] -The Karnikára.</p> - -<p><a name="tilak" id="tilak"></a><a href="#tilak_a"><i>His flowery Tilaka.</i></a>] -The name of a tree; it also means a mark made with coloured earths or -unguents upon the forehead and between the eyebrows, either as an -ornament or a sectarial distinction; the poet intends the word to -convey both ideas at once here. In this passage is another comparison -of the mango-spray: it is called the <i>lip</i> of Love; its <i>rouge</i> is the -blush of morning, and its darker beautifying powder the clustering -bees. From the universal custom of dying the lips, -<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> -the Sanskrit poets are constantly speaking of their "vermeil tints," -&c., as will be sufficiently evident in the course of this work.</p> - -<p><a name="hermit" id="hermit"></a><a href="#hermit_a"><i>The Hermit's servant.</i></a>] -By name Nandi.</p> - -<p><a name="blue" id="blue"></a><a href="#blue_a"><i>His neck of brightly-beaming blue.</i></a>] -An ancient legend tells us that after the deluge the ocean was churned -by Gods and demons, in order to recover the Amrit and other treasures -that had been lost in it:—</p> - -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">"Then loud and long a joyous sound<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Rang through the startled sky:<br /></span> -<span class="i0">'Hail to the Amrit, lost and found!'<br /></span> -<span class="i1">A thousand voices cry.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">But from the wondrous churning streamed<br /></span> -<span class="i1">A poison fierce and dread,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Burning like fire: where'er it streamed<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Thick noisome mists were spread.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">The wanting venom onwards went,<br /></span> -<span class="i1">And filled the Worlds with fear,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Till Brahmá to their misery bent<br /></span> -<span class="i1">His gracious pitying ear;<br /></span> -<span class="i0">And Śiva those destroying streams<br /></span> -<span class="i1">Drank up at Brahmá's beck.<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Still in thy throat the dark flood gleams,<br /></span> -<span class="i1">God of the azure neck!"<br /></span> -</div></div> - -<p class="author">Specimens of Old Indian Poetry—<i>Churning of the Ocean.</i></p> - -<p><a name="gates" id="gates"></a><a href="#gates_a"><i>Gates of sense.</i></a>] -The eyes, ears, &c.</p> - - -<hr style="width: 35%;" /> -<h4><i>CANTO FOURTH.</i></h4> - -<p><a name="dim" id="dim"></a><a href="#dim_a"><i>Late, dim, and joyless shall his rising be.</i></a>] -The Moon, in Hindú mythology, is a male deity.</p> - -<p><a name="bees" id="bees"></a><a href="#bees_a"><i>This line of bees.</i></a>] -Káma's bow is sometimes represented as strung in this extraordinary manner.</p> - -<p><a name="stain" id="stain"></a><a href="#stain_a"><i>And stain this foot.</i></a>] -"Staining the soles of the feet with a red colour, derived from the -Mehndee, the Lac, &c., is a favourite practice of the Hindú -toilet."—<span class="smcap">Wilson.</span></p> - -<hr style="width: 35%;" /> -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> -<h4><i>CANTO FIFTH.</i></h4> - -<p><a name="rosary" id="rosary"></a><a href="#rosary_a"><i>And worn with resting on her rosary.</i></a>] -The Hindús use their rosaries much as we do, carrying them in -their hands or on their wrists. As they turn them over, they repeat an -inaudible prayer, or the name of the particular deity they worship, as -Vishṇu or S'iva. The <i>Rudrákshá -málá</i> (which we may suppose Umá to have used) is -a string of the seeds or berries of the Eleocarpus, and especially -dedicated to S'iva. It should contain 108 berries or beads, each -of which is fingered with the mental repetition of one of S'iva's -108 appellations.</p> - -<p><a name="boy" id="boy"></a><a href="#boy_a"><i>Not e'en her boy.</i></a>] -Kártikeya, the God of War.</p> - -<p><a name="birds" id="birds"></a><a href="#birds_a"><i>Of those poor birds.</i></a>] -The Chakraváki. These birds are always observed to fly in pairs -during the day, but are supposed to remain separate during the night.</p> - -<p><a name="friends" id="friends"></a><a href="#friends_a"><i>That friendship soon in gentle heart is bred.</i></a>]</p> - -<div class="poem"> -"Amor in cor gentil ratto s'apprende." -</div> -<p class="author"><span class="smcap">Dante.</span></p> - -<hr style="width: 35%;" /> -<h4><i>CANTO SIXTH.</i></h4> - -<p><a name="dome" id="dome"></a><a href="#dome_a"><i>The Heavenly Dame.</i></a>] -Arundhatí, wife of one of the Seven Saints.</p> - -<p><i>The Boar.</i>] -An Avatár, or incarnation of Vishṇu. In this form he preserved the world at the deluge.</p> - -<p><a name="thirsty" id="thirsty"></a><a href="#thirsty_a"><i>That thirsty bird.</i></a>] -The Chátaka, supposed to drink nothing but rain-water.</p> - -<p><a name="alaka" id="alaka"></a><a href="#alaka_a"><i>Proud Alaká.</i></a>] -The capital of Kuvera, the God of Wealth.</p> - -<p><a name="champac" id="champac"></a><a href="#champac_a"><i>The bright Champac.</i></a>]</p> - -<div class="poem"> -<span class="i0">"The maid of India blest again to hold<br /></span> -<span class="i0">In her broad lap the Champac's leaves of gold."<br /></span> -</div> -<p class="author"><i>Lalla Rookh.</i></p> - -<p><a name="angiras" id="angiras"></a><a href="#angiras_a"><i>Angiras.</i></a>] -One of the Seven Saints; the father of Vrihaspati, -the teacher of the gods.</p> - -<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> -<a name="vast" id="vast"></a><a href="#vast_a"><i>Vast grew his body.</i></a>] -Alluding to the Vámana, or Dwarf Avatár of Vishṇu, -wrought to restrain the pride of the giant Bali, who had expelled the -Gods from heaven. In that form he presented himself before the giant, -and asked him for three paces of land to build a hut. Bali ridiculed -and granted the request. The dwarf immediately grew to a prodigious -size, so that he measured the earth with one pace, and the heavens -with another.</p> - -<p><a name="sumeru" id="sumeru"></a><a href="#sumeru_a"><i>Sumeru.</i></a>] -Another name of the sacred Mount Meru; or rather the same word, with -su, good, prefixed.</p> - - -<hr style="width: 35%;" /> -<h4><i>CANTO SEVENTH.</i></h4> - -<p><a name="kailasa" id="kailasa"></a><a href="#kailasa_a"><i>Kailása's side.</i></a>] -A mountain, the fabulous residence of Kuvera, and favourite haunt of -S'iva, placed by the Hindús among the Himálayas.</p> - -<p><a name="kali" id="kali"></a><a href="#kali_a"><i>Kálí came behind.</i></a>] -The name of one of the divine matrons. The word also signifies in -Sanskrit a row or succession of clouds, suggesting the comparison -which follows.</p> - -<p><a name="twofold" id="twofold"></a><a href="#twofold_a"><i>In twofold language.</i></a>] -In Sanskrit and Prakrit. The latter is a softened modification of the -former, to which it bears the same relation as Italian to Latin; it is -spoken by the female characters of the Hindú drama.</p> - - -<h5>THE END.</h5> - -<hr style="width: 45%;" /> -<h6>PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO.<br /> -EDINBURGH AND LONDON</h6> - - -<hr style="width: 65%;" /> -<h4>TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES</h4> -<p>For this text version the Greek letters have been replaced with -transliterations in brackets [Greek:] using English alphabet table, -without diacritical marks. Also printer's inconsistencies in spelling, -punctuation, hyphenation, and ligature usage have been retained.</p> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Birth of the War-God, by Kalidasa - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BIRTH OF THE WAR-GOD *** - -***** This file should be named 31968-h.htm or 31968-h.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/9/6/31968/ - -Produced by David Edwards and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was -produced from scanned images of public domain material -from the Google Print project.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Birth of the War-God - A Poem by Kalidasa - -Author: Kalidasa - -Translator: Ralph T. H. Griffith - -Release Date: April 12, 2010 [EBook #31968] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BIRTH OF THE WAR-GOD *** - - - - -Produced by David Edwards and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was -produced from scanned images of public domain material -from the Google Print project.) - - - - - - - - - - THE - BIRTH OF THE WAR-GOD. - - _A POEM BY KALIDASA._ - - Translated from the Sanskrit into English Verse - - BY - - RALPH T. H. GRIFFITH, M.A. - PRINCIPAL OF BENARES COLLEGE. - - Second Edition. - - LONDON: - TRUeBNER & CO., LUDGATE HILL. - 1879. - [_All rights reserved._] - - - TRUeBNER'S - ORIENTAL SERIES. - V. - - - - - PREFACE. - - -Of the history of KALIDASA, to whom by general assent the KUMARA -SAMBHAVA, or BIRTH OF THE WAR-GOD, is attributed, we know but little -with any certainty; we can only gather from a memorial-verse which -enumerates their names, that he was one of the 'Nine Precious Stones' -that shone at the Court of VIKRAMADITYA, King of OUJEIN, in the half -century immediately preceding the Christian era.[A] As the examination -of arguments for and against the correctness of this date is not -likely to interest general readers, I must request them to rest -satisfied with the belief that about the time when VIRGIL and HORACE -were shedding an undying lustre upon the reign of AUGUSTUS, our poet -KALIDASA lived, loved, and sang, giving and taking honour, at the -polished court of the no less munificent patron of Sanskrit -literature, at the period of its highest perfection. - - [A] [This date is much too early. It has been shown by H. - Jacobi from the astrological data contained in the poem that - the date of its composition cannot be placed earlier than - about the middle of the fourth century A.D.] - -Little as we know of Indian poetry, here and there an English reader -may be found, who is not entirely unacquainted with the name or works -of the author of the beautiful dramas of SAKONTALA and THE HERO AND -THE NYMPH, the former of which has long enjoyed an European celebrity -in the translation of SIR WILLIAM JONES, and the latter is one of the -most charming of PROFESSOR WILSON'S specimens of the Hindu Theatre; -here and there even in England may be found a lover of the graceful, -tender, picturesque, and fanciful, who knows something, and would -gladly know more, of the sweet poet of the CLOUD MESSENGER, and THE -SEASONS; whilst in Germany he has been deeply studied in the original, -and enthusiastically admired in translation,--not the Orientalist -merely, but the poet, the critic, the natural philosopher,--a GOETHE, -a SCHLEGEL, a HUMBOLDT, having agreed, on account of his tenderness of -feeling and his rich creative imagination, to set KALIDASA very high -among the glorious company of the Sons of Song.[B] - - [B] Goethe says: - - Willst du die Bluethe des fruehen, die Fruechte des spaeteren - Jahres, - Willst du was reizt and entzueckt, willst du was saettigt - and naehrt, - Willst du den Himmel, die Erde, mit einem Namen begreifen; - Nenn' ich Sakontala, Dich, und so ist Alles gesagt. - - See also Schlegel's Dramatic Literature, Lect. II., and - Humboldt's Kosmos, Vol. II. p. 40, and note. - -That the poem which is now for the first time offered to the general -reader, in an English dress, will not diminish this reputation is the -translator's earnest hope, yet my admiration of the grace and beauty -that pervade so much of the work must not allow me to deny that -occasionally, even in the noble Sanskrit, if we judge him by an -European standard, KALIDASA is bald and prosaic. Nor is this a defence -of the translator at the expense of the poet. Fully am I conscious how -far I am from being able adequately to reproduce the fanciful creation -of the sweet singer of OUJEIN; that numerous beauties of thought and -expression I may have passed by, mistaken, marred; that in many of the -more elaborate descriptions my own versification is 'harsh as the -jarring of a tuneless chord' compared with the melody of KALIDASA'S -rhythm, to rival whose sweetness and purity of language, so admirably -adapted to the soft repose and celestial rosy hue of his pictures, -would have tried all the fertility of resource, the artistic skill, -and the exquisite ear of the author of LALLA ROOKH himself. I do not -think this poem deserves, and I am sure it will not obtain, that -admiration which the author's masterpieces already made known at once -commanded; at all events, if the work itself is not inferior, it has -not enjoyed the good fortune of having a JONES or a WILSON for -translator. - -It may be as well to inform the reader, before he wonder at the -misnomer, that the BIRTH OF THE WAR-GOD was either left unfinished by -its author, or time has robbed us of the conclusion; the latter is the -more probable supposition, tradition informing us that the poem -originally consisted of twenty-two cantos, of which only seven now -remain.[C] - - [C] [Ten more cantos, of very inferior merit, have been - published since this was written.] - -I have derived great assistance in the work of translation from the -Calcutta printed edition of the poem in the Library of the East-India -House; but although the Sanskrit commentaries accompanying the text -are sometimes of the greatest use in unravelling the author's meaning, -they can scarcely claim infallibility; and, not unfrequently, are so -matter-of-fact and prosaic, that I have not scrupled to think, or -rather to feel, for myself. It is, however, PROFESSOR STENZLER'S -edition,[D] published under the auspices of the Oriental Translation -Fund (a society that has liberally encouraged my own undertaking), -that I have chiefly used. Valuable as this work is (and I will not -disown my great obligations to it), it is much to be regretted that -the extracts from the native commentators are so scanty, and the -annotations so few and brief. - - [D] [With a Latin translation.] - -And now one word as to the manner in which I have endeavoured to -perform my task. Though there is much, I think, that might be struck -out, to the advantage of the poem, this I have in no instance ventured -to do, my aim having been to give the English reader as faithful a -cast of the original as my own power and the nature of things would -permit, and, without attempting to give word for word or line for -line, to produce upon the imagination impressions similar to those -which one who studies the work in Sanskrit would experience. - -I will not seek to anticipate the critics, nor to deprecate their -animadversions, by pointing out the beauties of the poet, or -particularising the defects of him and his translator. That the former -will be appreciated, and the latter kindly dealt with, late experience -makes me confident; so that now, in the words of the Manager in the -Prelude to the HERO AND THE NYMPH, "I have only to request the -audience that they will listen to this work of KALIDASA with attention -and kindness, in consideration of its subject and respect for the -Author." - - ADDERLEY LIBRARY, MARLBOROUGH COLLEGE, - _April, 1853_. - - - - - PRELIMINARY NOTE. - - PRONUNCIATION. - - -As a general rule, the Sanskrit vowels are to be sounded like those of -the Italian alphabet, except the short or unaccented _a_, which has -the sound of that letter in the word _America_: "_pandit_," a learned -man, being pronounced _pundit_. - - _a_, long or accented like _a_ in _father_. - _e_ like _e_ in _they_. - _i_, short or unaccented, like _i_ in _pick_. - _i_, long or accented like _i_ in _pique_. - _o_ like _o_ in _go_. - _u_, short or unaccented, like _u_ in _full_. - _u_, long or accented like _u_ in _rule_. - -The diphthongs _ai_ and _au_ are pronounced severally like _i_ in -_rise_ and _ou_ in _our_. - -The consonants are sounded as in English. In the aspirates, however, -the sound of _h_ is kept distinct; _dh_, _th_, _ph_, _bh_, &c., being -pronounced as in _red-hot_, _pent-house_, _up-hill_, _abhor_, &c. _G_ -is always hard, whatever vowel follows. - -In HIMALAYA the accent is on the _second_ syllable. - - - - - THE - BIRTH OF THE WAR-GOD. - - - - -Canto First. - -_UMA'S NATIVITY._ - - - Far in the north HIMALAYA, lifting high - His towery summits till they cleave the sky, - Spans the wide land from east to western sea, - Lord of the hills, instinct with deity. - For him, when PRITHU ruled in days of old - The rich earth, teeming with her gems and gold, - The vassal hills and MERU drained her breast, - To deck HIMALAYA, for they loved him best; - And earth, the mother, gave her store to fill - With herbs and sparkling ores the royal hill. - Proud mountain-king! his diadem of snow - Dims not the beauty of his gems below. - For who can gaze upon the moon, and dare - To mark one spot less brightly glorious there? - Who, 'mid a thousand virtues, dares to blame - One shade of weakness in a hero's fame? - Oft, when the gleamings of his mountain brass - Flash through the clouds and tint them as they pass, - Those glories mock the hues of closing day, - And heaven's bright wantons hail their hour of play; - Try, ere the time, the magic of their glance, - And deck their beauty for the twilight dance. - Dear to the sylphs are the cool shadows thrown - By dark clouds wandering round the mountain's zone, - Till frightened by the storm and rain they seek - Eternal sunshine on each loftier peak. - Far spread the wilds where eager hunters roam, - Tracking the lion to his dreary home. - For though the melting snow has washed away - The crimson blood-drops of the wounded prey, - Still the fair pearls that graced his forehead tell - Where the strong elephant, o'ermastered, fell, - And clinging to the lion's claws, betray, - Falling at every step, the mighty conqueror's way. - There birch-trees wave, that lend their friendly aid - To tell the passion of the love-lorn maid, - So quick to learn in metal tints to mark - Her hopes and fears upon the tender bark. - - List! breathing from each cave, HIMALAYA leads - The glorious hymn with all his whispering reeds, - Till heavenly minstrels raise their voice in song, - And swell his music as it floats along. - There the fierce elephant wounds the scented bough - To ease the torment of his burning brow; - And bleeding pines their odorous gum distil - To breathe rare fragrance o'er the sacred hill. - There magic herbs pour forth their streaming light - From mossy caverns through the darksome night, - And lend a torch to guide the trembling maid - Where waits her lover in the leafy shade. - Yet hath he caves within whose inmost cells - In tranquil rest the murky darkness dwells, - And, like the night-bird, spreads the brooding wing - Safe in the shelter of the mountain-king, - Unscorned, uninjured; for the good and great - Spurn not the suppliant for his lowly state. - - Why lingers yet the heavenly minstrel's bride - On the wild path that skirts HIMALAYA'S side? - Cold to her tender feet--oh, cold--the snow, - Why should her steps--her homeward steps--be slow? - 'Tis that her slender ankles scarce can bear - The weight of beauty that impedes her there; - Each rounded limb, and all her peerless charms, - That broad full bosom, those voluptuous arms. - E'en the wild kine that roam his forests bring - The royal symbols to the mountain-king. - With tails outspread, their bushy streaming hair - Flashes like moonlight through the parted air. - What monarch's fan more glorious might there be, - More meet to grace a king as proud as he? - There, when the nymphs, within the cave's recess, - In modest fear their gentle limbs undress, - Thick clouds descending yield a friendly screen, - And blushing beauty bares her breast unseen. - With pearly dewdrops GANGA loads the gale - That waves the dark pines towering o'er the vale, - And breathes in welcome freshness o'er the face - Of wearied hunters when they quit the chase. - So far aloft, amid Himalayan steeps, - Crouched on the tranquil pool the lotus sleeps, - That the bright SEVEN who star the northern sky - Cull the fair blossoms from their seats on high; - And when the sun pours forth his morning glow - In streams of glory from his path below, - They gain new beauty as his kisses break - His darlings' slumber on the mountain lake. - - Well might that ancient hill by merit claim - The power and glory of a monarch's name; - Nurse of pure herbs that grace each holy rite, - Earth's meetest bearer of unyielding might. - The Lord of Life for this ordained him king, - And bade him share the sacred offering. - Gladly obedient to the law divine, - He chose a consort to prolong his line. - No child of earth, born of the Sage's will, - The fair nymph MENA pleased the sovran hill. - To her he sued, nor was his prayer denied, - The Saints' beloved was the mountain's bride. - Crowned with all bliss and beauty were the pair, - He passing glorious, she was heavenly fair. - Swiftly the seasons, winged with love, flew on, - And made her mother of a noble son, - The great MAINAKA, who in triumph led - His Serpent beauties to the bridal bed; - And once when INDRA'S might those pinions rent - That bare the swift hills through the firmament, - (So fierce his rage, no mountain could withstand - The wild bolt flashing from his red right hand,) - He fled to Ocean, powerful to save, - And hid his glory 'neath the friendly wave. - - A gentle daughter came at length to bless - The royal mother with her loveliness; - Born once again, for in an earlier life - High fame was hers, as ['S]IVA'S faithful wife. - But her proud sire had dared the God to scorn; - Then was her tender soul with anguish torn, - And jealous for the lord she loved so well, - Her angered spirit left its mortal cell. - Now deigned the maid, a lovely boon, to spring - From that pure lady and the mountain-king. - When Industry and Virtue meet and kiss, - Holy their union, and the fruit is bliss. - Blest was that hour, and all the world was gay, - When MENA'S daughter saw the light of day. - A rosy glow suffused the brightening sky; - An odorous breeze came sweeping softly by. - Breathed round the hill a sweet unearthly strain, - And the glad heavens poured down their flowery rain. - That fair young maiden diademmed with light - Made her dear mother's fame more sparkling bright. - As the blue offspring of the Turquois Hills - The parent mount with richer glory fills, - When the cloud's voice has caused the gem to spring, - Responsive to its gentle thundering. - Then was it sweet, as days flew by, to trace - The dawning charm of every infant grace, - Even as the crescent moons their glory pour - More full, more lovely than the eve before. - - As yet the maiden was unknown to fame; - Child of the Mountain was her only name. - But when her mother, filled with anxious care - At her stern penance, cried Forbear! Forbear! - To a new title was the warning turned, - And UMA was the name the maiden earned. - Loveliest was she of all his lovely race, - And dearest to her father. On her face - Looking with love he ne'er could satisfy - The thirsty glances of a parent's eye. - When spring-tide bids a thousand flowerets bloom - Loading the breezes with their rich perfume, - Though here and there the wandering bee may rest, - He loves his own--his darling mango--best. - The Gods' bright river bathes with gold the skies, - And pure sweet eloquence adorns the wise. - The flambeau's glory is the shining fire; - She was the pride, the glory of her sire, - Shedding new lustre on his old descent, - His loveliest child, his richest ornament. - The sparkling GANGA laved her heavenly home, - And o'er her islets would the maiden roam - Amid the dear companions of her play - With ball and doll to while the hours away. - As swans in autumn in assembling bands - Fly back to GANGA'S well-remembered sands: - As herbs beneath the darksome shades of night - Collect again their scattered rays of light: - So dawned upon the maiden's waking mind - The far-off memory of her life resigned, - And all her former learning in its train, - Feelings, and thoughts, and knowledge came again. - Now beauty's prime, that craves no artful aid, - Ripened the loveliness of that young maid: - That needs no wine to fire the captive heart,-- - The bow of Love without his flowery dart. - There was a glory beaming from her face, - With love's own light, and every youthful grace: - Ne'er had the painter's skilful hand portrayed - A lovelier picture than that gentle maid; - Ne'er sun-kissed lily more divinely fair - Unclosed her beauty to the morning air. - Bright as a lotus, springing where she trod, - Her glowing feet shed radiance o'er the sod. - That arching neck, the step, the glance aside, - The proud swans taught her as they stemmed the tide, - Whilst of the maiden they would fondly learn - Her anklets' pleasant music in return. - When the Almighty Maker first began - The marvellous beauty of that child to plan, - In full fair symmetry each rounded limb - Grew neatly fashioned and approved by Him: - The rest was faultless, for the Artist's care - Formed each young charm most excellently fair, - As if his moulding hand would fain express - The visible type of perfect loveliness. - What thing of beauty may the poet dare - With the smooth wonder of those limbs compare? - The young tree springing by the brooklet's side? - The rounded trunk, the forest-monarch's pride? - Too rough that trunk, too cold that young tree's stem; - A softer, warmer thing must vie with them. - Her hidden beauties though no tongue may tell, - Yet ['S]IVA'S love will aid the fancy well: - No other maid could deem her boasted charms - Worthy the clasp of such a husband's arms. - Between the partings of fair UMA'S vest - Came hasty glimpses of a lovely breast: - So closely there the sweet twin hillocks rose, - Scarce could the lotus in the vale repose. - And if her loosened zone e'er slipped below, - All was so bright beneath the mantle's flow, - So dazzling bright, as if the maid had braced - A band of gems to sparkle round her waist; - And the dear dimples of her downy skin - Seemed fitting couch for Love to revel in. - Her arms were softer than the flowery dart, - Young KAMA'S arrow, that subdues the heart; - For vain his strife with ['S]IVA, till at last - He chose those chains to bind his conqueror fast. - E'en the new moon poured down a paler beam - When her long fingers flashed their rosy gleam, - And brighter than A['s]oka's blossom threw - A glory round, like summer's evening hue. - The strings of pearl across her bosom thrown - Increased its beauty, and enhanced their own,-- - Her breast, her jewels seeming to agree, - The adorner now, and now the adorned to be. - When BEAUTY gazes on the fair full moon, - No lotus charms her, for it blooms at noon: - If on that flower she feed her raptured eye, - No moon is shining from the mid-day sky; - She looked on UMA'S face, more heavenly fair, - And found their glories both united there. - The loveliest flower that ever opened yet - Laid in the fairest branch: a fair pearl set - In richest coral, with her smile might vie - Flashing through lips bright with their rosy dye. - And when she spoke, upon the maiden's tongue, - Distilling nectar, such rare accents hung, - The sweetest note that e'er the Koil poured - Seemed harsh and tuneless as a jarring chord. - The melting glance of that soft liquid eye, - Tremulous like lilies when the breezes sigh, - Which learnt it first--so winning and so mild-- - The gentle fawn, or MENA'S gentler child? - And oh, the arching of her brow! so fine - Was the rare beauty of its pencilled line, - LOVE gazed upon her forehead in despair - And spurned the bow he once esteemed so fair: - Her long bright tresses too might shame the pride - Of envious yaks who roamed the mountain-side. - Surely the Maker's care had been to bring - From Nature's store each sweetest, loveliest thing, - As if the world's Creator would behold - All beauty centred in a single mould. - - When holy NARAD--Saint who roams at will-- - First saw the daughter of the royal hill, - He hailed the bride whom ['S]IVA'S love should own - Half of himself, and partner of his throne. - HIMALAYA listened, and the father's pride - Would yield the maiden for no other's bride: - To Fire alone of all bright things we raise - The holy hymn, the sacrifice of praise. - But still the monarch durst not, could not bring - His child, unsought, to Heaven's supremest King; - But as a good man fears his earnest prayer - Should rise unheeded, and with thoughtful care - Seeks for some friend his eager suit to aid, - Thus great HIMALAYA in his awe delayed. - - Since the sad moment when his gentle bride - In the full glory of her beauty died, - The mournful ['S]IVA in the holy grove - Had dwelt in solitude, and known not love. - High on that hill where musky breezes throw - Their balmy odours o'er eternal snow; - Where heavenly minstrels pour their notes divine, - And rippling GANGA laves the mountain pine, - Clad in a coat of skin all rudely wrought - He lived for prayer and solitary thought. - The faithful band that served the hermit's will - Lay in the hollows of the rocky hill, - Where from the clefts the dark bitumen flowed. - Tinted with mineral dyes their bodies glowed; - Clad in rude mantles of the birch-tree's rind, - With bright red garlands was their hair entwined. - The holy bull before his master's feet - Shook the hard-frozen earth with echoing feet, - And as he heard the lion's roaring swell - In distant thunder from the rocky dell, - In angry pride he raised his voice of fear - And from the mountain drove the startled deer. - Bright fire--a shape the God would sometimes wear - Who takes eight various forms--was glowing there. - Then the great deity who gives the prize - Of penance, prayer, and holy exercise, - As though to earn the meed he grants to man, - Himself the penance and the pain began. - Now to that holy lord, to whom is given - Honour and glory by the Gods in heaven, - The worship of a gift HIMALAYA paid, - And towards his dwelling sent the lovely maid; - Her task, attended by her youthful train, - To woo his widowed heart to love again. - - The hermit welcomed with a courteous brow - That gentle enemy of hermit vow. - The still pure breast where Contemplation dwells - Defies the charmer and the charmer's spells. - Calm and unmoved he viewed the wondrous maid, - And bade her all his pious duties aid. - She culled fresh blossoms at the God's command, - Sweeping the altar with a careful hand; - The holy grass for sacred rites she sought, - And day by day the fairest water brought. - And if the unwonted labour caused a sigh, - The fair-haired lady turned her languid eye - Where the pale moon on ['S]IVA'S forehead gleamed, - And swift through all her frame returning vigour streamed. - - - - -_CANTO SECOND._ - - - - -Canto Second. - -_THE ADDRESS TO BRAHMA._ - - - While impious TARAK in resistless might - Was troubling heaven and earth with wild affright, - To BRAHMA'S high abode, by INDRA led, - The mournful deities for refuge fled. - As when the Day-God's loving beams awake - The lotus slumbering on the silver lake, - So BRAHMA deigned his glorious face to show, - And poured sweet comfort on their looks of woe. - Then nearer came the suppliant Gods to pay - Honour to him whose face turns every way. - They bowed them low before the Lord of Speech, - And sought with truthful words his heart to reach: - "Glory to Thee! before the world was made, - One single form thy Majesty displayed. - Next Thou, to body forth the mystic Three, - Didst fill three Persons: Glory, Lord, to Thee! - Unborn and unbegotten! from thy hand - The fruitful seed rained down; at thy command - From that small germ o'er quickening waters thrown - All things that move not, all that move have grown. - Before thy triple form in awe they bow: - Maker, preserver, and destroyer, Thou! - Thou, when a longing urged thee to create, - Thy single form in twain didst separate. - The Sire, the Mother that made all things be - By their first union were but parts of Thee. - From them the life that fills this earthly frame, - And fruitful Nature, self-renewing, came. - Thou countest not thy time by mortals' light; - With Thee there is but one vast day and night. - When BRAHMA slumbers fainting Nature dies, - When BRAHMA wakens all again arise. - Creator of the world, and uncreate! - Endless! all things from Thee their end await. - Before the world wast Thou! each Lord shall fall - Before Thee, mightiest, highest, Lord of all. - Thy self-taught soul thine own deep spirit knows; - Made by thyself thy mighty form arose; - Into the same, when all things have their end, - Shall thy great self, absorbed in Thee, descend. - Lord, who may hope thy essence to declare? - Firm, yet as subtile as the yielding air: - Fixt, all-pervading; ponderous, yet light, - Patent to all, yet hidden from the sight. - Thine are the sacred hymns which mortals raise, - Commencing ever with the word of praise, - With three-toned chant the sacrifice to grace, - And win at last in heaven a blissful place. - They hail Thee Nature labouring to free - The Immortal Soul from low humanity; - Hail Thee the stranger Spirit, unimpressed, - Gazing on Nature from thy lofty rest. - Father of fathers, God of gods art thou, - Creator, highest, hearer of the vow! - Thou art the sacrifice, and Thou the priest, - Thou, he that eateth; Thou, the holy feast. - Thou art the knowledge which by Thee is taught, - The mighty thinker, and the highest thought!" - - Pleased with their truthful praise, his favouring eye - He turned upon the dwellers in the sky, - While from four mouths his words in gentle flow - Come welling softly to assuage their woe: - "Welcome! glad welcome, Princes! ye who hold - Your lofty sovereignties ordained of old. - But why so mournful? what has dimmed your light? - Why shine your faces less divinely bright? - Like stars that pour forth weaker, paler gleams, - When the fair moon with brighter radiance beams. - O say, in vain doth mighty INDRA bear - The thunderbolt of heaven, unused to spare? - VRITRA, the furious fiend, 'twas strong to slay: - Why dull and blunted is that might to-day? - See, VARUN'S noose hangs idly on his arm, - Like some fell serpent quelled by magic charm. - Weak is KUVERA'S hand, his arm no more - Wields the dread mace it once so proudly bore; - But like a tree whose boughs are lopped away, - It tells of piercing woe, and dire dismay. - In days of yore how YAMA'S sceptre shone! - Fled are its glories, all its terrors gone; - Despised and useless as a quenched brand, - All idly now it marks the yielding sand. - Fallen are the Lords of Light, ere now the gaze - Shrank from the coming of their fearful blaze; - So changed are they, the undazzled eye may see - Like pictured forms, each rayless deity. - Some baffling power has curbed the breezes' swell: - Vainly they chafe against the secret spell. - We know some barrier checks their wonted course, - When refluent waters seek again their source. - The RUDRAS too--fierce demigods who bear - The curved moon hanging from their twisted hair-- - Tell by their looks of fear, and shame, and woe, - Of threats now silenced, of a mightier foe. - Glory and power, ye Gods, were yours of right: - Have ye now yielded to some stronger might, - Even as on earth a general law may be - Made powerless by a special text's decree? - Then say, my sons, why seek ye BRAHMA'S throne? - 'Tis mine to frame the worlds, and yours to guard your own." - - Then INDRA turned his thousand glorious eyes, - Glancing like lilies when the soft wind sighs, - And in the Gods' behalf, their mighty chief - Urged the Most Eloquent to tell their grief. - Then rose the heavenly Teacher, by whose side - Dim seemed the glories of the Thousand-eyed, - And with his hands outspread, to BRAHMA spake, - Couched on his own dear flower, the daughter of the lake: - "O mighty Being! surely thou dost know - The unceasing fury of our ruthless foe; - For thou canst see the secret thoughts that lie - Deep in the heart, yet open to thine eye. - The vengeful TARAK, in resistless might, - Like some dire Comet, gleaming wild affright, - O'er all the worlds an evil influence sheds, - And, in thy favour strong, destruction spreads. - All bow before him: on his palace wall - The sun's first ray and parting splendour fall; - Ne'er could he waken with a lovelier glance - His own dear lotus from her nightly trance. - For him, proud fiend, the moon no waning knows, - But with unminished full-orbed lustre glows. - Too faint for him the crescent glory set - Amid the blaze of ['S]IVA'S coronet. - How fair his garden, where the obedient breeze - Dares steal no blossom from the slumbering trees! - The wild wind checks his blustering pinions there, - And gently whispering fans the balmy air; - While through the inverted year the seasons pour, - To win the demon's grace, their flowery store. - For him, the River-god beneath the stream, - Marks the young pearl increase its silver gleam, - Until, its beauty and its growth complete, - He bears the offering to his master's feet. - The Serpents, led by VASUKI, their king, - Across his nightly path their lustre fling; - Bright as a torch their flashing jewels blaze, - Nor wind, nor rain, can dim their dazzling rays. - E'en INDRA, sovereign of the blissful skies, - To gain his love by flattering homage tries, - And sends him oft those flowers of wondrous hue - That on the heavenly tree in beauty grew. - Yet all these offerings brought from day to day, - This flattery, fail his ruthless hand to stay. - Earth, hell, and heaven, beneath his rage must groan, - Till force can hurl him from his evil throne. - Alas! where glowed the bright celestial bowers, - And gentle fair ones nursed the opening flowers, - Where heavenly trees a heavenly odour shed, - O'er a sad desert ruin reigns instead. - He roots up MERU'S sacred peaks, where stray - The fiery coursers of the God of Day, - To form bright slopes, and glittering mounds of ease, - In the broad gardens of his palaces. - There, on his couch, the mighty lord is fanned - To sweetest slumber by a heavenly band; - Poor captive nymphs, who stand in anguish by, - Drop the big tear, and heave the ceaseless sigh. - And now have INDRA'S elephants defiled - The sparkling stream where heavenly GANGA smiled, - And her gold lotuses the fiend has taken - To deck his pools, and left her all forsaken. - The Gods of heaven no more delight to roam - O'er all the world, far from their glorious home. - They dread the demon's impious might, nor dare - Speed their bright chariots through the fields of air. - And when our worshippers in duty bring - The appointed victims for the offering, - He tears them from the flame with magic art, - While we all powerless watch with drooping heart. - He too has stolen from his master's side - The steed of heavenly race, great INDRA'S pride. - No more our hosts, so glorious once, withstand - The fierce dominion of the demon's hand, - As herbs of healing virtue fail to tame - The sickness raging through the infected frame. - Idly the discus hangs on VISH[N.]U'S neck, - And our last hope is vain, that it would check - The haughty TARAK'S might, and flash afar - Ruin and death--the thunderbolt of war. - E'en INDRA'S elephant has felt the might - Of his fierce monsters in the deadly fight, - Which spurn the dust in fury, and defy - The threatening clouds that sail along the sky. - Therefore, O Lord, we seek a chief, that he - May lead the hosts of heaven to victory, - Even as holy men who long to sever - The immortal spirit from its shell for ever, - Seek lovely Virtue's aid to free the soul - From earthly ties and action's base control. - Thus shall he save us: proudly will we go - Under his escort 'gainst the furious foe; - And INDRA, conqueror in turn, shall bring - FORTUNE, dear captive, home with joy and triumphing." - - Sweet as the rains--the fresh'ning rains--that pour - On the parched earth when thunders cease to roar, - Were BRAHMA'S words: "Gods, I have heard your grief; - Wait ye in patience: time will bring relief. - 'Tis not for me, my children, to create - A chief to save you from your mournful fate. - Not by my hand the fiend must be destroyed, - For my kind favour has he once enjoyed; - And well ye know that e'en a poisonous tree - By him who planted it unharmed should be. - He sought it eagerly, and long ago - I gave my favour to your demon-foe, - And stayed his awful penance, that had hurled - Flames, death, and ruin o'er the subject world. - When that great warrior battles for his life, - O, who may conquer in the deadly strife, - Save one of ['S]IVA'S seed? He is the light, - Reigning supreme beyond the depths of night. - Nor I, nor VISH[N.]U, his full power may share, - Lo, where he dwells in solitude and prayer! - Go, seek the Hermit in the grove alone, - And to the God be UMA'S beauty shown. - Perchance, the Mountain-child, with magnet's force, - May turn the iron from its steadfast course, - Bride of the mighty God; for only she - Can bear to Him as water bears to me. - Then from their love a mighty Child shall rise, - And lead to war the armies of the skies. - Freed by his hand, no more the heavenly maids - Shall twine their glittering hair in mournful braids." - - He spake, and vanished from their wondering sight; - And they sped homeward to their world of light. - But INDRA, still on BRAHMA'S words intent, - To KAMA'S dwelling-place his footsteps bent. - Swiftly he came: the yearning of his will - Made INDRA'S lightning course more speedy still. - The LOVE-GOD, armed with flowers divinely sweet, - In lowly homage bowed before his feet. - Around his neck, where bright love-tokens clung, - Arched like a maiden's brow, his bow was hung, - And blooming SPRING, his constant follower, bore - The mango twig, his weapon famed of yore. - - - - -_CANTO THIRD._ - - - - -Canto Third. - -_THE DEATH OF LOVE._ - - - Is eager gaze the sovereign of the skies - looked full on _Kama_ with his thousand eyes: - E'en such a gaze as trembling suppliants bend, - When danger threatens, on a mighty friend. - - Close by his side, where INDRA bade him rest, - The LOVE-GOD sate, and thus his lord addressed: - "All-knowing INDRA, deign, my Prince, to tell - Thy heart's desire in earth, or heaven, or hell: - Double the favour, mighty sovereign, thou - Hast thought on KAMA, O, command him now: - Who angers thee by toiling for the prize, - By penance, prayer, or holy sacrifice? - What mortal being dost thou count thy foe? - Speak, I will tame him with my darts and bow. - Has some one feared the endless change of birth, - And sought the path that leads the soul from earth? - Slave to a glancing eye thy foe shall bow, - And own the witchery of a woman's brow; - E'en though the object of thine envious rage - Were taught high wisdom by the immortal sage, - With billowy passions will I whelm his soul, - Like rushing waves that spurn the bank's control. - Or has the ripe full beauty of a spouse, - Too fondly faithful to her bridal vows, - Ravished thy spirit from thee? Thine, all thine - Around thy neck her loving arms shall twine. - Has thy love, jealous of another's charms, - Spurned thee in wrath when flying to her arms? - I'll rack her yielding bosom with such pain, - Soon shall she be all love and warmth again, - And wildly fly in fevered haste to rest - Her aching heart close, close to thy dear breast. - Lay, INDRA, lay thy threatening bolt aside: - My gentle darts shall tame the haughtiest pride, - And all that war with heaven and thee shall know - The magic influence of thy KAMA'S bow; - For woman's curling lip shall bow them down, - Fainting in terror at her threatening frown. - Flowers are my arms, mine only warrior SPRING, - Yet in thy favour am I strong, great King. - What can their strength who draw the bow avail - Against my matchless power when I assail? - Strong is the Trident-bearing God, yet he, - The mighty ['S]IVA, e'en, must yield to me." - - Then INDRA answered with a dawning smile, - Resting his foot upon a stool the while: - "Dear God of Love, thou truly hast displayed - The power unrivalled of thy promised aid. - My hope is all in thee: my weapons are - The thunderbolt and thou, more mighty far. - But vain, all vain the bolt of heaven to fright - Those holy Saints whom penance arms aright. - Thy power exceeds all bound: thou, only thou, - All-conquering Deity, canst help me now! - Full well I know thy nature, and assign - This toil to thee, which needs a strength like thine: - As on that snake alone will KRISH[N.]A rest, - That bears the earth upon his haughty crest. - Our task is well-nigh done: thy boasted dart - Has power to conquer even ['S]IVA'S heart. - Hear what the Gods, oppressed with woe, would fain - From mighty ['S]IVA through thine aid obtain. - He may beget--and none in heaven but he--A - chief to lead our hosts to victory. - But all his mind with holiest lore is fraught, - Bent on the Godhead is his every thought. - Thy darts, O LOVE, alone can reach him now, - And lure his spirit from the hermit vow. - Go, seek HIMALAYA'S Mountain-child, and aid - With all thy loveliest charms the lovely maid, - So may she please his fancy: only she - May wed with ['S]IVA: such the fixt decree. - E'en now my bands of heavenly maids have spied - Fair UMA dwelling by the Hermit's side. - There by her father's bidding rests she still, - Sweet minister, upon the cold bleak hill. - Go, KAMA, go! perform this great emprise, - And free from fear the Rulers of the Skies; - We need thy favour, as the new-sown grain - Calls for the influence of the gentle rain. - Go, KAMA, go! thy flowery darts shall be - Crowned with success o'er this great deity. - Yea, and thy task is e'en already done, - For praise and glory are that instant won - When a bold heart dares manfully essay - The deed which others shrink from in dismay. - Gods are thy suppliants, KAMA, and on thee - Depends the triple world's security. - No cruel deed will stain thy flowery bow: - With all thy gentlest, mightiest valour, go! - And now, Disturber of the spirit, see - SPRING, thy beloved, will thy comrade be, - And gladly aid thee ['S]IVA'S heart to tame: - None bids the whispering Wind, and yet he fans the flame." - - He spake, and KAMA bowed his bright head down, - And took his bidding like a flowery crown. - Above his wavy curls great INDRA bent, - And fondly touched his soldier ere he went, - With that hard hand--but, O, how gentle now-- - That fell so heavy on his elephant's brow. - Then for that snow-crowned hill he turned away, - Where all alone the heavenly Hermit lay. - His fearful RATI and his comrade SPRING - Followed the guidance of Love's mighty king. - There will he battle in unwonted strife, - Return a conqueror or be reft of life. - - How fair was SPRING! To fill the heart with love, - And lure the Hermit from his thoughts above, - In that pure grove he grew so heavenly bright - That KAMA'S envy wakened at the sight. - Now the bright Day-God turned his burning ray - To where KUVERA holds his royal sway, - While the sad South in whispering breezes sighed - And mourned his absence like a tearful bride. - Then from its stem the red A['s]oka threw - Full buds and flowerets of celestial hue, - Nor waited for the maiden's touch, the sweet - beloved pressure of her tinkling feet. - There grew LOVE'S arrow, his dear mango spray, - Winged with young leaves to speed its airy way, - And at the call of SPRING the wild bees came, - Grouping the syllables of KAMA'S name. - How sighed the spirit o'er that loveliest flower - That boasts no fragrance to enrich its dower! - For Nature, wisest mother, oft prefers - To part more fairly those good gifts of hers. - There from the tree Palasa blossoms spread, - Curved like the crescent moon, their rosiest red, - With opening buds that looked as if young SPRING - Had pressed his nails there in his dallying: - Sweet wanton SPRING, to whose enchanting face - His flowery Tilaka gave fairer grace: - Who loves to tint his lip, the mango spray, - With the fresh colours of the early day, - And powder its fine red with many a bee - That sips the oozing nectar rapturously. - The cool gale speeding o'er the shady lawns - Shook down the sounding leaves, while startled fawns - Ran wildly at the viewless foe, all blind - With pollen wafted by the fragrant wind. - Sweet was the Koeil's voice, his neck still red - With mango buds on which he late had fed: - Twas as the voice of LOVE to bid the dame - Spurn her cold pride, nor quench the gentle flame. - What though the heat has stained the tints that dyed - With marvellous bloom the heavenly minstrel's bride? - Neither her smile nor sunny glances fail: - Bright is her lip, although her check be pale - E'en the pure hermits owned the secret power - Of warm SPRING coming in unwonted hour, - While LOVE'S delightful witchery gently stole - With strong sweet influence o'er the saintly soul. - - On came the Archer-God, and at his side - The timid RATI, his own darling bride, - While breathing nature showed how deep it felt, - At passion's glowing touch, the senses melt. - For there in eager love the wild bee dipp'd - In the dark flower-cup where his partner sipp'd. - Here in the shade the hart his horn declined, - And, while joy closed her eyes, caressed the hind. - There from her trunk the elephant had poured - A lily-scented stream to cool her lord, - While the fond love-bird by the silver flood - Gave to his mate the tasted lotus bud. - Full in his song the minstrel stayed to sip - The heavenlier nectar of his darling's lip. - Pure pearls of heat had late distained the dye, - But flowery wine was sparkling in her eye. - How the young creeper's beauty charmed the view, - Fair as the fairest maid, as playful too! - Here some bright blossoms, lovelier than the rest, - In full round beauty matched her swelling breast. - Here in a thin bright line, some delicate spray, - Red as her lip, ravished the soul away. - And then how loving, and how close they clung - To the tall trees that fondly o'er them hung! - Bright, heavenly wantons poured the witching strain, - Quiring for ['S]IVA'S ear, but all in vain. - No charmer's spell may check the firm control - Won by the holy o'er the impassioned soul. - - The Hermit's servant hasted to the door: - In his left hand a branch of gold he bore. - He touched his lip for silence: "Peace! be still! - Nor mar the quiet of this holy hill." - He spake: no dweller of the forest stirred, - No wild bee murmured, hushed was every bird. - Still and unmoved, as in a picture stood - All life that breathed within the waving wood. - As some great monarch when he goes to war - Shuns the fierce aspect of a baleful star, - So KAMA hid him from the Hermit's eye, - And sought a path that led unnoticed by, - Where tangled flowers and clustering trailers spread - Their grateful canopy o'er ['S]IVA'S head. - Bent on his hardy enterprise, with awe - The Three-eyed Lord--great Penitent--he saw. - There sate the God beneath a pine-tree's shade, - Where on a mound a tiger's skin was laid. - Absorbed in holiest thought, erect and still, - The Hermit rested on the gentle hill. - His shoulders drooping down, each foot was bent - Beneath the body of the Penitent. - With open palms the hands were firmly pressed, - As though a lotus lay upon his breast. - A double rosary in each ear, behind - With wreathing serpents were his locks entwined. - His coat of hide shone blacker to the view - Against his neck of brightly beaming blue. - How wild the look, how terrible the frown - Of his dark eyebrows bending sternly down! - How fiercely glared his eyes' unmoving blaze - Fixed in devotion's meditating gaze: - Calm as a full cloud resting on a hill, - A waveless lake when every breeze is still, - Like a torch burning in a sheltered spot, - So still was he, unmoving, breathing not. - So full the stream of marvellous glory poured - from the bright forehead of that mighty Lord, - Pale seemed the crescent moon upon his head, - And slenderer than a slender lotus thread. - At all the body's nine-fold gates of sense - He had barred in the pure Intelligence, - To ponder on the Soul which sages call - Eternal Spirit, highest, over all. - - How sad was KAMA at the awful sight, - How failed his courage in a swoon of fright! - As near and nearer to the God he came - Whom wildest thought could never hope to tame, - Unconsciously his hands, in fear and woe, - Dropped the sweet arrows and his flowery bow. - But UMA came with all her maiden throng, - And KAMA'S fainting heart again was strong; - Bright flowers of spring, in every lovely hue, - Around the lady's form rare beauty threw. - Some clasped her neck like strings of purest pearls, - Some shot their glory through her wavy curls. - Bending her graceful head as half-oppressed - With swelling charms even too richly blest, - Fancy might deem that beautiful young maiden - Some slender tree with its sweet flowers o'erladen. - From time to time her gentle hand replaced - The flowery girdle slipping from her waist: - It seemed that LOVE could find no place more fair, - So hung his newest, dearest bowstring there. - A greedy bee kept hovering round to sip - The fragrant nectar of her blooming lip. - She closed her eyes in terror of the thief, - And beat him from her with a lotus leaf. - The angry curl of RATI'S lip confessed - The shade of envy that stole o'er her breast. - Through KAMA'S soul fresh hope and courage flew, - As that sweet vision blessed his eager view. - So bright, so fair, so winning soft was she, - Who could not conquer in such company? - - Now UMA came, fair maid, his destined bride, - With timid steps approaching ['S]IVA'S side. - In contemplation will he brood no more, - He sees the Godhead, and his task is o'er. - He breathes, he moves, the earth begins to rock, - The Snake, her bearer, trembling at the shock. - Due homage then his own dear servant paid, - And told him of the coming of the maid. - He learnt his Master's pleasure by the nod, - And led HIMALAYA'S daughter to the God. - Before his feet her young companions spread - Fresh leaves and blossoms as they bowed the head, - While UMA stooped so low, that from her hair - Dropped the bright flower that starred the midnight there. - To him whose ensign bears the bull she bent, - Till each spray fell, her ear's rich ornament. - "Sweet maid," cried ['S]IVA, "surely thou shalt be - Blessed with a husband who loves none but thee!" - Her fear was banished, and her hope was high: - A God had spoken, and Gods cannot lie. - - Rash as some giddy moth that wooes the flame, - LOVE seized the moment, and prepared to aim. - Close by the daughter of the Mountain-King, - He looked on ['S]IVA, and he eyed his string. - While with her radiant hand fair UMA gave - A rosary, of the lotuses that lave - Their beauties in the heavenly GANGA'S wave, - And the great Three-Eyed God was fain to take - The offering for the well-loved suppliant's sake, - On his bright bow LOVE placed the unerring dart, - The soft beguiler of the stricken heart. - Like the Moon's influence on the sea at rest, - Came passion stealing o'er the Hermit's breast, - While on the maiden's lip that mocked the dye - Of ripe red fruit, he bent his melting eye. - And oh! how showed the lady's love for him, - The heaving bosom, and each quivering limb! - Like young Kadambas, when the leaf-buds swell, - At the warm touch of Spring they love so well. - But still, with downcast eyes, she sought the ground, - And durst not turn their burning glances round. - Then with strong effort, ['S]IVA lulled to rest, - The storm of passion in his troubled breast, - And seeks, with angry eyes that round him roll, - Whence came the tempest o'er his tranquil soul. - He looked, and saw the bold young archer stand, - His bow bent ready in his skilful hand, - Drawn towards the eye; his shoulder well depressed, - And the left foot thrown forward as a rest. - - Then was the Hermit-God to madness lashed, - Then from his eye red flames of fury flashed. - So changed the beauty of that glorious brow, - Scarce could the gaze support its terror now. - Hark! heavenly voices sighing through the air: - "Be calm, great ['S]IVA, O be calm and spare!" - Alas! that angry eye's resistless flashes - Have scorched the gentle King of Love to ashes! - But RATI saw not, for she swooned away; - Senseless and breathless on the earth she lay; - Sleep while thou mayst, unconscious lady, sleep! - Soon wilt thou rise to sigh and wake to weep. - E'en as the red bolt rives the leafy bough, - So ['S]IVA smote the hinderer of his vow; - Then fled with all his train to some lone place - Far from the witchery of a female face. - - Sad was HIMALAYA'S daughter: grief and shame - O'er the young spirit of the maiden came: - Grief--for she loved, and all her love was vain; - Shame--she was spurned before her youthful train. - She turned away, with fear and woe oppressed, - To hide her sorrow on her father's breast; - Then, in the fond arms of her pitying sire, - Closed her sad eyes for fear of ['S]IVA'S ire. - Still in his grasp the weary maiden lay, - While he sped swiftly on his homeward way. - Thus have I seen the elephant stoop to drink, - And lift a lily from the fountain's brink. - Thus, when he rears his mighty head on high, - Across his tusks I've seen that lily lie. - - - - -_CANTO FOURTH._ - - - - -Canto Fourth. - -_RATI'S LAMENT._ - - - Sad, solitary, helpless, faint, forlorn, - Woke KAMA'S darling from her swoon to mourn. - Too soon her gentle soul returned to know - The pangs of widowhood--that word of woe. - Scarce could she raise her, trembling, from the ground, - Scarce dared to bend her anxious gaze around, - Unconscious yet those greedy eyes should never - Feed on his beauty more--gone, gone for ever. - - "Speak to me, KAMA! why so silent? give - One word in answer--doth my KAMA live?" - There on the turf his dumb cold ashes lay, - Whose soul that fiery flash had scorched away. - She clasped the dank earth in her wild despair, - Her bosom stained, and rent her long bright hair, - Till hill and valley caught the mourner's cry, - And pitying breezes echoed sigh for sigh. - "Oh thou wast beautiful: fond lovers sware - Their own bright darlings were like KAMA, fair. - Sure woman's heart is stony: can it be - That I still live while this is all of thee? - Where art thou, KAMA? Could my dearest leave - His own fond RATI here alone to grieve? - So must the sad forsaken lotus die - When her bright river leaves his channel dry. - KAMA, dear KAMA, call again to mind - How thou wast ever gentle, I was kind. - Let not my prayer, thy RATI'S prayer, be vain; - Come as of old, and bless these eyes again! - Wilt thou not hear me? Think of those sweet hours - When I would bind thee with my zone of flowers, - Those soft gay fetters o'er thee fondly wreathing, - Thine only punishment when gently breathing - In tones of love thy heedless sigh betrayed - The name, dear traitor! of some rival maid. - Then would I pluck a floweret from my tress - And beat thee till I forced thee to confess, - While in my play the falling leaves would cover - The eyes--the bright eyes--of my captive lover. - And then those words that made me, oh, so blest-- - "Dear love, thy home is in my faithful breast!" - Alas, sweet words, too blissful to be true, - Or how couldst thou have died, nor RATI perish too? - - Yes, I will fly to thee, of thee bereft, - And leave this world which thou, my life, hast left. - Cold, gloomy, now this wretched world must be, - For all its pleasures came from only thee. - When night has veiled the city in its shade, - Thou, only thou, canst soothe the wandering maid, - And guide her trembling at the thunder's roar - Safe through the darkness to her lover's door. - In vain the wine-cup, as it circles by, - Lisps in her tongue and sparkles in her eye. - Long locks are streaming, and the cheek glows red: - But all is mockery, LOVE--dear LOVE--is dead. - The MOON, sweet spirit, shall lament for thee, - Late, dim, and joyless shall his rising be. - Days shall fly on, and he forget to take - His full bright glory, mourning for thy sake. - Say, KAMA, say, whose arrow now shall be - The soft green shoot of thy dear mango tree, - The favourite spray which Koeils love so well, - And praise in sweetest strain its wondrous spell? - This line of bees which strings thy useless bow - Hums mournful echo to my cries of woe. - Come in thy lovely shape and teach again - The Koeil's mate, that knows the tender strain, - Her gentle task to waft to longing ears - The lover's hope, the distant lover's fears. - Come, bring once more that ecstasy of bliss, - The fond dear look, the smile, and ah! that kiss! - Fainting with woe, my soul refuses rest - When memory pictures how I have been blest. - See, thou didst weave a garland, love, to deck - With all spring's fairest buds thy RATI'S neck. - Sweet are those flowers as they were culled to-day, - And is my KAMA'S form more frail than they? - His pleasant task my lover had begun, - But stern Gods took him ere the work was done; - Return, my KAMA, at thy RATI'S cry, - And stain this foot which waits the rosy dye. - Now will I hie me to the fatal pile, - And ere heaven's maids have hailed thee with a smile, - Or on my love their winning glances thrown, - I will be there, and claim thee for mine own. - Yet though I come, my lasting shame will be - That I have lived one moment after thee. - Ah, how shall I thy funeral rites prepare, - Gone soul and body to the viewless air? - "With thy dear SPRING I've seen thee talk and smile, - Shaping an arrow for thy bow the while. - Where is he now, thy darling friend, the giver - Of many a bright sweet arrow for thy quiver? - Is he too sent upon death's dreary path, - Scorched by the cruel God's inexorable wrath?" - - Stricken in spirit by her cries of woe, - Like venomed arrows from a mighty bow, - A moment fled, and gentle SPRING was there, - To ask her grief, to soothe her wild despair. - She beat her breast more wildly than before, - With greater floods her weeping eyes ran o'er. - When friends are nigh the spirit finds relief - In the full gushing torrent of its grief. - - "Turn, gentle friend, thy weeping eyes, and see - That dear companion who was all to me. - His crumbling dust with which the breezes play, - Bearing it idly in their course away, - White as the silver feathers of a dove, - Is all that's left me of my murdered love. - Now come, my KAMA. SPRING, who was so dear, - Longs to behold thee. Oh, appear, appear! - Fickle to women LOVE perchance may bend - His ear to listen to a faithful friend. - Remember, he walked ever at thy side - O'er bloomy meadows in the warm spring-tide, - That Gods above, and men, and fiends below - Should own the empire of thy mighty bow, - That ruthless bow, which pierces to the heart, - Strung with a lotus-thread, a flower its dart. - As dies a torch when winds sweep roughly by, - So is my light for ever fled, and I, - The lamp his cheering rays no more illume, - Am wrapt in darkness, misery and gloom. - Fate took my love, and spared the widow's breath, - Yet fate is guilty of a double death. - When the wild monster tramples on the ground - The tree some creeper garlands closely round, - Reft of the guardian which it thought so true, - Forlorn and withered, it must perish too. - Then come, dear friend, the true one's pile prepare, - And send me quickly to my husband there. - Call it not vain: the mourning lotus dies - When the bright MOON, her lover, quits the skies. - When sinks the red cloud in the purple west, - Still clings his bride, the lightning, to his breast. - All nature keeps the eternal high decree: - Shall woman fail? I come, my love, to thee! - Now on the pile my faint limbs will I throw, - Clasping his ashes, lovely even so,-- - As if beneath my weary frame were spread - Soft leaves and blossoms for a flowery bed. - And oh, dear comrade (for in happier hours - Oft have I heaped a pleasant bed of flowers - For thee and him beneath the spreading tree), - Now quickly raise the pile for LOVE and me. - And in thy mercy gentle breezes send - To fan the flame that wafts away thy friend, - And shorten the sad moments that divide - Impatient KAMA from his RATI'S side; - Set water near us in a single urn, - We'll sip in heaven from the same in turn; - And let thine offering to his spirit be - Sprays fresh and lovely from the mango tree, - Culled when the round young buds begin to swell, - For KAMA loved those fragrant blossoms well." - - As RATI thus complained in faithful love, - A heavenly voice breathed round her from above, - Falling in pity like the gentle rain - That brings the dying herbs to life again: - "Bride of the flower-armed God, thy lord shall be - Not ever distant, ever deaf to thee. - Give me thine ear, sad lady, I will tell - Why perished KAMA, whom thou lovedst well. - The Lord of Life in every troubled sense - Too warmly felt his fair child's influence. - He quenched the fire, but mighty vengeance came - On KAMA, fanner of the unholy flame. - When ['S]IVA by her penance won has led - HIMALAYA'S daughter to her bridal bed, - His bliss to KAMA shall the God repay, - And give again the form he snatched away. - Thus did the gracious God, at JUSTICE' prayer, - The term of LOVE'S sad punishment declare. - The Gods, like clouds, are fierce and gentle too, - Now hurl the bolt, now drop sweet heavenly dew. - Live, widowed lady, for thy lover's arms - Shall clasp again--oh, fondly clasp--thy charms. - In summer-heat the streamlet dies away - Beneath the fury of the God of Day: - Then, in due season, comes the pleasant rain, - And all is fresh, and fair, and full again." - Thus breathed the spirit from the viewless air, - And stilled the raging of her wild despair; - While SPRING consoled with every soothing art, - Cheered by that voice from heaven, the mourner's heart, - Who watched away the hours, so sad and slow, - That brought the limit of her weary woe, - As the pale moon, quenched by the conquering light - Of garish day, longs for its own dear night. - - - - -_CANTO FIFTH._ - - - - -Canto Fifth. - -_UMA'S REWARD._ - - - Now woe to UMA, for young Love is slain, - Her Lord hath left her, and her hope is vain. - Woe, woe to UMA! how the Mountain-Maid - Cursed her bright beauty for its feeble aid! - 'Tis Beauty's guerdon which she loves the best, - To bless her lover, and in turn be blest. - Penance must aid her now--or how can she - Win the cold heart of that stern deity? - Penance, long penance: for that power alone - Can make such love, so high a Lord, her own. - - But, ah! how troubled was her mother's brow - At the sad tidings of the mourner's vow! - She threw her arms around her own dear maid, - Kissed, fondly kissed her, sighed, and wept, and prayed: - "Are there no Gods, my child, to love thee here? - Frail is thy body, yet thy vow severe. - The lily, by the wild bee scarcely stirred, - Bends, breaks, and dies beneath the weary bird." - Fast fell her tears, her prayer was strong, but still - That prayer was weaker than her daughter's will. - Who can recall the torrent's headlong force, - Or the bold spirit in its destined course? - She sent a maiden to her sire, and prayed - He for her sake would grant some bosky shade, - That she might dwell in solitude, and there - Give all her soul to penance and to prayer. - In gracious love the great HIMALAYA smiled, - And did the bidding of his darling child. - Then to that hill which peacocks love she came, - Known to all ages by the lady's name. - - Still to her purpose resolutely true, - Her string of noble pearls aside she threw, - Which, slipping here and there, had rubbed away - The sandal dust that on her bosom lay, - And clad her in a hermit coat of bark, - Rough to her gentle limbs, and gloomy dark, - Pressing too tightly, till her swelling breast - Broke into freedom through the unwonted vest. - Her matted hair was full as lovely now - As when 'twas braided o'er her polished brow. - Thus the sweet beauties of the lotus shine - When bees festoon it in a graceful line; - And, though the tangled weeds that crown the rill - Cling o'er it closely, it is lovely still. - With zone of grass the votaress was bound, - Which reddened the fair form it girdled round: - Never before the lady's waist had felt - The ceaseless torment of so rough a belt. - Alas! her weary vow has caused to fade - The lovely colours that adorned the maid. - Pale is her hand, and her long finger-tips - Steal no more splendour from her paler lips, - Or, from the ball which in her play would rest, - Made bright and fragrant, on her perfumed breast. - Rough with the sacred grass those hands must be, - And worn with resting on her rosary. - Cold earth her couch, her canopy the skies, - Pillowed upon her arm the lady lies: - She who before was wont to rest her head - In the soft luxury of a sumptuous bed, - Vext by no troubles as she slumbered there, - But sweet flowers slipping from her loosened hair. - The maid put off, but only for awhile, - Her passioned glances and her witching smile. - She lent the fawn her moving, melting gaze, - And the fond creeper all her winning ways. - The trees that blossomed on that lonely mount - She watered daily from the neighbouring fount: - If she had been their nursing mother, she - Could not have tended them more carefully. - Not e'en her boy--her own bright boy--shall stay - Her love for them: her first dear children they. - Her gentleness had made the fawns so tame, - To her kind hand for fresh sweet grain they came, - And let the maid before her friends compare - Her own with eyes that shone as softly there. - - Then came the hermits of the holy wood - To see the votaress in her solitude; - Grey elders came; though young the maid might seem, - Her perfect virtue must command esteem. - They found her resting in that lonely spot, - The fire was kindled, and no rite forgot. - In hermit's mantle was she clad; her look - Fixt in deep thought upon the Holy Book. - So pure that grove: all war was made to cease, - And savage monsters lived in love and peace. - Pure was that grove: each newly built abode - Had leafy shrines where fires of worship glowed. - - But far too mild her penance, UMA thought, - To win from heaven the lordly meed she sought. - She would not spare her form, so fair and frail, - If sterner penance could perchance prevail. - Oft had sweet pastime wearied her, and yet - Fain would she match in toil the anchoret. - Sure the soft lotus at her birth had lent - Dear UMA'S form its gentle element; - But gold, commingled with her being, gave - That will so strong, so beautifully brave. - Full in the centre of four blazing piles - Sate the fair lady of the winning smiles, - While on her head the mighty God of Day - Shot all the fury of his summer ray; - Yet her fixt gaze she turned upon the skies, - And quenched his splendour with her brighter eyes. - To that sweet face, though scorched by rays from heaven, - Still was the beauty of the lotus given, - Yet, worn by watching, round those orbs of light - A blackness gathered like the shades of night. - She cooled her dry lips in the bubbling stream, - And lived on Amrit from the pale moon-beam, - Sometimes in hunger culling from the tree - The rich ripe fruit that hung so temptingly. - Scorched by the fury of the noon-tide rays, - And fires that round her burned with ceaseless blaze, - Summer passed o'er her: rains of Autumn came - And throughly drenched the lady's tender frame. - So steams the earth, when mighty torrents pour - On thirsty fields all dry and parched before. - The first clear rain-drops falling on her brow, - Gem it one moment with their light, and now - Kissing her sweet lip find a welcome rest - In the deep valley of the lady's breast; - Then wander broken by the fall within - The mazy channels of her dimpled skin. - There as she lay upon her rocky bed, - No sumptuous roof above her gentle head, - Dark Night, her only witness, turned her eyes, - Red lightnings flashing from the angry skies, - And gazed upon her voluntary pain, - In wind, in sleet, in thunder, and in rain. - Still lay the maiden on the cold damp ground, - Though blasts of winter hurled their snows around, - Still pitying in her heart the mournful fate - Of those poor birds, so fond, so desolate,-- - Doomed, hapless pair, to list each other's moan - Through the long hours of night, sad and alone. - Chilled by the rain, the tender lotus sank: - She filled its place upon the streamlet's bank. - Sweet was her breath as when that lovely flower - Sheds its best odour in still evening's hour. - Red as its leaves her lips of coral hue: - Red as those quivering leaves they quivered too. - - Of all stern penance it is called the chief - To nourish life upon the fallen leaf. - But even this the ascetic maiden spurned, - And for all time a glorious title earned. - APARNA--Lady of the unbroken fast-- - Have sages called her, saints who knew the past. - Fair as the lotus fibres, soft as they, - In these stern vows she passed her night and day. - No mighty anchoret had e'er essayed - The ceaseless penance of this gentle maid. - - There came a hermit: reverend was he - As Brahmanhood's embodied sanctity. - With coat of skin, with staff and matted hair, - His face was radiant, and he spake her fair. - Up rose the maid the holy man to greet, - And humbly bowed before the hermit's feet. - Though meditation fill the pious breast, - It finds a welcome for a glorious guest: - The sage received the honour duly paid, - And fixed his earnest gaze upon the maid. - While through her frame unwonted vigour ran, - Thus, in his silver speech, the blameless saint began: - "How can thy tender frame, sweet lady, bear - In thy firm spirit's task its fearful share? - Canst thou the grass and fuel duly bring, - And still unwearied seek the freshening spring? - Say, do the creeper's slender shoots expand, - Seeking each day fresh water from thy hand, - Till like thy lip each ruddy tendril glows, - That lip which, faded, still outreds the rose? - With loving glance the timid fawns draw nigh: - Say dost thou still with joy their wants supply? - For thee, O lotus-eyed, their glances shine, - Mocking the brightness of each look of thine. - O Mountain-Lady, it is truly said - That heavenly charms to sin have never led, - For even penitents may learn of thee - How pure, how gentle Beauty's self may be. - Bright GANGA falling with her heavenly waves, - HIMALAYA'S head with sacred water laves, - Bearing the flowers the seven great Sages fling - To crown the forehead of the Mountain-King. - Yet do thy deeds, O bright-haired maiden, shed - A richer glory round his awful head. - Purest of motives, Duty leads thy heart: - Pleasure and gain therein may claim no part. - O noble maid, the wise have truly said - That friendship soon in gentle heart is bred. - Seven steps together bind the lasting tie: - Then bend on me, dear Saint, a gracious eye. - Fain, lovely UMA, would a Brahman learn - What noble guerdon would thy penance earn. - Say, art thou toiling for a second birth, - Where dwells the great Creator? O'er the earth - Resistless sway? Or fair as Beauty's Queen, - Peerless, immortal, shall thy form be seen? - The lonely soul bowed down by grief and pain, - By penance' aid some gracious boon may gain. - But what, O faultless one, can move thy heart - To dwell in solitude and prayer apart? - Why should the cloud of grief obscure thy brow, - 'Mid all thy kindred, who so loved as thou? - Foes hast thou none: for what rash hand would dare - From serpent's head the magic gem to tear? - Why dost thou seek the hermit's garb to try, - Thy silken raiment and thy gems thrown by? - As though the sun his glorious state should leave, - Rayless to harbour 'mid the shades of eve. - Wouldst thou win heaven by thy holy spells? - Already with the Gods thy father dwells. - A husband, lady? O forbear the thought, - A priceless jewel seeks not, but is sought. - Maiden, thy deep sighs tell me it is so; - Yet, doubtful still, my spirit seeks to know - Couldst thou e'er love in vain? What heart so cold - That hath not eagerly its worship told? - Ah! could the cruel loved one, thou fair maid, - Look with cold glances on that bright hair's braid? - Thy locks are hanging loosely o'er thy brow, - Thine ear is shaded by no lotus now. - See, where the sun hath scorched that tender neck - Which precious jewels once were proud to deck. - Still gleams the line where they were wont to cling, - As faintly shows the moon's o'ershadowed ring. - Now sure thy loved one, vain in beauty's pride, - Dreamed of himself when wandering at thy side, - Or he would count him blest to be the mark - Of that dear eye, so soft, so lustrous dark. - But, gentle UMA, let thy labour cease; - Turn to thy home, fair Saint, and rest in peace. - By many a year of penance duly done - Rich store of merit has my labour won. - Take then the half, thy secret purpose name; - Nor in stern hardships wear thy tender frame." - - The holy Brahman ceased: but UMA'S breast - In silence heaved, by love and fear opprest. - In mute appeal she turned her languid eye, - Darkened with weeping, not with softening dye, - To bid her maiden's friendly tongue declare - The cherished secret of her deep despair: - "Hear, holy Father, if thou still wouldst know, - Why her frail form endures this pain and woe, - As the soft lotus makes a screen to stay - The noontide fury of the God of Day. - Proudly disdaining all the blest above, - With heart and soul she seeks for ['S]IVA'S love. - For him alone, the Trident-wielding God, - The thorny paths of penance hath she trod. - But since that mighty one hath KAMA slain, - Vain every hope, and every effort vain. - E'en as life fled, a keen but flowery dart - Young LOVE, the Archer, aimed at ['S]IVA'S heart. - The God in anger hurled the shaft away, - But deep in UMA'S tender soul it lay; - Alas, poor maid! she knows no comfort now, - Her soul's on fire, her wild locks hide her brow. - She quits her father's halls, and frenzied roves - The icy mountain and the lonely groves. - Oft as the maidens of the minstrel throng - To hymn great ['S]IVA'S praises raised the song, - The lovelorn lady's sobs and deep-drawn sighs - Drew tears of pity from their gentle eyes. - Wakeful and fevered in the dreary night - Scarce closed her eyes, and then in wild affright - Rang through the halls her very bitter cry, - "God of the azure neck, why dost thou fly?" - While their soft bands her loving arms would cast - Hound the dear vision fading all too fast. - Her skilful hand, with true love-guided art, - Had traced the image graven on her heart. - "Art thou all present? Dost thou fail to see - Poor UMA'S anguish and her love for thee?" - Thus oft in frenzied grief her voice was heard, - Chiding the portrait with reproachful word. - Long thus in vain for ['S]IVA'S love she strove, - Then turned in sorrow to this holy grove. - Since the sad maid hath sought these forest glades - To hide her grief amid the dreary shades, - The fruit hath ripened on the spreading bough; - But ah! no fruit hath crowned her holy vow. - Her faithful friends alone must ever mourn - To see that beauteous form by penance worn, - But oh! that ['S]IVA would some favour deign, - As INDRA pitieth the parching plain!" - The maiden ceased: his secret joy dissembling, - The Brahman turned to UMA pale and trembling: - "And is it thus, or doth the maiden jest? - Is this the darling secret of thy breast?" - - Scarce could the maid her choking voice command, - Or clasp her rosary with quivering hand: - "O holy Sage, learned in the Vedas' lore, - 'Tis even thus. Great ['S]IVA I adore. - Thus would my steadfast heart his love obtain, - For this I gladly bear the toil and pain. - Surely the strong desire, the earnest will, - May win some favour from his mercy still." - - "Lady," cried he, "that mighty Lord I know; - Ever his presence bringeth care and woe. - And wouldst thou still a second time prepare - The sorrows of his fearful life to share? - Deluded maid, how shall thy tender hand, - Decked with the nuptial bracelet's jewelled band, - Be clasped in his, when fearful serpents twine - In scaly horror round that arm divine? - How shall thy robe, with gay flamingoes gleaming, - Suit with his coat of hide with blood-drops streaming? - Of old thy pathway led where flowerets sweet - Made pleasant carpets for thy gentle feet. - And e'en thy foes would turn in grief away - To see these vermeil-tinted limbs essay, - Where scattered tresses strew the mournful place, - Their gloomy path amid the tombs to trace. - On ['S]IVA'S heart the funeral ashes rest, - Say, gentle lady, shall they stain thy breast, - Where the rich tribute of the Sandal trees - Sheds a pure odour on the amorous breeze? - A royal bride returning in thy state, - The king of elephants should bear thy weight. - How wilt thou brook the mockery and the scorn - When thou on ['S]IVA'S bull art meanly borne? - Sad that the crescent moon his crest should be: - And shall that mournful fate be shared by thee? - His crest, the glory of the evening skies, - His bride, the moonlight of our wondering eyes! - Deformed is he, his ancestry unknown; - By vilest garb his poverty is shown. - O fawn-eyed lady, how should ['S]IVA gain - That heart for which the glorious strive in vain - No charms hath he to win a maiden's eye: - Cease from thy penance, hush the fruitless sigh! - Unmeet is he thy faithful heart to share, - Child of the Mountain, maid of beauty rare! - Not 'mid the gloomy tombs do sages raise - The holy altar of their prayer and praise." - - Impatient UMA listened: the quick blood - Rushed to her temples in an angry flood. - Her quivering lip, her darkly-flashing eye - Told that the tempest of her wrath was nigh. - Proudly she spoke: "How couldst thou tell aright - Of one like ['S]IVA, perfect, infinite? - 'Tis ever thus, the mighty and the just - Are scorned by souls that grovel in the dust. - Their lofty goodness and their motives wise - Shine all in vain before such blinded eyes. - Say who is greater, he who strives for power, - Or he who succours in misfortune's hour? - Refuge of worlds, O how should ['S]IVA deign - To look on men enslaved to paltry gain? - The spring of wealth himself, he careth naught - For the vile treasures that mankind have sought. - His dwelling-place amid the tombs may be, - Yet Monarch of the three great worlds is he. - What though no love his outward form may claim, - The stout heart trembles at his awful name. - Who can declare the wonders of his might? - The Trident-wielding God, who knows aright? - Whether around him deadly serpents twine, - Or if his jewelled wreaths more brightly shine; - Whether in rough and wrinkled hide arrayed, - Or silken robe, in glittering folds displayed; - If on his brow the crescent moon he bear, - Or if a shrunken skull be withering there; - The funeral ashes touched by him acquire - The glowing lustre of eternal fire; - Falling in golden showers, the heavenly maids - Delight to pour them on their shining braids. - What though no treasures fill his storehouse full, - What though he ride upon his horned bull, - Not e'en may INDRA in his pride withhold - The lowly homage that is his of old, - But turns his raging elephant to meet - His mighty Lord, and bows before his feet, - Right proud to colour them rich rosy red - With the bright flowers that deck his prostrate head. - Thy slanderous tongue proclaims thy evil mind, - Yet in thy speech one word of truth we find. - Unknown thou call'st him: how should mortal man - Count when the days of BRAHMA'S Lord began? - But cease these idle words: though all be true, - His failings many and his virtues few, - Still clings my heart to him, its chosen lord, - Nor fails nor falters at thy treacherous word. - Dear maiden, bid yon eager boy depart: - Why should the slanderous tale defile his heart? - Most guilty who the faithless speech begins, - But he who stays to listen also sins." - She turned away: with wrath her bosom swelling, - Its vest of bark in angry pride repelling: - But sudden, lo, before her wondering eyes - In altered form she sees the sage arise; - 'Tis ['S]IVA'S self before the astonished maid, - In all his gentlest majesty displayed. - She saw, she trembled, like a river's course, - Checked for a moment in its onward force, - By some huge rock amid the torrent hurled - Where erst the foaming waters madly curled. - One foot uplifted, shall she turn away? - Unmoved the other, shall the maiden stay? - The silver moon on ['S]IVA'S forehead shone, - While softly spake the God in gracious tone: - "O gentle maiden, wise and true of soul, - Lo, now I bend beneath thy sweet control. - Won by thy penance, and thy holy vows, - Thy willing slave ['S]IVA before thee bows." - - He spake, and rushing through her languid frame, - At his dear words returning vigour came. - She knew but this, that all her cares were o'er, - Her sorrows ended, she should weep no more! - - - - -_CANTO SIXTH._ - - - - -Canto Sixth. - -_UMA'S ESPOUSALS._ - - - Now gentle UMA bade a damsel bear - To ['S]IVA, Soul of All, her maiden prayer: - "Wait the high sanction of HIMALAYA'S will, - And ask his daughter from the royal hill." - Then ere the God, her own dear Lord, replied, - In blushing loveliness she sought his side. - Thus the young mango hails the approaching spring - By its own tuneful bird's sweet welcoming. - - In UMA'S ear he softly whispered, yea, - Then scarce could tear him from her arms away. - Swift with a thought he summoned from above - The Seven bright Saints to bear his tale of love. - They came, and She, the Heavenly Dame, was there, - Lighting with glories all the radiant air; - Just freshly bathed in sacred GANGA'S tide, - Gemmed with the dancing flowers that deck her side, - And richly scented with the nectarous rill - That heavenly elephants from their brows distil. - Fair strings of pearl their radiant fingers hold, - Clothed are their limbs in hermit-coats of gold; - Their rosaries, large gems of countless price, - Shone like the fruit that glows in Paradise, - As though the glorious trees that blossom there - Had sought the forest for a life of prayer. - With all his thousand beams the God of Day, - Urging his coursers down the sloping way, - His banner furled at the approach of night, - Looks up in reverence on those lords of light. - Ancient creators: thus the wise, who know, - Gave them a name in ages long ago: - With BRAHMA joining in creation's plan, - And perfecting the work His will began; - Still firm in penance, though the hermit-vow - Bears a ripe harvest for the sages now. - Brightest in glory 'mid that glorious band - See the fair Queen, the Heavenly Lady, stand. - Fixing her loving eyes upon her spouse, - She seemed sent forth to crown the sage's vows - With sweet immortal joy, the dearest prize - Strong prayer could merit from the envious skies. - With equal honour on the Queen and all - Did the kind glance of ['S]IVA'S welcome fall. - No partial favour by the good is shown: - They count not station, but the deed alone. - So fair she shone upon his raptured view, - He longed for wedlock's heavenly pleasures too. - What hath such power to lead the soul above - By virtue's pleasant path as wedded love! - Scarce had the holy motive lent its aid - To knit great ['S]IVA to the Mountain-Maid, - When KAMA'S spirit that had swooned in fear - Breathed once again and deemed forgiveness near. - - The ancient Sages reverently adored - The world's great Father and its Sovran Lord, - And while a soft ecstatic thrilling ran - O'er their celestial frames, they thus began: - "Glorious the fruit our holy studies bear, - Our constant penance, sacrifice and prayer. - For that high place within thy thoughts we gain - Which fancy strives to reach, but longs in vain. - How blest is he, the glory of the wise, - Deep in whose thoughtful breast thy Godhead lies! - But who may tell his joy who rests enshrined, - O BRAHMA'S great Creator, in thy mind! - We dwell on high above the cold moon's ray; - Beneath our mansion glows the God of Day, - But now thy favour lends us brighter beams, - Blest with thy love our star unchanging gleams. - How should we tell what soul-entrancing bliss - Enthrals our spirit at an hour like this? - Great Lord of All, thou Soul of Life indwelling, - We crave one word thy wondrous nature telling. - Though to our eyes thy outward form be shown, - How can we know thee as thou shouldst be known? - In this thy present shape, we pray thee, say - Dost thou create? dost thou preserve or slay? - But speak thy wish; called from our starry rest - We wait, O ['S]IVA, for our Lord's behest" - - Then answered thus the Lord of glory, while - Flashed from his dazzling teeth so white a smile, - The moon that crowned him poured a larger stream - Of living splendour from that pearly gleam: - "Ye know, great Sages of a race divine, - No selfish want e'er prompts a deed of mine. - Do not the forms--eight varied forms--I wear, - The truth of this to all the world declare? - Now, as that thirsty bird that drinks the rain - Prays the kind clouds of heaven to soothe its pain, - So the Gods pray me, trembling 'neath their foe, - To send a child of mine and end their woe. - I seek the Mountain-Maiden as my bride: - Our hero son shall tame the demon's pride. - Thus the priest bids the holy fire arise, - Struck from the wood to aid the sacrifice. - Go, ask HIMALAYA for the lovely maid: - Blest are those bridals which the holy aid. - So shall more glorious honours gild my name, - And win the father yet a prouder fame. - Nor, O ye heavenly Sages, need I teach - What for the maiden's hand shall be your speech, - For still the wise in worthiest honour hold - The rules and precepts ye ordained of old. - This Lady too shall aid your mission there: - Best for such task a skilful matron's care. - And now, my heralds, to your task away, - Where proud HIMALAYA holds his royal sway; - Then meet me where this mighty torrent raves - Down the steep channel with its headlong waves." - - Thus while that holiest One his love confessed, - The hermits listened: from each saintly breast - Fled the false shame that yet had lingered there, - And love and wedlock showed divinely fair. - - On through the heaven, o'er tracts of swordlike blue, - Towards the gay city, swift as thought, they flew, - Bright with high domes and palaces most fair, - As if proud ALAKA were planted there, - Or PARADISE poured forth, in showers that bless, - The rich o'erflowings of its loveliness. - Round lofty towers adorned with gems and gold - Her guardian stream the holy GANGA rolled. - On every side, the rampart's glowing crown, - Bright wreaths of fragrant flowers hung waving down,-- - Flowers that might tempt the maids of heavenly birth - To linger fondly o'er that pride of earth. - Its noble elephants, unmoved by fear, - The distant roaring of the lions hear. - In beauty peerless, and unmatched in speed, - Its thousand coursers of celestial breed. - Through the broad streets bright sylphs and minstrels rove: - Its dames are Goddesses of stream and grove. - Hark! the drum echoes louder and more loud - From glittering halls whose spires are wrapt in cloud. - It were the thunder, but that voice of fear - Falls not in measured time upon the ear. - 'Tis balmy cool, for many a heavenly tree, - With quivering leaves and branches waving free, - Sheds a delightful freshness through the air,-- - Fans which no toil of man has stationed there. - The crystal chambers where they feast at night - Flash back the beamings of the starry light. - So brightly pure that silver gleam is shed, - Playing so fondly round each beauteous head, - That all seem gifted from those lights above - With richest tokens of superior love. - How blest its maidens! cloudless is their day, - And radiant herbs illume their nightly way. - No term of days, but endless youth they know; - No Death save him who bears the Flowery Bow: - Their direst swoon, their only frenzy this-- - The trance of love, the ecstasy of bliss! - Ne'er can their lovers for one hour withstand - The frown, the quivering lip, the scornful hand; - But seek forgiveness of the angry fair, - And woo her smile with many an earnest prayer. - Around, wide gardens spread their pleasant bowers, - Where the bright Champac opes her fragrant flowers: - Dear shades, beloved by the sylphs that roam - In dewy evening from their mountain home. - - Ah! why should mortals fondly strive to gain - Heaven and its joys by ceaseless toil and pain? - E'en the Saints envied as their steps drew near, - And owned a brighter heaven was opened here. - They lighted down; braided was each long tress, - Bright as the pictured flame, as motionless. - HIMALAYA'S palace-warders in amaze - On the Seven Sages turned their eager gaze,-- - A noble company of celestial race - Where each in order of his years had place,-- - Glorious, as when the sun, his head inclining, - Sees his own image 'mid the waters shining. - To greet them with a gift HIMALAYA sped, - Earth to her centre shaking at his tread. - By his dark lips with mountain metals dyed, - His arms like pines that clothe his lofty side: - By his proud stature, by his stony breast, - Lord of the Snowy Hills he stood confest. - On to his Council-hall he led the way, - Nor failed due honour to the Saints to pay. - On couch of reed the Monarch bade them rest, - And thus with uplift hands those Heavenly Lords addressed: - "Like soft rain falling from a cloudless sky, - Or fruit, when bloom has failed to glad the eye, - So are ye welcome, Sages; thus I feel - Ecstatic thrilling o'er my spirit steal, - Changed, like dull senseless iron to burning gold, - Or some rapt creature, when the heavens unfold - To eyes yet dim with tears of earthly care, - The rest, the pleasures, and the glory there. - Long pilgrim bands from this auspicious day - To my pure hill shall bend their constant way. - Famed shall it be o'er all the lands around, - For where the good have been is holy ground. - Now am I doubly pure, for GANGA'S tide - Falls on my head from heaven and laves my side. - Henceforth I boast a second stream as sweet, - The water, Sages, that has touched your feet. - Twice by your favour is HIMALAYA blest,-- - This towery mountain that your feet have prest, - And this my moving form is happier still - To wait your bidding, to perform your will. - These mighty limbs that fill the heaven's expanse - Sink down, o'erpowered, in a blissful trance. - So bright your presence, at the glorious sight - My brooding shades of darkness turn to light. - The gloom that haunts my mountain caverns flies, - And cloudy passion in the spirit dies. - O say, if here your arrowy course ye sped - To throw fresh glory round my towering head. - Surely your wish, ye Mighty Ones, can crave - No aid, no service from your willing slave. - Yet deem me worthy of some high behest: - The lord commandeth, and the slave is blest. - Declare your pleasure, then, bright heavenly band: - We crave no guerdon but your sole command. - Yours are we all, HIMALAYA and his bride, - And this dear maiden child our hope and pride." - - Not once he spake: his cavern mouths around - In hollow echoings gave again the sound. - Of all who speak beyond compare the best, - ANGIRAS answered at the Saints' request: - "This power hast thou, great King, and mightier far, - Thy mind is lofty as thy summits are. - Sages say truly, VISH[N.]U is thy name: - His spirit breatheth in thy mountain frame. - Within the caverns of thy boundless breast - All things that move and all that move not rest. - How on his head so soft, so delicate, - Could the great Snake uphold the huge earth's weight, - Did not thy roots, far-reaching down to hell, - Bear up the burden and assist him well? - Thy streams of praise, thy pure rills' ceaseless flow - Make glad the nations wheresoe'er they go, - Till, shedding purity on every side, - They sink at length in boundless Ocean's tide. - Blest is fair GANGA, for her heavenly stream - Flows from the feet of him that sits supreme; - And blest once more, O mighty Hill, is she - That her bright waters spring anew from thee. - Vast grew his body when the avenging God - In three huge strides o'er all creation trod. - Above, below, his form increased, but thou - Wast ever glorious and as vast as now. - By thee is famed SUMERU forced to hide - His flashing rays and pinnacles of pride, - For thou hast won thy station in the skies - 'Mid the great Gods who claim the sacrifice. - Firm and unmoved remains thy lofty hill, - Yet thou canst bow before the holy still. - Now--for the glorious work will fall on thee,-- - Hear thou the cause of this our embassy. - We also, Mountain Monarch, since we bear - To thee the message, in the labour share. - The Highest, Mightiest, Noblest One, adored - By the proud title of our Sovran Lord: - The crescent moon upon his brow bears he, - And wields the wondrous powers of Deity. - He in this earth and varied forms displayed, - Bound each to other by exchange of aid, - Guides the great world and all the things that are, - As flying coursers whirl the glittering car. - Him good men seek with holy thought and prayer, - Who fills their breast and makes his dwelling there. - When saints, we read, his lofty sphere attain, - They ne'er may fall to this base earth again: - His messengers, great King, we crave the hand - Of thy fair daughter at the God's command. - At such blest union, as of TRUTH and VOICE, - A father's heart should grieve not, but rejoice. - Her Lord is Father of the world, and she - Of all that liveth shall the mother be. - Gods that adore him with the Neck of Blue - In homage bent shall hail the Lady too, - And give a glory to her feet with gems - That sparkle in their priceless diadems. - Hear what a roll shall blazon forth thy line,-- - Maid, Father, Suitor, Messengers divine! - Give him the chosen lady, and aspire - To call thy son the Universe's Sire, - Who laudeth none, but all mankind shall raise - To Him through endless time the songs of praise." - - Thus while he spake the lady bent her head - To hide her cheek, now blushing rosy red, - And numbered o'er with seeming care the while - Her lotus' petals in sweet maiden guile. - With pride and joy HIMALAYA'S heart beat high, - Yet ere he spake he looked to MENA'S eye: - Full well he knew a mother's gentle care - Learns her child's heart and love's deep secret there, - And this the hour, he felt, when fathers seek - Her eye for answer or her changing cheek. - His eager look HIMALAYA scarce had bent - When MENA'S eye beamed back her glad assent. - O gentle wives! your fondest wish is still - To have with him you love one heart, one will. - - He threw his arms around the blushing maid - In queenly garment and in gems arrayed, - Awhile was silent, then in rapture cried, - "Come, O my daughter! Come, thou destined bride - Of ['S]IVA, Lord of All: this glorious band - Of Saints have sought thee at the God's command; - And I thy sire this happy day obtain - The best reward a father's wish would gain." - Then to the Saints he cried: "Pure Hermits, see - The spouse of ['S]IVA greets your company." - They looked in rapture on the maid, and poured - Their fullest blessing on her heavenly lord. - So low she bowed, the gems that decked her hair - And sparkled in her ear fell loosened there; - Then with sweet modesty and joy opprest - She hid her blushes on the Lady's breast, - Who cheered the mother weeping for her child, - Her own dear UMA, till again she smiled: - Such bliss and glory should be hers above, - Yea, mighty ['S]IVA'S undivided love. - - They named the fourth for UMA'S nuptial day; - Then sped the Sages on their homeward way; - And thanked by ['S]IVA with a gracious eye - Sought their bright rest amid the stars on high. - Through all those weary days the lover sighed - To wind his fond arms round his gentle bride. - Oh, if the Lord of Heaven could find no rest, - Think, think how Love, strong Love, can tear a mortal's breast! - - - - -_CANTO SEVENTH._ - - - - -Canto Seventh. - -_UMA'S BRIDAL._ - - - In light and glory dawned the expected day - Blest with a kindly star's auspicious ray, - When gaily gathered at HIMALAYA'S call - His kinsmen to the solemn festival. - Through the broad city every dame's awake - To grace the bridal for her monarch's sake; - So great their love for him, this single care - Makes one vast household of the thousands there. - Heaven is not brighter than the royal street - Where flowers lie scattered 'neath the nobles' feet, - And banners waving to the breeze unfold - Their silken broidery over gates of gold. - And she, their child, upon her bridal day - Bears her dear parents' every thought away. - So, when from distant shores a friend returns, - With deeper love each inmost spirit burns. - So, when grim Death restores his prey again - Joy brighter shines from memory of pain. - Each noble matron of HIMALAYA'S race - Folds his dear UMA in a long embrace, - Pours blessings on her head, and prays her take - Some priceless jewel for her friendship's sake. - With sweetest influence a star of power - Had joined the spotted moon: at that blest hour - To deck fair UMA many a noble dame - And many a gentle maid assiduous came. - And well she graced their toil, more brightly fair - With feathery grass and wild flowers in her hair. - A silken robe flowed free below her waist; - Her sumptuous head a glittering arrow graced. - So shines the young unclouded moon at last, - Greeting the sun, its darksome season past. - Sweet-scented Lodhra dust and Sandal dyed - The delicate beauties of the fair young bride, - Veiled with a soft light robe. Her tiring-girls - Then led her to a chamber decked with pearls - And paved with sapphires, where the lulling sound - Of choicest music breathed divinely round. - There o'er the lady's limbs they poured by turns - Streams of pure water from their golden urns. - Fresh from the cooling bath the lovely maid - In fairest white her tender form arrayed. - So opens the Kasa all her shining flowers - Lured from their buds by softly falling showers. - Then to a court with canopies o'erhead - A crowd of noble dames the maiden led-- - A court for solemn rites, where gems and gold - Adorn the pillars that the roof uphold. - There on a couch they set her with her face - Turned toward the east. So lovely then the grace - Of that dear maid, so ravishing her smile, - E'en her attendants turned to gaze awhile; - For though the brightest gems around her lay, - Her brighter beauty stole their eyes away. - Through her long tresses one a chaplet wound, - And one with fragrant grass her temples crowned, - While o'er her head sweet clouds of incense rolled - To try and perfume every shining fold. - Bright dyes of saffron and the scented wood - Adorned her beauty, till the maiden stood - Fairer than GANGA when the Love-birds play - O'er sandy islets in her silvery bay. - To what rare beauty shall her maids compare - Her clear brow shaded by her glossy hair? - Less dazzling pure the lovely lotus shines - Flecked by the thronging bees in dusky lines. - Less bright the moon, when a dark band of cloud - Enhances beauties which it cannot shroud. - Behind her ear a head of barley drew - The eye to gaze upon its golden hue. - But then her cheek, with glowing saffron dyed, - To richer beauty called the glance aside. - Though from those lips, where Beauty's guerdon lay, - The vermeil tints were newly washed away, - Yet o'er them, as she smiled, a ray was thrown - Of quivering brightness that was all their own. - - "Lay this dear foot upon thy lover's head - Crowned with the moon," the laughing maiden said, - Who dyed her lady's feet--no word spake she, - But beat her with her wreath in playful glee. - Then tiring-women took the jetty dye - To guard, not deck, the beauty of her eye, - Whose languid half-shut glances might compare - With lotus leaves just opening to the air; - And as fresh gems adorned her neck and arms, - So quickly changing grew the maiden's charms, - Like some fair plant where bud succeeding bud - Unfolds new beauty; or a silver flood - Where gay birds follow quickly; or like night, - When crowding stars come forth in all their light. - Oft as the mirror would her glance beguile - She longed to meet her Lord's approving smile. - Her tasteful skill the timid maid essays - To win one smile of love, one word of praise. - - The happy mother took the golden dye - And raised to hers young UMA'S beaming eye. - Then swelled her bosom with maternal pride - As thus she decked her darling for a bride. - Oh, she had longed to trace on that fair brow - The nuptial line, yet scarce could mark it now. - On UMA'S rounded arm the woollen band - Was fixt securely by the nurse's hand. - Blind with the tears that filled her swimming eye, - In vain the mother strove that band to tie. - Spotless as curling foam-flakes stood she there, - As yielding soft, as graceful and as fair: - Or like the glory of an autumn night - Robed by the full moon in a veil of light. - Then at her mother's hest, the maid adored - The spirit of each high ancestral lord, - Nor failed she next the noble dames to greet, - And give due honour to their reverend feet. - They raised the maiden as she bowed her head: - "Thine be the fulness of his love!" they said. - Half of his being, blessing high as this - Can add no rapture to her perfect bliss. - Well-pleased HIMALAYA viewed the pomp and pride - Meet for his daughter, meet for ['S]IVA'S bride; - Then sought the hall with all his friends to wait - The bridegroom's coming with a monarch's state. - - Meanwhile by heavenly matrons' care displayed - Upon KUVERA'S lofty mount were laid - The ornaments of ['S]IVA, which of yore - At his first nuptials the bridegroom wore. - He laid his hand upon the dress, but how - Shall robes so sad, so holy, grace him now? - His own dire vesture took a shape as fair - As gentle bridegroom's heart could wish to wear. - The withering skull that glazed the eye with dread, - Shone a bright coronal to grace his head. - That elephant's hide the God had worn of old - Was now a silken robe inwrought with gold. - Ere this his body was with dust besprent: - With unguent now it shed delightful scent; - And that mid-eye which glittering like a star - Shot the wild terror of its glance afar-- - So softly now its golden radiance beamed-- - A mark of glory on his forehead seemed. - His twining serpents, destined still to be - The pride and honour of the deity, - Changed but their bodies: in each sparkling crest - The blazing gems still shone their loveliest. - What need of jewels on the brow of Him - Who wears the crescent moon? No spot may dim - Its youthful beauty, e'en in light of day - Shedding the glory of its quenchless ray. - Well-pleased the God in all his pride arrayed - Saw his bright image mirrored in the blade - Of the huge sword they brought; then calmly leant - On NANDI'S arm, and toward his bull he went, - Whose broad back covered with a tiger's hide - Was steep to climb as Mount KAILASA'S side. - Yet the dread monster humbly shrank for fear, - And bowed in reverence as his Lord drew near. - The matrons followed him, a saintly throng, - Their ear-rings waving as they dashed along: - Sweet faces, with such glories round them shed - As made the air one lovely lotus bed. - On flew those bright ones: KALI came behind, - The skulls that decked her rattling in the wind: - Like the dark rack that scuds across the sky, - With herald lightning and the crane's shrill cry. - - Hark! from the glorious bands that lead the way, - Harp, drum, and pipe, and shrilling trumpet's bray, - Burst through the sky upon the startled ear - And tell the Gods the hour of worship's near. - They came; the SUN presents a silken shade - Which heaven's own artist for the God had made, - Gilding his brows, as though bright GANGA rolled - Adown his holy head her waves of gold. - She in her Goddess-shape divinely fair, - And YAMUNA, sweet river-Nymph, were there, - Fanning their Lord, that fancy still might deem - Swans waved their pinions round each Lady of the Stream. - E'en BRAHMA came, Creator, Lord of Might, - And VISH[N.]U glowing from the realms of light. - "Ride on," they cried, "thine, thine for ever be - The strength, the glory, and the victory." - To swell his triumph that high blessing came - Like holy oil upon the rising flame. - In those Three Persons the one God was shown, - Each first in place, each last,--not one alone; - Of ['S]IVA, VISH[N.]U, BRAHMA, each may be - First, second, third, among the Blessed Three. - By INDRA led, each world-upholding Lord - With folded hands the mighty God adored. - In humble robes arrayed, the pomp and pride - Of glorious deity they laid aside. - They signed to NANDI, and the favourite's hand - Guided his eye upon the suppliant band. - He spake to VISH[N.]U, and on INDRA smiled, - To BRAHMA bowed--the lotus' mystic child. - On all the hosts of heaven his friendly eye - Beamed duly welcome as they crowded nigh. - The Seven Great Saints their blessings o'er him shed, - And thus in answer, with a smile, he said: - "Hail, mighty Sages! hail, ye Sons of Light! - My chosen priests to celebrate this rite." - Now in sweet tones the heavenly minstrels tell - His praise, beneath whose might TRIPURA fell. - He moves to go: from his moon-crest a ray - Sheds quenchless light on his triumphant way. - On through the air his swift bull bore him well, - Decked with the gold of many a tinkling bell; - Tossing from time to time his head on high, - Enwreathed with clouds as he flew racing by, - As though in furious charge he had uptorn - A bank of clay upon his mighty horn. - - Swiftly they came where in its beauty lay - The city subject to HIMALAYA'S sway. - No foeman's foot had ever trod those halls, - No foreign bands encamped around the walls. - Then ['S]IVA'S glances fixed their eager hold - On that fair city as with threads of gold. - The God whose neck still gleams with cloudy blue - Burst on the wondering people's upturned view, - And on the earth descended, from the path - His shafts once dinted in avenging wrath. - Forth from the gates a noble army poured - To do meet honour to the mighty Lord. - With all his friends on elephants of state - The King of Mountains passed the city gate, - So gaily decked, the princes all were seen - Like moving hills inwrapt in bowery green. - As the full rushing of two streams that pour - Beneath one bridge with loud tumultuous roar, - So through the city's open gate streamed in - Mountains and Gods with tumult and with din. - So glorious was the sight, wonder and shame, - When ['S]IVA bowed him, o'er the Monarch came; - He knew not he had bent his lofty crest - In reverent greeting to his heavenly guest - HIMALAYA, joying in the festive day, - Before the immortal bridegroom led the way - Where heaps of gay flowers burying half the feet - Lay breathing odours through the crowded street. - Careless of all beside, each lady's eye - Must gaze on ['S]IVA as the troop sweeps by. - One dark-eyed beauty will not stay to bind - Her long black tresses, floating unconfined - Save by her little hand; her flowery crown - Hanging neglected and unfastened down. - One from her maiden tore her foot away - On which the dye, all wet and streaming, lay, - And o'er the chamber rushing in her haste, - Where'er she stepped, a crimson footprint traced. - Another at the window takes her stand; - One eye is dyed,--the pencil in her hand. - Here runs an eager maid, and running, holds - Loose and ungirt her flowing mantle's folds, - Whilst, as she strives to close the parting vest, - Its brightness gives new beauty to her breast. - Oh! what a sight! the crowded windows there - With eager faces excellently fair, - Like sweetest lilies, for their dark eyes fling - Quick glances quivering like the wild bee's wing. - - Onward in peerless glory ['S]IVA passed; - Gay banners o'er his way their shadows cast, - Each palace dome, each pinnacle and height - Catching new lustre from his crest of light. - On swept the pageant: on the God alone - The eager glances of the dames were thrown; - On his bright form they fed the rapturous gaze, - And only turned to marvel and to praise: - "Oh, well and wisely, such a lord to gain - The Mountain-Maid endured the toil and pain. - To be his slave were joy; but Oh, how blest - The wife--the loved one--lying on his breast! - Surely in vain, had not the Lord of Life - Matched this fond bridegroom and this loving wife, - Had been his wish to give the worlds a mould - Of perfect beauty! Falsely have they told - How the young flower-armed God was burnt by fire - At the red flash of ['S]IVA'S vengeful ire. - No: jealous LOVE a fairer form confessed, - And cast away his own, no more the loveliest. - How glorious is the Mountain King, how proud - Earth's stately pillar, girt about with cloud! - Now will he lift his lofty head more high, - Knit close to ['S]IVA by this holy tie." - - Such words of praise from many a bright-eyed dame - On ['S]IVA'S ear with soothing witchery came. - Through the broad streets 'mid loud acclaim he rode, - And reached the palace where the King abode. - There he descended from his monster's side, - As the sun leaves a cloud at eventide. - Leaning on VISH[N.]U'S arm he passed the door - Where mighty BRAHMA entered in before. - Next INDRA came, and all the host of heaven, - The noble Saints and those great Sages seven. - Then led they ['S]IVA to a royal seat; - Fair gifts they brought, for such a bridegroom meet: - With all due rites, the honey and the milk, - Rich gems were offered and two robes of silk. - - At length by skilful chamberlains arrayed - They led the lover to the royal maid. - Thus the fond Moon disturbs the tranquil rest - Of Ocean glittering with his foamy crest, - And leads him on, his proud waves swelling o'er, - To leap with kisses on the clasping shore. - He gazed on UMA. From his lotus eyes - Flashed out the rapture of his proud surprise. - Then calm the current of his spirit lay - Like the world basking in an autumn day. - They met; and true love's momentary shame - O'er the blest bridegroom and his darling came. - Eye looked to eye, but, quivering as they met, - Scarce dared to trust the rapturous gazing yet. - In the God's hand the priest has duly laid - The radiant fingers of the Mountain-Maid, - Bright, as if LOVE with his dear sprays of red - Had sought that refuge in his hour of dread. - From hand to hand the soft infection stole, - Till each confessed it in the inmost soul. - Fire filled his veins, with joy she trembled; such - The magic influence of that thrilling touch. - - How grows their beauty, when two lovers stand - Eye fixt on eye, hand fondly linkt in hand! - Then how, unblamed, may mortal minstrel dare - To paint in words the beauty of that pair! - Around the fire in solemn rite they trod, - The lovely lady and the glorious God; - Like day and starry midnight when they meet - In the broad plains at lofty MERU'S feet. - Thrice at the bidding of the priest they came - With swimming eyes around the holy flame. - Then at his word the bride in order due - Into the blazing fire the parched grain threw, - And toward her face the scented smoke she drew, - Which softly wreathing o'er her fair cheek hung, - And round her ears in flower-like beauty clung. - As o'er the incense the sweet lady stooped, - The ear of barley from her tresses drooped, - And rested on her cheek, beneath the eye - Still brightly beaming with the jetty dye. - - "This flame be witness of your wedded life: - Be just, thou husband, and be true, thou wife!" - Such was the priestly blessing on the bride. - Eager she listened, as the earth when dried - By parching summer suns drinks deeply in - The first soft droppings when the rains begin. - - "Look, gentle UMA," cried her Lord, "afar - Seest thou the brightness of yon polar star? - Like that unchanging ray thy faith must shine." - Sobbing, she whispered, "Yes, for ever thine." - - The rite is o'er. Her joyful parents now - At BRAHMA'S feet in duteous reverence bow. - Then to fair UMA spake the gracious Power - Who sits enthroned upon the lotus flower: - "O beautiful lady, happy shalt thou be, - And hero children shall be born of thee;" - Then looked in silence: vain the hope to bless - The bridegroom, ['S]IVA, with more happiness. - - Then from the altar, as prescribed of old, - They turned, and rested upon seats of gold; - And, as the holy books for men ordain, - Were sprinkled duly with the moistened grain. - High o'er their heads sweet Beauty's Queen displayed - Upon a stem of reed a cool green shade, - While the young lotus-leaves of which 'twas made - Seemed, as they glistened to the wondering view, - All richly pearled with drops of beady dew. - In twofold language on each glorious head - The Queen of Speech her richest blessings shed; - In strong, pure, godlike utterance for his ear, - To her in liquid tones, soft, beautifully clear. - - Now for awhile they gaze where maids divine - In graceful play the expressive dance entwine; - Whose eloquent motions, with an actor's art, - Show to the life the passions of the heart. - - The rite was ended; then the heavenly band - Prayed ['S]IVA, raising high the suppliant hand: - "Now, for the dear sake of thy lovely bride, - Have pity on the gentle God," they cried, - "Whose tender body thy fierce wrath has slain: - Give all his honour, all his might again." - Well pleased, he smiled, and gracious answer gave: - ['S]IVA himself now yields him KAMA'S slave. - When duly given, the great will ne'er despise - The gentle pleading of the good and wise. - - Now have they left the wedded pair alone; - And ['S]IVA takes her hand within his own - To lead his darling to the bridal bower, - Decked with bright gold and all her sumptuous dower. - She blushes sweetly as her maidens there - Look with arch smiles and glances on the pair; - And for one moment, while the damsels stay, - From him she loves turns her dear face away. - - - - -NOTES. - - -_CANTO FIRST._ - -The Hindu Deity of War, the leader of the celestial armies, is known -by the names Kartikeya and Skanda. He is represented with six faces -and corresponding arms, and is mounted upon a peacock. - -_Himalaya._] Mansion of Snow; from _hima_, snow, and _alaya_, mansion. -The accent is on the _second_ syllable. - -_Prithu._] It is said that in the reign of this fabulous monarch, -gods, saints, demons, and other supernatural beings, drained or -_milked_ from the earth various treasures, appointing severally one of -their own class as the recipient, or _Calf_, to use the word of the -legend. Himalaya was thus highly favoured by the sacred Mount Meru, -and the other hills. The story is found in the sixth chapter of the -_Harivansa_, which forms a supplement to the _Mahabharat_. - -_Still the fair pearls_, &c.] It was the belief of the Hindus that -elephants wore these precious jewels in their heads. - -_Till heavenly minstrels_, &c.] A class of demi-gods, the songsters of -the Hindu Paradise, or Indra's heaven. - -_There magic herbs_, &c.] Frequent allusion is made by Kalidas and -other Sanskrit poets to a phosphoric light emitted by plants at night. - -_E'en the wild kine_, &c.] The _Chouri_, or long brush, used to whisk -off insects and flies, was with the Hindus what the sceptre is with -us. It was usually made of the tail-hairs of the _Yak_, or _Bos -Grunniens_. Thus the poet represents these animals as doing honour to -the Monarch of Mountains with these emblems of sovereignty. - -_That the bright Seven._] The Hindus call the constellation _Ursa -Major_ the seven Rishis, or Saints. They will appear as actors in the -course of the poem. - -_And once when Indra's might._] We learn from the _Ramayana_ that the -mountains were originally furnished with wings, and that they flew -through the air with the speed of the wind. For fear lest they should -suddenly fall in their flight, Indra, King of the Gods, struck off -their pinions with his thunderbolt; but Mainaka was preserved from a -similar fate by the friendship of Ocean, to whom he fled for refuge. - -_Born once again_, &c.] The reader will remember the Hindu belief in -the Transmigration of Souls. The story alluded to by the poet is -this:--"_Daksha_ was the son of _Brahma_ and father of _Sati_, whom, -at the recommendation of the _Rishis_, or Sages, he espoused to -_['S]iva_, but he was never wholly reconciled to the uncouth figure -and practices of his son-in-law. Having undertaken to celebrate a -solemn sacrifice, he invited all the Gods except _['S]iva_, which so -incensed _Sati_, that she threw herself into the sacrificial -fire."--(Wilson, Specimens of Hindu Theatre, Vol. II. p. 263.) The -name of _Sati_, meaning good, true, chaste woman, is the modern -_Suttee_, as it is corruptly written. - -_As the blue offspring of the Turquois Hills._] These hills are placed -in Ceylon. The precious stone grows, it is said, at the sound of -thunder in the rainy season. - -_At her stern penance._] This is described in the fifth canto. The -meaning of the name Uma is "Oh, do not." - -_The Gods' bright river._] The celestial Ganges, which falls from -heaven upon Himalaya's head, and continues its course on earth. - -_Young Kama's arrow._] Kama, the Hindu Cupid, is armed with a bow, the -arrows of which are made of flowers. - -_And brighter than A['s]oka's rich leaves._] Nothing, we are told, can -exceed the beauty of this tree when in full bloom. It is, of course, a -general favourite with the poets of India. - -_The strings of pearl._] - - "Then, too, the pearl from out its shell - Unsightly, in the sunless sea - (As 'twere a spirit, forced to dwell - In form unlovely) _was set free_, - And round the neck of woman threw - _A light it lent and borrowed too_." - MOORE--_Loves of the Angels._ - -Moore is frequently the best interpreter, unconsciously, of an Indian -poet's thought. It is worth remarking, that the Sanskrit word _mukta_, -pearl (literally _freed_), signifies also the _spirit_ released from -mundane existence, and re-integrated with its divine original. - -_The sweetest note that e'er the Koeil poured._] The _Kokila_, or -_Koeil_, the black or Indian cuckoo, is the bulbul or nightingale of -Hindustan. It is also the herald of spring, like its European -namesake, and the female bird is the especial messenger of Love. - -_When holy Narad._] A divine sage, son of Brahma. - -_The holy bull._] The animal on which the God ['S]iva rides, as Indra -on the elephant. - -_Who takes eight various forms._] ['S]iva is called Wearer of the -Eight Forms, as being identical with the Five Elements, Mind, -Individuality, and Crude Matter. - -_Where the pale moon on ['S]iva's forehead._] ['S]iva's crest is the -new moon, which is sometimes described as forming a third eye in his -forehead. We shall find frequent allusions to this in the course of -the poem. - - -_CANTO SECOND._ - -_While impious Tarak._] A demon who, by a long course of austerities, -had acquired power even over the Gods. This Hindu notion is familiar -to most of us from Southey's "Curse of Kehama." - -_Whose face turns every way._] Brahma is represented with four faces, -one towards each point of the compass. - -_The mystic Three._] "The triad of qualities," a philosophical term -familiar to all the systems of Hindu speculation. They are thus -explained in the _Tattwa Samasa_, a text-book of the Sankhya -school:--"Now it is asked, What is the 'triad of qualities'? It is -replied, The triad of qualities consists of 'Goodness,' 'Foulness,' -and 'Darkness.' By the 'triad of qualities' is meant the 'three -qualities.' Goodness is endlessly diversified, accordingly as it is -exemplified in calmness, lightness, complacency, attainment of wishes, -kindliness, contentment, patience, joy, and the like; summarily, it -consists of happiness. 'Foulness' is endlessly diversified, -accordingly as it is exemplified in grief, distress, separation, -excitement, anxiety, fault-finding, and the like; summarily, it -consists of pain. 'Darkness' is endlessly diversified, accordingly as -it is exemplified in envelopment, ignorance, disgust, abjectness, -heaviness, sloth, drowsiness, intoxication, and the like; summarily, -it consists of delusion." - -_Thou, when a longing_, &c.] "Having divided his own substance, the -mighty power became half male, half female, or _nature active and -passive_."--_Manu_, Ch. I. - -So also in the old Orphic hymn it is said, - - [Greek: Zeus arsen geneto, Zeus ambrotos epleto numphe.] - "Zeus was a male; Zeus was a deathless damsel." - -_The sacred hymns._] Contained in the Vedas, or Holy Scriptures of the -Hindus. - -_The word of praise._] The mystic syllable OM, prefacing all the -prayers and most of the writings of the Hindus. It implies the Indian -triad, and expresses the Three in One. - -_They hail thee, Nature._] The object of Nature's activity, according -to the Sankhya system, is "the final liberation of individual soul." -"The incompetency of nature, an irrational principle, to institute a -course of action for a definite purpose, and the unfitness of rational -soul to regulate the acts of an agent whose character it imperfectly -apprehends, constitute a principal argument with the theistical -Sankhyas for the necessity of a Providence, to whom the ends of -existence are known, and by whom Nature is guided.... The atheistical -Sankhyas, on the other hand, contend that there is no occasion for a -guiding Providence, but that the activity of nature, for the purpose -of accomplishing soul's object, is an intuitive necessity, as -illustrated in the following passage:--As it is a function of milk, an -unintelligent (substance), to nourish the calf, so it is the office of -the chief principle (nature) to liberate the soul."--Prof. Wilson's -_Sankhya Karika_. - -_Hail Thee the stranger Spirit_, &c.] "Soul is witness, solitary, -bystander, spectator, passive."--_Sankh. Kar._ verse xix. - -_See, Varun's noose._] The God of Water. - -_Weak is Kuvera's hand._] The God of Wealth. - -_Yama's sceptre._] The God and Judge of the Dead. - -_The Lords of Light._] The Adityas, twelve in number, are forms of the -sun, and appear to represent him as distinct in each month of the -year. - -_The Rudras._] A class of demi-gods, eleven in number, said to be -inferior manifestations of ['S]iva, who also bears this name. - -_E'en as on earth_, &c.] Thus the commandment,--Thou shalt not kill, -is abrogated by the injunction to kill animals for sacrifice. - -_The heavenly Teacher._] Vrihaspati, the son of Angiras. - -_His own dear flower._] The lotus, on which Brahma is represented -reclining. - -_Their flashing jewels._] According to the Hindu belief, serpents wear -precious jewels in their heads. - -_Chakra._] A discus, or quoit, the weapon of Vishnu. - -_As water bears to me._] "HE, having willed to produce various beings -from his own divine substance, first with a thought created the -waters, and placed in them a productive seed."--_Manu_, Ch. I. - -_Mournful braids._] As a sign of mourning, especially for the loss of -their husbands, the Hindustani women collect their long hair into a -braid, called in Sanskrit _ve[n.]i_. - -_The mango twig._] We shall meet with several allusions to this tree -as the favourite of Love and the darling of the bees. - - -_CANTO THIRD._ - -_Who angers thee, &c._] To understand properly this speech of Kama, it -is necessary to be acquainted with some of the Hindu notions regarding -a future state. "The highest kind of happiness is absorption into the -divine essence, or the return of that portion of spirit which is -combined with the attributes of humanity to its original source. This -happiness, according to the philosopher, is to be obtained only by the -most perfect abstraction from the world and freedom from passion, even -while in a state of terrestrial existence.... Besides this ultimate -felicity, the Hindus have several minor degrees of happiness, amongst -which is the enjoyment of Indra's Swarga, or, in fact, of a Muhammadan -Paradise. The degree and duration of the pleasures of this paradise -are proportioned to the merits of those admitted to it; and they who -have enjoyed this lofty region of Swarga, but whose virtue is -exhausted, revisit the habitation of mortals."--Prof. Wilson's _Megha -Duta_. Compare also "The Lord's Song."--_Specimens of Old Indian -Poetry_, pp. 67, 68. - -Indra, therefore, may be supposed to feel jealous whenever a human -being aspires to something higher than that heaven of which he is the -Lord. - -The "chain of birth" alluded to is of course the metempsychosis, or -transmigration of souls, a belief which is not to be looked upon (says -Prof. Wilson in the preface to his edition of the _Sankhya Karika_) as -a mere popular superstition. It is the main principle of all Hindu -metaphysics; it is the foundation of all Hindu philosophy. The great -object of their philosophical research in every system, Brahminical -or Buddhist, is the discovery of the means of putting a stop to -further transmigration; the discontinuance of corporeal being; the -liberation of soul from body. - -_As on that Snake._] Sesha, the Serpent King, is in the Hindu -mythology the supporter of the earth, as, in one of the fictions of -the Edda,-- - - "That sea-snake, tremendous curled, - Whose monstrous circle girds the world." - -He is also the couch and canopy of the God Vishnu, or, as he -is here called, Krish[n.]a,--that hero being one of his incarnations, -and considered identical with the deity himself. - -_The threefold world._] Earth, heaven, and hell. - -_His fearful Rati._] The wife of Kama, or Love. - -_To where Kuvera &c._] The demi-god Kuvera was regent -of the north. - -_Nor waited for the maiden's touch._] Referring to the Hindu -notion that the A['s]oka blossoms at the touch of a woman's -foot. So Shelley says, - - "I doubt not, the flowers of that garden sweet - Rejoiced in the sound of her gentle feet." - _Sensitive Plant._ - -_Grouping the syllables._] This comparison seems forced rather too far -to suit a European taste. Kalidas is not satisfied with calling the -mango-spray the Arrow of Love; he must tell us that its leaves are the -feathers, and that the bees have marked it with the owner's name. - -_That loveliest flower._] The Karnikara. - -_His flowery Tilaka._] The name of a tree; it also means a mark made -with coloured earths or unguents upon the forehead and between the -eyebrows, either as an ornament or a sectarial distinction; the poet -intends the word to convey both ideas at once here. In this passage is -another comparison of the mango-spray: it is called the _lip_ of Love; -its _rouge_ is the blush of morning, and its darker beautifying powder -the clustering bees. From the universal custom of dying the lips, the -Sanskrit poets are constantly speaking of their "vermeil tints," &c., -as will be sufficiently evident in the course of this work. - -_The Hermit's servant._] By name Nandi. - -_His neck of brightly-beaming blue._] An ancient legend tells us that -after the deluge the ocean was churned by Gods and demons, in order to -recover the Amrit and other treasures that had been lost in it:-- - - "Then loud and long a joyous sound - Rang through the startled sky: - 'Hail to the Amrit, lost and found!' - A thousand voices cry. - But from the wondrous churning streamed - A poison fierce and dread, - Burning like fire: where'er it streamed - Thick noisome mists were spread. - The wanting venom onwards went, - And filled the Worlds with fear, - Till Brahma to their misery bent - His gracious pitying ear; - And ['S]iva those destroying streams - Drank up at Brahma's beck. - Still in thy throat the dark flood gleams, - God of the azure neck!" - Specimens of Old Indian Poetry--_Churning of the Ocean._ - -_Gates of sense._] The eyes, ears, &c. - - -_CANTO FOURTH._ - -_Late, dim, and joyless shall his rising be._] The Moon, in Hindu -mythology, is a male deity. - -_This line of bees._] Kama's bow is sometimes represented as strung in -this extraordinary manner. - -_And stain this foot._] "Staining the soles of the feet with a red -colour, derived from the Mehndee, the Lac, &c., is a favourite -practice of the Hindu toilet."--WILSON. - - -_CANTO FIFTH._ - -_And worn with resting on her rosary._] The Hindus use their rosaries -much as we do, carrying them in their hands or on their wrists. As -they turn them over, they repeat an inaudible prayer, or the name of -the particular deity they worship, as Vish[n.]u or S'iva. The -_Rudraksha mala_ (which we may suppose Uma to have used) is a string -of the seeds or berries of the Eleocarpus, and especially dedicated to -S'iva. It should contain 108 berries or beads, each of which is -fingered with the mental repetition of one of S'iva's 108 -appellations. - -_Not e'en her boy._] Kartikeya, the God of War. - -_Of those poor birds._] The Chakravaki. These birds are always -observed to fly in pairs during the day, but are supposed to remain -separate during the night. - -_That friendship soon in gentle heart is bred._] - - "Amor in cor gentil ratto s'apprende." - DANTE. - - -_CANTO SIXTH._ - -_The Heavenly Dame._] Arundhati, wife of one of the Seven Saints. - -_The Boar._] An Avatar, or incarnation of Vish[n.]u. In this form he -preserved the world at the deluge. - -_That thirsty bird._] The Chataka, supposed to drink nothing but -rain-water. - -_Proud Alaka._] The capital of Kuvera, the God of Wealth. - -_The bright Champac._] - - "The maid of India blest again to hold - In her broad lap the Champac's leaves of gold." - _Lalla Rookh._ - -_Angiras._] One of the Seven Saints; the father of Vrihaspati, the -teacher of the gods. - -_Vast grew his body._] Alluding to the Vamana, or Dwarf Avatar of -Vish[n.]u, wrought to restrain the pride of the giant Bali, who had -expelled the Gods from heaven. In that form he presented himself -before the giant, and asked him for three paces of land to build a -hut. Bali ridiculed and granted the request. The dwarf immediately -grew to a prodigious size, so that he measured the earth with one -pace, and the heavens with another. - -_Sumeru._] Another name of the sacred Mount Meru; or rather the same -word, with su, good, prefixed. - - -_CANTO SEVENTH._ - -_Kailasa's side._] A mountain, the fabulous residence of Kuvera, and -favourite haunt of S'iva, placed by the Hindus among the Himalayas. - -_Kali came behind._] The name of one of the divine matrons. The word -also signifies in Sanskrit a row or succession of clouds, suggesting -the comparison which follows. - -_In twofold language._] In Sanskrit and Prakrit. The latter is a -softened modification of the former, to which it bears the same -relation as Italian to Latin; it is spoken by the female characters -of the Hindu drama. - - - - THE END. - - - PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO. - EDINBURGH AND LONDON - - - - - TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES - - -1. Passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_. - -2. For this text version the Greek letters have been replaced with -transliterations in brackets [Greek:] using English alphabet table, -without diacritical marks. - -3. The following words use accented characters in the original: - ['S]iva has S with an acute - A['s]oka has s with an acute - Vish[n.]u has n with with dot below - Krish[n.]a has n with with dot below - ve[n.]i has n with with dot below - -4. Other than the changes listed above, printer's inconsistencies -in spelling, punctuation, hyphenation, and ligature usage have been -retained. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Birth of the War-God, by Kalidasa - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BIRTH OF THE WAR-GOD *** - -***** This file should be named 31968.txt or 31968.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - https://www.gutenberg.org/3/1/9/6/31968/ - -Produced by David Edwards and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was -produced from scanned images of public domain material -from the Google Print project.) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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