Life, like a wheel's revolving orb, turns round, Now whirl'd in air, now dragg'd along the ground. 'When, from his serpent couch that swims the Sarangi rises from celestial sleep *; [deep, When four more months unmark'd have run their
To us all gloom, the curse has lost its force:
The grief from separation born expires,
And Autumn's nights reward our chaste desires.
'Once more I view thee as mine eyes unclose,
Laid by my side, and lull'd by soft repose;
And now I mark thee startle from thy sleep,
Loose thy enfolding arms, and wake to weep:
My anxious love long vainly seeks reply,
Till, as the smile relumes that lucid eye,
Thy arch avowal owns, that jealous fear
Affrighted slumber, and aroused the tear. [eyes!
'While thus, oh goddess with the dark black
My fond assurance confidence supplies,
Let not the tales that idle tattlers bear
Subvert thy faith, nor teach thee to despair.
True love no time nor distance can destroy,
And independent of all present joy,
It grows in absence, as renew'd delight
Some dear memorials, some loved lines, excite.'
Such, vast dispenser of the dews of heaven,
Such is my suit, and such thy promise given;
Fearless upon thy friendship I rely,
Nor ask that promise, nor expect reply.
The serpent couch is the great snake ananta, upon which Vishnu, or, as he is called, the holder of the bow Sarnga reclines during the four months of the periodical rains,
DESCRIPTION OF A HINDU BEAUTY.
FROM THE HINDEE.
MARK, her slender form bend low,
As the zephyrs lightly blow:
Mark, her robe, like blossoms rare,
Scatter fragrance on the air:
See, her face as soft moon beaming;
From her smiles ambrosia streaming;
And on brows, more white than snow,
See, the raven tresses glow!
Lotuslike her dewy feet
Treasures yield of nectar'd sweet:
Light as on her footsteps pass,
Blushes all the bending grass;
And rings of jewels, Beauty's powers,
Freshen into living flowers +:
While brighter tints, and rosier hues,
All the smiling earth suffuse.
Written after being at Sea for the first Time.
THE sage who first refused to roam
Through foreign climes in quest of gain,
But bade us prize the joys of home,
Thought of thy dangers, fearful main!
• The Hindu ladies are accustomed to stain the soles of their feet with a crimson dye, named jaubuk.
+ In the East, ornaments of gold, jewelry, &c. are commonly made in the forms of different flowers.
What though the bread on shore we taste
Be purchased oft with toil and pain,
A loaf is better than a feast,
When purchased on the brackish main.
Like ocean's depths, as poets tell,
Spreads the abyss of endless pain;
But not the deepest pit of hell
Can match thy horrors, frightful main !
Ashore each pleasant breeze that blows
Might soothe to rest a soul in pain ;
But heart and liver, torn with throes,
Leap to your lips when on the main.
When o'er your bark the tempests beat,
With lightning, thunder, wind, and rain,
There's nought to be your windingsheet
Save the white foam that streaks the main.
Ashore, e'en strangers strangers greet
In phrase polite and courteous strain;
But bitter oaths are all you meet
When journeying on the savage main.
On shore a thousand pleasures rise
To soothe fatigue and banish pain;
But every joy and pleasure flies
From him who travels on the main.
Scenes fair, sublime, and strange and new,
Arrest the eye on hill or plain :
Nought, save the foamy waves you view,
When journeying on the desert main.
The parrot pent in wiry cage
Its fluttering pinions beats in vain ; So vain our grief, so vain our rage, When reeling on the restless main.
God save us all from fell remorse,
Revenge, and wrath, and proud disdain; For ever bad, 'tis ten times worse
To meet them on the desert main.
When flames most bright and fierce aspire,
Water can still their force restrain;
But vivid flames of sparkling fire
Flash from the surges of the main.
On wondrous fins the fishes fly,
Like birds, along the ocean plain,
In flocks, like sparrows, soar on high,
And sport and glitter on the main.
Sea monsters roll, so huge and blue,
I dread to name them in my strain, That at one gulp both ship and crew Could swallow on the weltering main.
Dark demons of portentous form,
That heaven's vast arch can scarce contain,
You see them stalking in the storm,
When journeying on the desert main.
Till death his fatal arrows speed,
No soul escapes from mortal pain:
Of death and all his darts no need
Have they who journey on the main.
From all these ghastly scenes of fear,
That well might turn a poet's brain,
To find myself in safety here
Foils all the marvels of the main.
BEHOLD where yon blue rivulet glides
Along the laughing dale;
Light reeds bedeck its verdant sides,
And frolic in the gale:
So shines our prince! In bright array
The Virtues round him wait;
And sweetly smiled the auspicious day
That gave him to our state.
As pliant hands in shapes refined
Rich ivory carve and smooth,
His laws thus mould each ductile mind,
And every passion soothe.
As gems are taught by patient art
In sparkling ranks to beam,
With manners thus he forms the heart,
And spreads a general gleam.
What soft yet awful dignity!
What meek yet manly grace!
What sweetness dances in his eye,
And blossoms in his face!
So shines our prince! A skyborn crowd
Of virtues round him blaze:
Ne'er shall oblivion's murky cloud
Obscure his deathless praise.
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