No More Learning



## p. 7957 (#149) ###########################################

INDIAN LITERATURE
7957
SPECIMEN OF THE DIDACTIC POETRY OF THE MAHĀBHĀRATA
THE DIVINE SONG (PANTHEISM)
The god Krishna-Vishnu speaks
K
.
Now that that is indestructible in which the body rests. The
bodies [incarnations] of God are temporal, but God is eter-
nal. Whosoever thinks that he can slay or be slain is not
wise. He, the universal God, is not born at any time, nor does
he ever die; nor will he ever cease to be. Unborn, everlasting,
eternal, He, the Ancient one [as the soul of man], is not slain
when the body is slain. As one puts away an old garment and
puts on another that is new, so he the embodied [Spirit] puts
away the old body and assumes one that is new. Everlasting,
omnipresent, firm and unchanging is He, the Eternal. « Indis-
cernible” is he called; he is inconceivable; unchangeable.
Some are pleased with Vedic words and think that there is noth-
ing else; their souls are full of desires, and they fancy that to go
to heaven is the chief thing. But in doing well, not in the fruit
thereof, is virtue. Do thy appointed work, fear not, care not
for rewards.
Many are my [apparent] births, and I know
them all. Unborn in reality, Lord of all, I take to myself phe-
nomena, and by the illusion of the Spirit I appear to be born.
I create myself [as man-god] whenever wrong predominates over
right. For righteousness' sake then am I born on earth again.
Whosoever believes in this birth of mine, and in this work of
mine, he, when he has abandoned his body, enters no sad second
birth but enters Me. Many there are who, from Me arising, on
Me relying, purified by the penance of knowledge, with all affec-
tions, fear, and anger overcome, enter into my being. As they
draw near to Me, so I serve them. Men in all ways follow my
path. Know Me as the maker of men, know Me as the un-
ending and not the maker of any. . Sacrifices are of many
kinds, but he that sacrifices with wisdom offers the best sacrifice.
He that hath faith hath [requisite] wisdom; he that hath wisdom
He that hath no wisdom and no faith, whose soul
is one of doubt, is destroyed.
But the good man, even
if he be not wise, does not go to destruction like a cloud that is
rent. For he enters heaven as a doer of good, nor does he pass
again [by transmigration] into an evil state, but into a better
hath peace.


## p. 7958 (#150) ###########################################

7958
INDIAN LITERATURE
1
1
than he knew before, where he again strives for perfection; and
this he reaches after many births. . . . As material (phenomena]
I am eightfold, - earth, water, fire, air, space, mind, understand-
ing, self-consciousness [a category of the Sānkhya philosophy];
but this is the lower I. Learn Me in my higher nature. My
higher nature is psychic; by it the world is supported, for I am
creator and destroyer of the world. None other is higher than I.
On Me the universe is woven, like pearls upon a thread. Taste
am I, light am I of moon and sun; I am the mystic syllable
Aum, I am sound in space, manliness in man, the light of the
light, the smell of the fragrant, life and heat, the eternal seed
of all beings; the understanding of them that have understand-
ing, the glory of them that have glory. I am the force of the
strong, and I am love, yet am I free of love and passion. Know
all beings to be from Me alone, whatever be their qualities. I
am not in them; but they are in Me. The world knows Me not,
for hard to overcome is the illusion which envelops Me. They
that are not wise worship many gods, but whatsoever be the god
he worships I steady his faith, for in worshiping his god he
worships Me. It is by Me that his desires are fulfilled though
he worships another.
Even they that sacrifice to other
gods really sacrifice to me. I am the Universal Father, the goal,
the wisdom of the ancient Vedas, the home, the refuge, and the
friend of man. I am immortality and death; being and not-
being; the sacrifice, and he that sacrifices. I am the beginning,
the middle, and the end I am Vishnu among sun-gods; the
moon among the stars; Indra among [Vedic) gods; the Sāman
[song] among the Vedas.
I am the love that begets.
I am the highest science among all sciences; I am the [holy]
Ganges among rivers; I am the Word of the speakers; I am the
letter A among the letters. I am death and I am life. I am
glory, fortune, speech, memory, wisdom; the punishment of the
punisher, the polity of the sagacious. I am silence. I am knowl-
edge. There is no end to my divine appearances.
Translation of E. W. H.
.


## p. 7959 (#151) ###########################################

INDIAN LITERATURE
7959
SPECIMEN OF THE RĀMĀYANA
How VIÇVAMITRA, THE KING, BECAME A PRIEST
TIÇVĀMITRA, of the knightly caste, practiced austerities for a
V" You
in a
thousand years, true to his vow, he practiced unequaled
self-torture. As the years passed he became like a tree; wrath
affected him not, he completed his vow. When thus he had
completed his vow he began (for the first time) to eat. Indra the
god, disguised as a man, asked him for food, and Viçvāmitra the
great saint gave him all of it. He kept also the vow of silence,
suppressing his breath, and at last so great was his power that
smoke and fire came from him who breathed not, so that the
three worlds were frightened. Then the saints in heaven spoke to
the Creator and said, “Viçvāmitra, tempted to love and to anger,
hath not yielded: he has no defect; he is a perfect ascetic.
demands a boon, and if he does not obtain it he will soon destroy
all creation. Save the gods' realm, which the Great Seer, through
the power of his asceticism, will soon destroy, and grant him his
So the boon was granted by the All-father, and to Viç-
vāmitra, who was one of the knightly caste, was granted the
great boon that he should be counted a Brahman.
After the Translation of Bopp.
SPECIMEN OF FABLE LITERATURE
THE ASS AND THE JACKAL
From the Pancatantra)
O
((
Nce an ass struck up friendship with a jackal. They broke
through the hedge of a cucumber garden, and ate what
they liked in company together. On one night the ass
spoke proudly and said, “Behold, son of my sister, how clear and
fine the night is! therefore I will sing a song. ” But the jackal
said, “My dear fellow, what is the use of this noise ? Thieves
and lovers should work secretly. Besides, thy musical powers are
weak. The watchman will find us and kill us. Let us rather eat
the cucumbers. ” “Alas,” said the ass, “thou livest rudely in the
” “
forest and knowest not the magic power of music. ” And he sang
of music's charm. “True,” said the jackal, “but thou dost not
understand music. It will end in killing us. ” « What! » cried the
ass, "dost thou think I do not understand music? Listen, then,
»
((


## p. 7960 (#152) ###########################################

7960
INDIAN LITERATURE
»
and I will show thee that I know: there are seven notes, three
octaves, twenty-one 'intermediates' [etc. , etc. ). Thou seest that
I understand music. Why wilt thou prevent me from singing ? ”
“Sing, then,” said the jackal, “but wait till I get nearer to the
gate. ” Then the ass began to bray most fearfully. The watch-
man, who had been asleep, came rushing up and beat the ass
and hung a wooden drag about his neck; but the jackal escaped.
And when the watchman had gone away again, the jackal cried
from afar to the ass and said, “Uncle, thou wouldst not quit.
Now thou wearest a new jewel as reward for thy song. "
After the Translation of Benfey.
>
S*** Charioteer — Yes
SPECIMEN OF DRAMA
SCENE FROM THE MRICCHAKATIKĀ!
[The King's brother-in-law Sansthānaka from his garden wall sees a char.
jot coming, in which is the rich bayadère. ]
ANSTHĀNAKA — Charioteer, charioteer! slave! are you there?
.
Sansthānaka Is the car there?
Charioteer - Yes.
Sansthānaka – Are the car-oxen there?
Charioteer -- Yes.
Sansthānaka — Are you there too?
Charioteer [laughing]— Yes, great sir, I too am here.
Sansthanaka — Then drive the car in here.
Charioteor — How can I ?
Sansthanaka — Through this gap, where the wall has fallen.
Charioteer — Great sir, the oxen will be killed, the car will be
broken, and I, your servant, shall perish.
Sansthanaka - Hey? Remember that I am the King's brother-
in-law. If the oxen are killed, I will buy more; if the car is
broken, I will have another made; if you perish, I will get
another Charioteer.
But do me a favor.
Charioteer - Willingly, if it does not involve a sin.
Sansthānaka Clever man! Not a taint of sin.
Charioteer — Speak, then.
Sansthānaka Kill this woman.
Charioteer If I should kill this innocent woman, this orna-
ment of the town, on what boat can I pass over the stream that
leads to heaven?


## p. 7961 (#153) ###########################################

INDIAN LITERATURE
7961
Sansthānaka — I will furnish you a boat. And you must con-
sider that no one will you in this garden if you kill her. . .
[The Charioteer refuses. Sansthānaka changes his tune. ]
Sansthånaka — My son, my servant, I will give you golden
bracelets.
Charioteer — And I will put them on.
Sansthānaka — I will have a chair of gold made for you.
Charioteer And I will sit on it.
Sansthanaka - I will give you the leavings of my dinner,
Charioteer — And I will swallow them.
Sansthānaka — I will set you over all my servants.
Charioteer - And I will be a lord.
Sansthānaka — Very well, then, regard my words.
Charioteer - Great sir, I will do anything - only not sin.
Sansthanaka Not a taint of sin.
Charioteer - Speak then, great sir.
Sansthānaka Kill this woman.
Charioteer – Be merciful, great sir: I have brought her here
I
by accident.
Sansthānaka Slave! have I no power over you ?
Charioteer You have power over my body, great sir, but not
over my good conduct. Be merciful, I am frightened to death.
Sansthānaka What are you afraid of, if you are my servant ?
Charioteer – Of the next world, great sir.
After the Translation of Böhtlingk.
EXTRACT FROM KĀLIDĀSA'S ÇAKUNTALĀ!
[The King sees Çakuntalā for the first time, clad in homespun, and speaks. )
T7
HAT coarse ascetic garb, which, knotted firmly on the shoul-
der, covers her full bosom, doth cast a darkness upon her
beauteous form, even as a dry leaf darkens an opening bud.
The lotus is lovely, even if it grows in a swamp.
The spots
on the moon only brighten the light of its beauty. Even so in
homespun garb yon slender maiden appears all the fairer.
Though she speaks not to me, yet doth she listen when I
speak. Though she turns not her face toward me, yet doth her
eye seek me alone.
After the Translation of Meier.


## p. 7962 (#154) ###########################################

7962
INDIAN LITERATURE
SONG FROM THE LYRIC ACT OF THE VIKRAMORVAÇI'
L
ITTLE bird, fair bird, give me my beloved again. Thou hast
taken her beauty away.
Thou hast seen her; the beauty
thou wearest is hers.
Or has she turned into yon laughing brook? For its wave-
lets are her arching brows; the bright birds that swim on it are
her girdle; its foam is her fluttering garment; and its tripping
dancing gait is that of my beloved. Surely she has become
yon brook.
After the Translation of Hoefer.
SPECIMENS OF LYRIC POETRY
FROM KALIDĀSA's "CLOUD MESSENGER'
I*
THE twisting stream I see the play of thy eyebrows; in the
eye of the doe I see thy glance; in the peacock's tail the
luxury of thy hair. In the moon I see the beauty of thy
face, and in the priyangu I see thy slender limbs. But ah! thy
likeness united all in one place I see nowhere! I paint thee
oft as angry, red colors on smooth stones, and would paint my
own face near to thine. But the tear rises in my eye and dark-
ness covers my sight. Even here [in the attempt to paint us
united] our evil fate keeps us apart! When the gods of the
forest see me, how I stretch out my arms to thee to draw thee
to my breast,- then, I think, from their eyes will come the
tears, which like large pearls glitter on the fresh buds.
After the Translation of Max Müller.
FROM KĀLIDĀSA's UNION OF SEASONS':* THE SUMMER
Now The thirsty gazelle hastens after water, its palate dry,
glowing with the mighty heat, when like a herd of elephants
the clouds appear. The snake which, warmed by the sun's rays,
once stretched himself in the burning hot sand, now hissing
turns and seeks the shade. The lion, with thirsty throat, hunts
the elephant no more. Courage fails him, his tongue trembles.
Forest fires have destroyed the young grass, the gust of
the wind drives fiercely the dry leaves. The waters are dried
* For a translation in verse of this and the following selection, see Sir
Edwin Arnold's (Grishma,' Vol. ii, of this work.


## p. 7963 (#155) ###########################################

INDIAN LITERATURE
7963
up in every pool. In sighs ceases the song of the birds, as they
cluster upon the trees decked ly with faded leaves. The weary
monkeys crawl slowly on the hill. The buffaloes wander about
seeking for water.
But he that lives by the lotus-pond
drinks the fragrance of the flowers, wets with cool streams the
floors of the house, and by moonlight sports with his beloved in
song and jest; he forgets the heat of summer.
FROM KĀLIDĀSA's (UNION OF SEASONS): THE SPRING
The springtime-god, the god of love, comes, beloved, to wound
the hearts of happy men; the god who has made the bees his
bowstring, and mango blossoms his arrows. The maiden loves,
the light breeze blows fragrantly, the trees are in bloom, and the
lotus adorns the pool. Peaceful is the night and refreshing is the
day. How lovely is all in spring! When the lakes are bright
with jewels [blossoms), and like the moon in splendor shines
every band of maidens; when mango-trees wave amid flowers,
then comes the joy of spring. The fair girls wander out, at the
call of the love-god, with garlands on the breast, with cool san-
dals on the feet, and their breath fragrant with betel. Fearless
they go, and karnikära flowers make their earrings, while açoka
buds are nestling in their dark locks; and the jasmine lies upon
their heads. The heart of the young man is filled with joy, as
the atimuktas open their fragrant buds, and the drunken bees
kiss the shining flowers, while delicately back and forth sway the
tendrils of every plant touched by the light zephyrs. But he
that is repulsed by his love is pierced in his heart as by an arrow.
After the Translation of Bohlen.
OTHER OF KĀLIDĀSA's LYRIC
T"
WHINE eyes are blue lotus flowers; thy teeth, white jasmine;
thy face is like a lotus flower.
So thy body must be made
of the leaves of most delicate flowers: how comes it then
that god hath given thee a heart of stone ?
Her eye-
MY LOVE is a hunter, who comes proudly hither.
brows are the huntsman's bended dow; her glances are the
huntsman's piercing darts. They surely and swiftly smite my
heart, which is the wounded gazelle.


## p. 7964 (#156) ###########################################

7964
INDIAN LITERATURE
FROM BHARTRIHARI'S LYRIC
S"another, while another is pleased with me.
HE whom I love loves another, and the other again loves
Ah! the tricks
of the god of love!
After the Translation of Bohlen.
WHERE thou art not and the light of thine eyes, there to me
is darkness; even by the brightness of the taper's light, all to
me is dark.
Even by the quiet glow of the hearth-fire, all to me
is dark. Though the moon and the stars shine together, yet all
is dark to me. The light of the sun is able only to distress me.
Where thou, my doe, and thine eyes are not, there all is dark to
me.
The god of love sits fishing on the ocean of the world, and
on the end of his hook he has hung a woman. When the little
human fishes come they are not on their guard.
on their guard. Quickly he
catches them and broils them in love's fire.
After the Translation of Schroeder.
FROM AMARU'S LYRIC
the
T" upon the face of her husband, who pretends to be sleeping
still. Over and over again she kisses his face without
shame. But as she sees him stir, her face droops with bashful-
ness, till it is raised and kissed by her laughing beloved.
The wife of him that is gone upon a journey looks down the
road upon which he will return, far as the eye can see; till as
the day ends and darkness comes and the path can be seen no
more, she turns to enter the house. But in that moment she
thinks, “Even now he will be coming,” and quickly turns her
head and looks again.
THE BEE'S DREAM
“NI
ight will quickly pass, fair will be the dawn; the sun will
rise in beauty and the glorious lilies will unfold them-
selves. ” While a bee, sleeping in a flower, thus dreamed,
came, alas! an elephant and crushed it as it lay.
After the Translation of Böhtlingk.


## p. 7965 (#157) ###########################################

INDIAN LITERATURE
7965
OTHER LYRIC PIECES
I
HAVE seen thy form, and behold, even the jasmine seems
coarse.
TE
HE moon in the spotless sky wanders, like a white flamingo
in its silver beauty. No cloud troubles the clearness, the
air is divinely pure.
The star-flowers of the sky sparkle,
shining through all space.
After the Translation of Schroeder.
IN
SPECIMENS OF THE RELIGIOUS-EROTIC LYRIC OF THE
TWELFTH CENTURY
From the “Gitagovinda'
(Rādhā's friend tells her how god Krishna sports with the herds-girls. ]
IN THE breath of spring, Rādhā, with body fair as flowers of
spring, seeking Krishna everywhere, was thus addressed by
her friend:—“Under a garland of fragrant flowers, a gar-
land which the bees surround, Krishna now in spring is playing,
happy spring; and dances with the maidens at a time not sweet
to those whose love is gone. Where lamentations arise from
women whose lovers are away; where the young tamals are
drunken with sweet flowers, and the kinçuka buds, the lovely, are
gleaming; where are golden keçaras like to the sceptre of the
love-god; and the patali buds are filled with bees like the quiver
of Eros. There is Krishna playing, and dances with the maid-
Krishna in the crowd of maidens jests with them that jest
with him. Clothed in a yellow garment, crowned with flowers,
anointed with sandal paste, rings in his ears, smiling amid the
merry throng, he sports, all in the joy of spring; while, with
swelling breasts, embracing Krishna, one of the maidens sings
to him, and another whispers something in his ear and swiftly
kisses the beloved one. One he embraces, and one he kisses, and
one he presses upon his heart, looks at one with a smile, and
lists to the words of another. ”
ens.


## p. 7966 (#158) ###########################################

7966
INDIAN LITERATURE
DHĀ'S JEALOUS LAMENT
From the same
D
RUNK with joy on the breast of Krishna, while on her bosom
the jewel trembles, sweetly with Krishna united, sports
one who seems to me blest. Her moon-like face sur-
rounded with fair locks, drinking his lips till weary with drink-
ing, sweetly with Krishna united, sports one who seems to me
blest. Smiling and reddening with the glance of the beloved,
quivering with the rapture of love, sports one who seems to me
blest [etc. ].
After the Translation of Rückert.
SPECIMEN OF THE RELIGIOUS POETRY OF THE MODERN SECTS
FROM THE BIBLE OF THE DADU PANTHIS, SIXTEENTH CENTURY
H*
E is my God who maketh all things perfect. O foolish one,
God is not far from you.
He is near you.
God's power is
always with you. Whatever is to be, is God's will. What
will be, will be. Therefore long not for grief or joy, because by
seeking the one you may find the other. All things are sweet
to them that love God. I am satisfied with this, that happiness
is in proportion to devotion. O God, thou who art truth, grant
me contentment, love, devotion, and faith. Sit ye with humility
at the feet of God and rid yourselves of the sickness of your
bodies. From the wickedness of the body there is much to fear,
because all sins enter into it. Therefore let your dwelling be
with the fearless, and direct yourselves toward the light of God.
For there neither poison nor sword has power to destroy, and
sin cannot enter.
Translation of Wilson.
NOTE. — For other selections of Indian literature see individual
authors and works. A bibliography will include Colebrooke, “Essays,'
re-edited by Cowell and Whitney; Max Müller, Ancient Sanskrit Lit-
erature); Whitney, Oriental and Linguistic Studies); Weber, Vorle-
sungen ueber Indische Literaturgeschichte (English translation, as
'Indian Literature, published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. , Boston);
Von Schroeder, Indiens Literatur und Cultur'; Muir, 'Original San-
skrit Texts); Grassmann, 'Der Rig Veda' (German translation); Kaegi,


## p. 7967 (#159) ###########################################

INDIAN LITERATURE
7967
Der Rig Veda' (translated into English by Arrowsmith); the Sacred
Books of the East' (contain translations from the Çatapatha Brāh-
mana,'Upanishads, law-books, etc. ); Gough, Philosophy of the Upa-
nishads'; Jacobi, Kalpa-Sūtra'; Oldenberg, Buddha'; T. W. Rhys
Davids, “Manual of Buddhism,' (Hibbert Lectures,' and Buddhism,'
also (Buddhist Suttas) translated by Oldenberg and Davids in the
(Sacred Books of the East); Williams, Indian Wisdom”; Protap C.
Roy, “Translation of Mahābhārata' (publishing in India); Jacobi,
Rāmāyana'; Wilson, Analysis of Purānas) (Selected Essays); Wil-
son, Hindu Drama'; Williams, (Sakuntalā); Wilson, Meghadūta';
Brunnhofer, Geist der Indischen Lyrik. There is no special work
on modern Indian literature; but the essays of Wilson and Williams
may be consulted, and much in regard to dialectic and folk-lore liter-
ature will be found in the Indian Antiquary, a journal published in
India. All the most important works on Indian literature till the
time of the Renaissance, and all the works on the religious literature
after this date, will be found in the Bibliography at the end of the
Religions of India' ('Handbooks on the History of Religions').


## p. 7968 (#160) ###########################################

7968
JEAN INGELOW
(1830-)
W
was
ith the volume of Poems) published in 1863 Jean Ingelow
became well known in America, as she had long been at
home. Although her poems and stories had been appearing
from time to time since 1850, the public knew little of the author's
life. She saw no reason why her literary work should entail pub-
licity, and tried hard to maintain her privacy. But as facts were
difficult to discover, an imaginary Jean Ingelow was invented to
gratify curiosity, until she came forward in
self-defense.
Jean Ingelow was born in 1830 at Bos-
ton, Lincolnshire, England, where her father
a banker. Her childhood was quiet
and happy under the care of a bright-natured
Scotch mother, and she early showed an
optimistic capacity for simple enjoyment.
The little girl who gathered her apronful
of stones from the path, to drop them again
farther on, because the poor pebbles must
be so tired of lying in one spot and staring
up into the sky, already felt the imagin-
JEAN INGELOW
ative sympathy with all things which is evi-
dent in the woman's poems.
Her first book, A Rhyming Chronicle of Incidents and Feelings,'
was published anonymously in 1850; and was followed the next year
by Allerton and Dreux,' a story in verse. In these as in her later
work she shows her gift for portraying the homely simplicity of life,
with its latent charm and beauty. Naturally her poetry-loving spirit
fell under the influence of the contemporary poets who were stirring
English hearts, and she sometimes reflects Tennyson and Mrs. Brown-
ing. But she is too individual and spontaneous to remain an imi-
tator, and both in theme and handling of metres she shows unusual
freedom, The Story of Doom' and other religious and didactic
poems are sometimes tedious; but the purely emotional lyrics, such as
High Tide on the coast of Lincolnshire,' the Songs of Seven,'
Divided,' are noteworthy for the musical lilt which made them
cling to the memory, and for a warmth of sentiment which touched
the popular heart.

)
1


## p. 7969 (#161) ###########################################

JEAN INGELOW
7969
Jean Ingelow loved children; and with Mopsa the Fairy,' that
delightful succession of breezy impossibilities, and many other tales,
she has won the love of young readers.
Her first serious effort in fiction was (Studies for Stories? (1864), —
carefully developed character sketches. Since then she has published
several novels, which have been widely read, although they are less
satisfactory than her verse. (Sarah de Berenger' and Don John'
show how ingeniously she can weave a plot. Off the Skelligs, and
its sequel, Fated to be Free,' derive their chief interest from careful
character analysis. But the arrangement of material lacks proportion;
and in her effort to be true to life, she overcrowds her scenes with
children and other people who are merely incidental to the plot, and
have no sufficient reason for being.
(
DIVIDED
I
N EMPTY sky, world ,
A Purple of fox-glove, yellow of broom;
We two among them wading together,
Shaking out honey, treading perfume.
Crowds of bees are giddy with clover,
Crowds of grasshoppers skip at our feet,
Crowds of larks at their matins hang over,
Thanking the Lord for a life so sweet.
Flusheth the rise with her purple favor,
Gloweth the cleft with her golden ring,
'Twixt the two brown butterflies waver,
Lightly settle, and sleepily swing.
We two walk till the purple dieth,
And short dry grass under foot is brown;
But one little streak at a distance lieth,
Green like a ribbon to prank the down.
II
Over the grass we stepped unto it,
And God he knoweth how blithe we were !
Never a voice to bid us eschew it:
Hey the green ribbon that showed so fair!
XIV-499


## p. 7970 (#162) ###########################################

7970
JEAN INGELOW
Hey the green ribbon! we kneeled beside it,
We parted the grasses dewy and sheen;
Drop over drop there filtered and slided
A tiny bright beck that trickled between.
Tinkle, tinkle, sweetly it sung to us,
Light was our talk as of faëry bells;
Faëry wedding-bells faintly rung to us
Down in their fortunate parallels.
Hand in hand, while the sun peered over,
We lapped the grass on that youngling spring;
Swept back its rushes, smoothed its clover,
And said, “Let us follow it westering. ”
INT
A dappled sky, a world of meadows:
Circling above us the black rooks fly
Forward, backward; lo, their dark shadows
Flit on the blossoming tapestry.
Flit on the beck, for her long grass parteth
As hair from a maid's bright eyes blown back;
And lo, the sun like a lover darteth
His flattering smile on her wayward track.
Sing on! We sing in the glorious weather
Till one steps over the tiny strand,
So narrow in sooth that still together
On either brink we go hand in hand.
The beck grows wider, the hands must sever.
On either margin, our songs all done,
We move apart, while she singeth ever,
Taking the course of the stooping sun.
He prays,
I cry,
Come over
-I may not follow;
Return » – but he cannot come:
We speak, we laugh, but with voices hollow;
Our hands are hanging, our hearts are numb.
IV
A breathing sigh, a sigh for answer,
A little talking of outward things:
The careless beck is a merry dancer,
Keeping sweet time to the air she sings.


## p. 7971 (#163) ###########################################

JEAN INGELOW
7971
A little pain when the beck grows wider -
« Cross to me now, for her wavelets swell! »
"I may not cross ” — and the voice beside her
Faintly reacheth, though heeded well.
No backward path; ah! no returning;
No second crossing that ripple's flow:
«Come to me now, for the west is burning;
Come ere it darkens; ” — “Ah no! ah no! »
Then cries of pain, and arms outreaching –
The beck grows wider and swift and deep;
Passionate words as of one beseeching
The loud beck drowns them; we walk, and weep.
-
V
A yellow moon in splendor drooping,
A tired queen with her state oppressed,
Low by rushes and sword-grass stooping,
Lies she soft on the waves at rest.
The desert heavens have felt her sadness;
Her earth will weep her some dewy tears;
The wild beck ends her tune of gladness,
And goeth stilly as soul that fears.
We two walk on in our grassy places
On either marge of the moonlit flood,
With the moon's own sadness in our faces,
Where joy is withered, blossom and bud.
VI
A shady freshness, chafers whirring,
A little piping of leaf-hid birds;
A futter of wings, a fitful stirring,
A cloud to the eastward snowy as curds.
Bare grassy slopes, where kids are tethered;
Round valleys like nests, all ferny-lined;
Round hills, with fluttering tree-tops feathered,
Swell high in their freckled robes behind.
A rose-flush tender, a thrill, a quiver,
When golden gleams to the tree-tops glide;


## p. 7972 (#164) ###########################################

7972
JEAN INGELOW
A flashing edge for the milk-white river;
The beck, a river - with still sleek tide.
Broad and white, and polished as silver,
On she goes under fruit-laden trees;
Sunk in leafage cooeth the culver,
And 'plaineth of love's disloyalties.
Glitters the dew and shines the river,
Up comes the lily and dries her bell;
But two are walking apart forever,
And wave their hands for a mute farewell.
VII
A braver swell, a swifter sliding;
The river, hasteth, her banks recede.
Wing-like sails on her bosom gliding
Bear down the lily and drown the reed.
Stately prows are rising and bowing
(Shouts of mariners winnow the air),
And level sands for banks endowing
The tiny green ribbon that showed so fair.
While, O my heart! as white sails shiver,
And crowds are passing, and banks stretch wide,
How hard to follow, with lips that quiver,
That moving speck on the far-off side!
Farther, farther - I see it - know it
My eyes brim over, it melts away:
Only my heart to my heart shall show it
As I walk desolate day by day.
VIII
And yet I know past all doubting, truly,-
A knowledge greater than grief can dim, —
I know, as he loved, he will love me duly;
Yea, better - e'en better than I love him.
And as I walk by the vast calm river,
The awful river so dread to see,
« Thy breadth and thy depth forever
Are bridged by his thoughts that cross to me. ”
I say,


## p. 7973 (#165) ###########################################

JEAN INGELOW
7973
SAND MARTINS
I
PASSED an inland cliff precipitate;
From tiny caves peeped many a sooty poll;
In each a mother-martin sat elate,
And of the news delivered her small soul.
Fantastic chatter! hasty, glad, and gay,
Whereof the meaning was not ill to tell:
«Gossip, how wags the world with you to-day ? )—
“Gossip, the world wags well, the world wags well. ”
And hearkening, I was sure their little ones
Were in the bird-talk, and discourse was made
Concerning hot sea-bights and tropic suns,
For a clear sultriness the tune conveyed;
And visions of the sky as of a cup
Hailing down light on pagan Pharaoh's sand,
And quivering air-waves trembling up and up,
And blank stone faces marvelously bland.
«When should the young be fledged, and with them hie
Where costly day drops down in crimson light?
(Fortunate countries of the firefly
Swarm with blue diamonds all the sultry night,
“And the immortal moon takes turn with them. )
When should they pass again by that red land,
Where lovely mirage works a broidered hem
To fringe with phantom palms a robe of sand ?
“When should they dip their breasts again and play
In slumbrous azure pools clear as the air,
Where rosy-winged flamingoes fish all day,
Stalking amid the lotus blossoms fair ?
“Then over podded tamarinds bear their flight,
While cassias blossom in the zone of calms,
And so betake them to a south sea-bight
To gossip in the crowns of cocoa-palms
“Whose roots are in the spray? Oh, haply there
Some dawn, white-winged they might chance to find
A frigate standing in to make more fair
The loneliness unaltered of mankind.


## p. 7974 (#166) ###########################################

7974
JEAN INGELOW
“A frigate come to water: nuts would fall,
And nimble feet would climb the flower-Aushed strand,
While northern talk would ring, and therewithal
The martins would desire the cool north land.
« And all would be as it had been before:
Again at eve there would be news to tell;
Who passed should hear them chant it o'er and o'er,
(Gossip, how wags the world ? ' 'Well, gossip, well. " »
THE HIGH TIDE ON THE COAST OF LINCOLNSHIRE
(1571)
T"
(
He old mayor climbed the belfry tower;
The ringers ran by two, by three:
« Pull, if ye never pulled before;
Good ringers, pull your best, quoth he.
“Play uppe, play uppe, () Boston bells!
Play all your changes, all your swells,
Play uppe (The Brides of Enderby. ) »
Men say it was a stolen tyde —
The Lord that sent it, he knows all;
But in myne ears doth still abide
The message that the bells let fall:
And there was naught of strange, beside
The flights of mews and peewits pied
By millions crouched on the old sea-wall.
I sat and spun within the doore,
My thread brake off, I raised myne eyes;
The level sun, like ruddy ore,
Lay sinking in the barren skies:
And dark against day's golden death
She moved where Lindis wandereth,
My sonne's faire wife, Elizabeth.
«Cusha! Cusha! Cusha! ” calling,
Ere the early dews were falling,
Farre away I heard her song.
«Cusha! Cusha! » all along;
Where the reedy Lindis floweth
Floweth, floweth,


## p. 7975 (#167) ###########################################

JEAN INGELOW
7975
From the meads where melick groweth
Faintly came her milking-song:-
« Cusha! Cusha! Cusha! ” calling,
“For the dews will soone be falling;
Leave your meadow grasses mellow,
Mellow, mellow;
Quit your cowslips, cowslips yellow;
Come uppe Whitefoot, come uppe Lightfoot,
Quit the stalks of parsley hollow,
Hollow, hollow;
Come uppe Jetty, rise and follow,
From the clovers lift your head;
Come uppe Whitefoot, come uppe Lightfoot,
Come uppe Jetty, rise and follow,
Jetty, to the milking-shed. ”
If it be long, aye, long ago,
When I beginne to think howe long,
Againe I hear the Lindis flow,
Swift as an arrowe, sharpe and strong;
And all the aire it seemeth mee
Bin full of floating bells (sayth shee),
That ring the tune of Enderby. '
Alle fresh the level pasture lay,
And not a shadowe mote be seene,
Save where full fyve good miles away
The steeple towered from out the greene;
And lo! the great bell farre and wide
Was heard in all the country-side
That Saturday at eventide.
The swannerds where their sedges are
Moved on in sunset's golden breath,
The shepherde lads I heard afarre,
And my sonne's wife, Elizabeth;
Till floating o'er the grassy sea
Came downe that kyndly message free,
The Brides of Mavis Enderby. '
Then some looked uppe into the sky,
And all along where Lindis flows,
To where the goodly vessels lie,
And where the lordly steeple shows.


## p. 7976 (#168) ###########################################

7976
JEAN INGELOW
They sayde, “And why should this thing be?
What danger lowers by land or sea ?
They ring the tune of Enderby'!
« For evil news from Mablethorpe
Of pyrate galleys warping down,
For shippes ashore beyond the scorpe,
They have not spared to wake the towne;
But while the west bin red to see,
And storms be none, and pyrates flee,
Why ring "The Brides of Enderby'? ”
(
I looked without, and lo! my sonne
Came riding downe with might and main;
He raised a shout as he drew on,
Till all the welkin rang again,
«Elizabeth! Elizabeth ! »
(A sweeter woman ne'er drew breath
Than my sonne's wife, Elizabeth. )
« The olde sea-wall (he cried) is dowie,
The rising tide comes on apace,
And boats adrift in yonder towne
Go sailing uppe the market-place. ”
He shook as one that looks on death:
“God save you, mother! ” straight he saith;
“Where is my wife, Elizabeth ? ”
“Good sonne, where Lindis winds away
With her two bairns I marked her long;
And ere yon bells beganne to play
Afar I heard her milking song. ”
He looked across the grassy sea,
To right, to left,—«Ho Enderby! ”
They rang (The Brides of Enderby'!
»
With that he cried and beat his breast;
For lo! along the river's bed
A mighty eygre reared his crest,
And uppe the Lindis raging sped.
It swept with thunderous noises loud;
Shaped like a curling snow-white cloud,
Or like a demon in a shroud.
And rearing Lindis, backward pressed,
Shook all her trembling bankes amaine;


## p. 7977 (#169) ###########################################

JEAN INGELOW
7977
Then madly at the eygre's breast
Flung uppe her weltering walls again.
Then bankes came downe with ruin and rout
Then beaten foam flew round about-
Then all the mighty floods were out.
So farre, so fast the eygre drave,
The heart had hardly time to beat,
Before a shallow seething wave
Sobbed in the grasses at oure feet:
The feet had hardly time to flee
Before it brake against the knee,
And all the world was in the sea.
Upon the roofe we sate that night,
The noise of bells went sweeping by;
I marked the lofty beacon light
Stream from the church tower, red and high —
A lurid mark and dread to see;
And awesome bells they were to mee,
That in the dark rang 'Enderby. '
They rang the sailor lads to guide,
From roofe to roofe who fearless rowed;
And I — my sonne was at my side,
And yet the ruddy beacon glowed:
And yet he moaned beneath his breath,
« O come in life, or come in death!
O lost! my love, Elizabeth. ”
And didst thou visit him no more ?