Women's t BEING VERSES TRANSLATED FROM THE SANSKRIT Assistant Professor of Sanskrit in the University of California Should fancy ciati, The world would te a forest dead and dry. BHAVABHUTI. . 4tt. fcoberteon San Francisco i 9 i o COPYRIGHT 1910 BY ARTHUR W. RYDER Printed by JCfjf fetanlep-Caplor Company San Francisco TO THE MEMORY OF IRVING STRINGHAM THE MATHEMATICIAN. WE OF THE UNIVERSITY OWE MORE TO HIM THAN EITHER WE COULD REPAY OR WHOLLY COMPREHEND. TO HIS LIVING MEM- ORY THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED; A SLIGHT GIFT, MADE RICH ONLY BY THE LOVING AND GRATEFUL THOUGHT OF HIM, WHICH WENT TO ITS MAKING. The year sees many a birth and death Of little folks like you and me: His like has never yet drawn breath; No future aye hiy Ulce will see. FROM THE SANSKRIT. INTRODUCTION In short verses the Hindus excel. Their mastery of form, their play of fancy, their depth and tender- ness of feeling, are all exquisite. Of the many who wrote such verses, the greatest is Bhartrihari. He lived some fifteen hundred years ago as king of Ujjain, and lived most royally, tasting the sweets of life without thought of the morrow. At last he was roused from his carefree existence by an event which surprised and shocked him. He gave a magic fruit to a girl whom he loved. She loved another, and passed the gift on to him. He presented it to his lady-love, who in her turn loved the king. When Bhartrihari received the magic fruit from her and learned of its travels, he was disgusted with the fleeting joys of the world, gave up his king- dom, and spent the rest of his life in a cave, writing poetry. The circumstance which led to his retire- ment is commemorated in the following verse : * The maid my true heart loves would not my true love be; She seeks another man; another maid loves he; And me another maid her own true love would see: Oh, fie on her and him and Love and HER and me! * Eeprinted by kind permission of the Century Magazine. [V] Bhartrihari wrote three hundred verses : a hundred on the conduct of life, a hundred on love, a hundred on renunciation. In the present collection, no less than eighty-five of the verses are taken from this master of Indian verse-writing. The remaining fifteen are from vari- ous sources. The arrangement of the verses is my own, as are also the titles prefixed to them. I have striven faithfully for a literal rendering. Though a rendering into verse cannot be quite as close as a prose version, nothing has been wilfully added or subtracted. One matter deserves notice here; I have occasionally translated Indian god- names, Shiva or Brahma, by the word God. This is not wholly accurate, yet not, I think, unfaithful in spirit. The present volume does not encroach unduly upon the excellent work of P. E. More: A Century of Indian Epigrams. Only a few of the verses chosen by him are translated here, and even these in a man- ner quite different. I am under obligations to the University of Cali- fornia Chronicle for permission to reprint certain verses which first appeared in its pages. Berkeley, California, ARTHUR W. RYDER February 19, 1910 [vi] CONTENTS PAGE Women's Eyes 1 If Only We Might Dress in Air 2 Love Is Young 3 Love Grows by What It Feeds on 4 Gentle Eyes 5 The Stubborn Fool I 6 The Stubborn Fool II . . . 7 Seven Arrows 8 Substitutes 9 Sweet and Bitter 10 When I Knew a Little Bit . . . . ' 11 Whom Does She Lovef 12 Arrows of Love 13 The Danger of Delay 14 Better to Dwell in Mountains Wild 15 The April Wind 16 My Folly 's Done 17 Does She Love Me? 18 Eemedies 19 The Beautiful and the Good 20 The Power of Money 21 Desire Is Young 22 Thou Art a Flower 23 The Divine Decree 24 Two Kings 25 [Vii] PAGE Absence and Union 26 The Serpent-Woman 27 Can She Be Dear? 28 The Decline of True Learning 29 The Last Day 30 Logic 31 The Anger of the King 32 The Eains 33 The Lovers' Ally 34 Why? 35 All the World 'a a Stage 36 The Way of the World 37 She Only Looked 38 Who Understands a Man? 39 Untrustworthy Things 40 Two Views of Life 41 Procrastination 42 Should Fancy Cease 43 What Then? I 44 What Then? II 45 The Queen of Love 46 Joyous Treasures 47 Vexations I 48 Vexations II 49 Love, the Fisher 50 Ephemeral Potions 51 All These Things Shall Be Added 52 The Blind Forest 53 The Littleness of the World 54 Friendship's End 55 PAGE A Wasted Life I 56 A Wasted Life II 57 A Wasted Life III 58 Flaming Banners 59 The Thief of Hearts 60 Two Blinds of Friendship 61 Choosing a Vocation 62 The Good Are Bare 63 There Was a Noble City 64 Where Education Fails 65 On Giving a Daughter in Marriage 66 Struggling Fancies 67 Oh, Might I End the Quest! 68 What Delights and Hurts 69 The Sweetest Things 70 The Unlucky Man 71 A Eeason for Benunciation 72 Renunciation 73 The Better Part 74 The Five Bobbers 75 When Woman Wills 76 A Little Knowledge 77 The Weaker Sex 78 Young Womanhood 79 The Bravest of the Brave 80 Dignity 81 In the Days of Thy Youth 82 They Want the Earth 83 The Beasts That Don't Eat Grass 84 Why Men Beg 85 PAGE The Wise Misogynist 86 Nectar and Poison 87 The Two Things That Matter 88 The One Thing Needful 89 Unintelligible Virtue 90 The Lines of Fate 91 Poverty 92 How Hard Fate Grips! 93 When My Love Draws Nigh 94 The Hermit 95 Why Go to Courtf 96 Impossible! 97 Hindrances 98 Divine Vision 99 Why My Poems Died 100 WOMEN'S EYES WOMEN'S EYES The world is full of women's eyes, Defiant, filled with shy surprise, Demure, a little overfree, Or simply sparkling roguishly; It seems a gorgeous lily-bed, Whichever way I turn my head. [1] IF ONLY WE MIGHT DRESS IN ADR If only we might dress in air, And eat what begging brings, And sleep outdoors, we should not care For all the money-kings. [2] LOVE IS YOUNG The wrinkles on my face are all untold; My hair is gray and thin; My limbs are sadly feeble grown, and old But love is young, and sin. [3] LOVE GROWS BY WHAT IT FEEDS ON When she is far, I only want to see her; When she is seen, I only want to kiss her; When she is kissed, I never want to flee her; I know that I could never bear to miss her. [4] GENTLE EYES Candle, and fire, and star, Sun, moon, to give me light; But her dear, gentle eyes are far- This world is night. [5] THE STUBBORN FOOL I A diamond you may draw From an alligator's jaw; You may cross the raging ocean like a pool; A cobra you may wear Like a blossom in your hair; But you never can convince a stubborn fool. [6] THE STUBBORN FOOL H With sufficient toil and travail You may gather oil from gravel; The mirage perhaps your thirsty lips may cool; If you seek it night and morn, You may find a rabbit's horn; But you never can convince a stubborn fool. SEVEN ARROWS Seven arrows pierce my heart: The moonbeams that by day depart; The maid whose youthful beauty flies; The pool wherein the lotus dies; The handsome man whose lips are dumb; The rich man, miserly and glum; The good man sunk in suffering; The rogue in favor with the king. [8] SUBSTITUTES What need of armor to the patient soul? What need of foes, if temper spurns control? If rogues are near, what need of snakes to harm you? If relatives, what need of fire to warm you? If friends, what need of magic draughts for health? If blameless scholarship, what need of wealth? If modesty, what need of gems and flowers? If poetry, what need of kingly powers? [9] SWEET AND BITTER Sweet are the moonbeams, sweet the grass-grown wood, Sweet is the peaceful converse of the good, The poet's song is sweet, the maiden's face When angry tear-drops lend a sudden grace: All would be sweet if human fate were fitter; The thought of death turns all the sweet to bitter. [10] WHEN I KNEW A LITTLE BIT When I knew a little bit, Then my silly, blinded wit, Mad as elephants in rut, Thought it was omniscient; but When I learned a little more From the scholar's hoarded store, Madness' fever soon grew cool, And I knew I was a fool. [11] WHOM DOES SHE LOVE? With one she gossips full of art; Her glances with a second flirt; She holds another in her heart: Whom does she love enough to hurt? [12] ARROWS OF LOVE Where are you going, winsome maid, Through deepest, darkest night? (he said.) I go to him whom love has made Dearer to me than life (she said). Ah, girl, and are you not afraid, For you are all alone? (he said.) The god of love shall be mine aid, Arrows of love fly true (she said). [13] THE DANGER OF DELAY In giving, and receiving too, In every deed you have to do, Act quickly; if you wait a bit, Then time will suck the juice of it. [14] BETTER TO DWELL IN MOUNTAINS WILD Better to dwell in mountains wild With beasts of prey Than in the palaces of gods With fools to stay. [15] THE APRIL WIND The wind of April is a lover bold: He makes the women shiver hot and cold; He shuts their eyes, he rumples up their hair, And catches rudely at the gowns they wear; Time after time he presses pretty lips From which a cry indignant-joyful slips. [16] MY FOLLY S DONE Why should that girl still use her keen, Coquettish eyes that steal the sheen From lotus-flowers. What can she mean? My folly 's done. The fever-sting Of love's soft arrow does not cling; And yet she doesn't stop, poor thing! [17] DOES SHE LOVE ME? Although she does not speak to me, She listens while I speak; Her eyes turn not, my face to see, But nothing else they seek. [18] REMEDIES A fire with water we defeat, With parasols the midday heat, Mad elephants with goads that prick, Oxen and asses with a stick, Sickness with draughts that banish harm, Poison with many a spell and charm: Science has cures for every ill Except the fool; he prospers still. [19] THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE GOOD You are a teacher of the youth Who master philosophic truth; I seek in the poetic art What charms and ravishes the heart. Yet we are honest and we see The only good is charity; And nothing charms us, fools or wise, Except a maid with lotus-eyes. [20] THE POWER OF MONEY His powers are still the same, his actions too, His mind is quite as keen, his speech as true; Yet he has undergone a wondrous change He lost his money. Do you think it strange? [21] DESIRE IS YOUNG Not time, but we, have passed away; Not virtue, we ourselves grow cold; Not joys, but we, no longer stay: Desire is young, but we are old. [22] THOU ART A FLOWER Thou art a flower whose fragrance none has tasted, A gem uncut by workman's tool, A branch no desecrating hands have wasted, A virgin forest, sweetly cool. No man on earth deserves to taste thy beauty, Thy blameless loveliness and worth, Unless he has fulfilled man's perfect duty And is there such a one on earth? [23] THE DIVINE DECREE Thy wise creator wrote upon thy brow, When thou wast born, what wealth should once be thine; The sum was great perhaps, or small; yet now Thy fate is fixed, and sure the law divine. For if thou dwell within the desert's bound, Thou shalt have nothing less than his decree; Nor shall a single penny more be found, Although the golden mount thy dwelling be. Ah, then be brave and play the manly part, Nor be so fond to humble thy proud heart And fawn before the rich with cringing art. For see! A jar that in the ocean fell Holds no more water in its little shell Than when you lowered it in the meanest well. [24] TWO KINGS Flee from the palace where they say: The king is sleeping; go away He has no time for you today Or he will see you if you stay He will be angry anyway. Flee to another, greater king, My soul, who rules each mortal thing. Whose palace knows no bolt, no ring, No porter's harsh, sarcastic fling, No pain, no human suffering. [25] ABSENCE AND UNION Absence is union dear, When hearts are one; Union is absence drear, When love is done. [26] THE SERPENT-WOMAN Avoid the poison-glance, my friends; The serpent- woman flee; Her crooked path has crooked ends; Her hood is coquetry. If you are stung by common snakes, Perhaps you will not die; If poison from a woman takes, The doctors say goodby. [27] CAN SHE BE DEAR? The thought of her is saddening, The sight of her is fear, The touch of her is maddening Can she be really dear? [28] THE DECLINE OP TRUE LEARNING Once, learning slew the living woe Of wise men. That was long ago. She then disdained such service rare, Became a practical affair. But nowadays she sees that kings Despise all intellectual things, And sinking lower day by day, She seems to vanish quite away. 29] THE LAST DAY When the celestial mount shall totter, burning In all-devouring flame, When seas go dry, where crocodiles are turning And sharks no man may tame, When the compact earth itself shall tumble sheer, Great mountains madly dance, What of our bodies, quivering like the ear Of baby elephants? [30] LOGIC How long may subtle logic play its part In science and theology and art? So long as no young fawn-eyed maiden's glance Shall find its way to the logician's heart. [31] THE ANGER OF THE KING None from the anger of the king May be released; The fire consumes the offering And burns the priest. [32] THE RAINS And when the rainy days are come, Your lady-love must stay at home; She clings to you, a little bold Because she shivers with the cold; The breeze is fresh with heaven's spray And drives her lassitude away: When happy lovers are together, The rainy time is fairest weather. [33] THE LOVERS ALLY Ye maids, exhaust your haughty scorn On lovers bending low; For soon the breeze in southland born, With sandal sweet, will blow. [34] WHY? The deer, the fish, the good man hunger For grass, for water, for content; Yet hunter, fisher, scandalmonger Pursue each harmless innocent. [35] ALL THE WORLD 7 S A STAGE Child for an hour, and lovesick youth an hour, Beggar an hour, then fanned by riches' breath, The wrinkled actor, Man, bereft of power, Creeps tottering behind the curtain, Death. [36] THE WAY OF THE WORLD In daily journeys of the sun Our little life is quickly done; In anxious duties of the day The hours unnoticed slip away; Though birth and age are ever near, And grief, and death, we do not fear The world forgets its sore distress, Goes mad with wine of heedlessness. [37] SHE ONLY LOOKED She did not redden nor deny My entrance to her room; She did not speak an angry word; She did not fret and fume; She did not frown upon poor me, Her lover now as then; She only looked at me the way She looks at other men. [38] WHO UNDERSTANDS A MAN? Once he would follow at my feet, Obey my slightest word; And black was black, if black to me, Or white, if I preferred; And he began to walk or sit The moment I began; But he is different now. Oh, dear! Who understands a man? [39] UNTRUSTWORTHY THINGS The things that can claw, and the things that can gore, Are very untrustworthy things; And a man with a sword in his hand, further- more, And rivers and women and kings. [40] TWO VIEWS OF LIFE When ignorance my life entwined, Love's ointment made me strangely blind I thought the world was made of womankind. But clearer judgment than of yore The veil before my vision tore I know that God is all the world and more. [41] PROCRASTINATION By and by Never fret I shall try By and by. By and by Don't forget You must die By and by. [42] SHOULD FANCY CEASE The lover's patient fancy brings him peace, Paints her he loves before his inward eye, And gives him comfort; but should fancy cease, The world would be a forest dead and dry, And hearts that shrivel in the burning chaff, must die. [43] WHAT THEN? I What if my life is fed With all that seems most sweet? What if my foeman's head Is ground beneath my feet? What if my wealth makes friends Again and yet again? What if my soul ascends Through countless lives? What then? [44] WHAT THEN? II Old rags, or fine, white silk that flows and clings Why should I care? Poor wife, or horses, elephants, and things What difference there? Sweet rice, or wretched food when day is o'er Why care again? God's light, or groping in the dark once more What then? What then? [45] THE QUEEN OF LOVE Surely the love-god is the slave Of her sweet eyes; For when they give a hint, the knave Obedient flies. [46] JOYOUS TREASURES How hard a thing it is that they achieve Whose hearts the thought of God keeps pure and bright, Who for His sake earth's joyous treasures leave Without a pang at losing such delight! Those joyous treasures I could never get; I cannot get them now; I am not sure That I shall ever win to them; and yet I cannot flout the thought, the hope, the lure. [47] VEXATIONS I The scholarship that grasps at straws, The woman's love that must be bought, The life that hangs on tyrants' laws These things are with vexation fraught. [48] VEXATIONS II The fear of dying vexes birth; Age vexes flashing youth; The carper vexes honest worth; Irresolution, truth. To vex our peace the women love; Our joy, ambition's sting; Eogues vex the court, and snakes the grove; And something, everything. [49] LOVE, THE FISHER Love, the fisher, casts his woman-hook Into the sea of lust and fond desire, And just as soon as greedy men-fish look And snap the red bait, lips so sweet, so dire, Then he is quick to catch them and to cook The hungry wretches over passion's fire. [50] EPHEMERAL POTIONS If mouths are dry with thirst, Men think of water first; If hungry, bolt their rice With many a toothsome spice; If love flames bright and brighter, They clasp the women tighter: They have the strangest notions; They think ephemeral potions Will heal the soul's commotions. [51] ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED What though she have a bosom sweet, A form to beauty wed, A face in which the graces meet She must not turn your head. Nay, if her charm your fancy haunts, Then live on virtue's food; One cannot have the things he wants Except by being good. [52] THE BLIND FOREST The lady's body is a forest blind, With dangerous hills, her bosom fair; Think not to wander there, my mind; The robber, Love, is lurking there. [53] THE LITTLENESS OF THE WORLD Why should the truly wise man wish To hold the world in fee? 'T is but the leaping of a baby fish Upon the boundless sea. [54] FRIENDSHIP'S END Yes, you were I, and I was you, So fond the love that linked us two; Alas, my friend, for friendship's end! Now I am I, and you are you. [55] A WASTED LIFE I No stainless wisdom have I learned; No honest money have I earned; No fond obedience have I brought To parents, with a heart well-taught; I never dreamed of sweet embraces, Of sparkling eyes and roguish faces: My life was wasted like the crow's; I lived on strangers' bread and blows. [56] A WASTED LIFE H I never learned to vanquish other men In conference, with the just and fitting word; I never made high heaven ring again, Praising the elephant-hunter's sturdy sword; I never tasted honey from the kind, Soft lips of maids when moonlight scatters gloom : My youth is gone and left no good behind, A candle burning in an empty room. [57] A WASTED LIFE III The paths of thought I never trod Which lead to unity in God; Nor were my days to virtue given Which opens wide the gates of heaven; Delights of love that men esteem Were mine not even in a dream: I was a sorry axe in sooth To cut the tree, my mother's youth. [58] FLAMING BANNERS Learning and dignity, Wisdom and manners Last till the god of love Plants flaming banners. [59] THE THIEF OF HEARTS You practise theft by strangest arts Once and again; In broad daylight you steal the hearts Of waking men. [60] TWO KINDS OF FRIENDSHIP The friendship of the rogue or saint, Like shade at dawn or shade at noon, Starts large and slowly grows more faint, Or starting faint, grows larger soon. [61] CHOOSING A VOCATION "What shall I do in these few hours of life? Live humbly with a sweet, religious wife? Renounce the world, the ties of kindred sever, And spend my days beside the sacred river? Drink deep of honeyed poems' nectar-flow? Or learn philosophy? I hardly know. [62] THE GOOD ABE RARE Through thoughts and words and deeds their virtues flow; To all the world their kindness brings delight; They make a mote of good in others show Like a great mountain; for their hearts are bright, And brighten all they touch with their own worth How many such are to be found on earth? [63] THERE WAS A NOBLE CITY There was a noble city old, A mighty king, and vassals bold; And there were gathered scholars true, And moon-faced ladies not a few; And there were princes proud and free, And stories told, and minstrelsy: A memory now; we mourn their fall And honor Time, who levels all. [64] WHERE EDUCATION FAILS Though many youths a training get In law, religion, etiquette, Why are there few whose actions would, Interpreted, seem wholly good? Some arching brow is sure to be As cunning as a master-key, That serves its purpose passing well In flinging wide the gates of hell. [65] ON GIVING A DAUGHTER IN MARRIAGE A girl is held in trust, another's treasure; To arms of love my child today is given; And now I feel a calm and sacred pleasure; I have restored the pledge that came from heaven. [66] STRUGGLING FANCIES It is my body leaves my love, not I; My body moves away, but not my mind; For back to her my struggling fancies fly Like silken banners borne against the wind. [67] OH, MIGHT I END THE QUEST! I dug beneath the earth most greedily In search of hidden treasure; I smelted ore; I crossed the mighty sea, Forgetting every pleasure; I cringed to kings; and muddling all my brains With magic, lost my rest: But never got a penny for my pains; Oh, might I end the quest! [68] WHAT DELIGHTS AND HURTS It is the truth sans prejudice I speak; Ye people, heed this truth forever true; All that delights, in women you must seek, And all that hurts, you find in women too. [69] THE SWEETEST THINGS The sweetest sight a man may see Is a maiden's loving face; The sweetest thing to touch should be Her body's close embrace; Her voice should be the sweetest sound; Her breath, the sweetest scent; The sweetest taste, the honey found On lips to kisses lent; The thought of her is fervent prayer, Religion's sweetest part; The charm of her is everywhere Unto the pure in heart. [70] THE UNLUCKY MAN A bald man once, whose hairless pate Felt inconveniently hot, Fled to a cocoa-tree at noon He hoped to find a shady spot. And then a big nut fell, and crack! The poor, bald head was split in two. Misfortunes almost always find The man whom evil fates pursue. [71] A REASON FOR RENUNCIATION Possessions leave us at the end, However long they stay; Then why not cast aside, my friend, What leaves us anyway? And if they leave against our will, The heart takes time in mending; If given willingly, they fill That heart with joy unending. [72] RENUNCIATION What does renunciation mean? It means a lonely woodland scene Remote from men and human sin, From woes of love, from love of kin, Free from the world, a life apart That slays the tortures of the heart As fear of death and fear of birth: It means the best of heaven and earth. [73] THE BETTER PART Is there no splendid Himalayan height, Cooled by the spray from Ganges' holy springs With rocks where fairies now and then alight, That men should fawn upon contemptuous kings? [74] THE FIVE ROBBERS "Here are banquets, and singing sweet, Perfumes, and glimpse of dancing feet, And bosoms that on mine may beat." Five rascal senses whisper this, Lead me from virtue much amiss, And cheat me of my highest bliss. [75] WHEN WOMAN WILLS When loving woman wants her way, God hesitates to say her nay. [76] A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE A fool's opinion easily is bent; More easy 't is to win the wise and great; But God himself could never make content The man who feels himself elate With one small grain of knowledge in his pate. [77] THE WEAKER SEX The classic poets make a great mistake; Forever of the weaker sex they speak; When gods are subjugated for the sake Of starry glances, are the women weak? [78] YOUNG WOMANHOOD Half-smiles that brighten on her face, Innocent, roving glances, The wealth of budding charms that show In little steps and dances, The flow of words that shyly prove The sweet, new woman-feeling: Yes, all the fawn-eyed maiden does Is wondrously appealing. [79] THE BRAVEST OF THE BRAVE A few brave men pursue Rogue elephants to death; There are a braver few Who stop the lion's breath; The bravest of the brave And fewer yet they prove Are they who can enslave The haughty god of love. [80] DIGNITY The dog will roll, and wag his tail, and fawn, Show mouth and belly, just to get some meat; The majestic elephant gazes gravely on; Till coaxed a hundred times, he will not eat. [81] IN THE DAYS OF THY YOUTH While life is vigorous and bright, While sickness comes not, nor decay, While all your powers are at their height, While yet old age is far away, Then, wise man, let your thoughts be turning To heaven's hopes and fears of hell; For when the house is fired and burning, It is too late to dig a well. [82] THEY WANT THE EARTH 'T is but a little ball of mud With a streak of water round; Yet kings for it will shed their blood, As for a treasure found. They cannot, will not leave the thing, So poor are they, so mean; And men will fawn on such a king! Oh, shame upon the scene! [83] THE BEASTS THAT DON'T EAT GRASS Unschooled in music, poetry, and art, Man is a beast, a hornless, tailless beast; He doesn't eat the grass; for this at least The other beasts may well be glad at heart. [84] WHY MEN BEG Is there a man of spirit who would beg In broken words that stumble with his sobbing, Harsh sobs of him who fears a surly "no!" And all to ease his belly's empty throbbing? None but the man who sees his wretched wife Sad always, sees her worn and ragged skirts, Sees sad-faced babies tugging at their folds With screams that tell how fiercely hunger hurts. [85] THE WISE MISOGYNIST The wise misogynist, poor soul, To self-deceit is given; For heaven rewards his self-control, And women swarm in heaven. [86] NECTAR AND POISON All nectar and all poison lives In woman's changing states; For she is nectar when she loves, And poison when she hates. [87] THE TWO THINGS THAT MATTER Why all this talk and foolish chatter? There are just two things that really matter: A buxom, young, and frisky wife; Or else a lonely forest-life. [88] THE ONE THING NEEDFUL Why should I study scripture, sacred lore, Or any good, big book? Why get a store Of pious actions, anxiously performed And win a humble tent in heaven, no more? The knowledge of myself is all I need To give me lasting joy, to burn the seed Of the interminable pain of life Let pious peddlars show their wares and plead. [89] UNINTELLIGIBLE VIRTUE Are palace-joys so incomplete? Is song a despicable pleasure? And is there anything so sweet As clasping her you love and treasure? Yet pious men account these things As vain as flickering candle-light 'Neath dancing moths on troubled wings; And to the woods they take their flight. [90] THE LINES OP FATE If thorn-plants in the desert leafless be, The spring is not to blame. If owls in broadest daylight cannot see, The sun should feel no shame. If in the plover's bill no raindrops fall, 'T were wrong to blame the cloud. The lines that fate has written once for all, Are never disallowed. [91] POVERTY The moon by night, the sun by day Continue in their heavenly way; One rag they have, one ragged cloud To serve them both as robe and shroud. Poor things! [92] HOW HARD FATE GRIPS The snake and elephant are caged; The moon and sun must meet eclipse; The prudent are in strife engaged With poverty. How hard fate grips! [93] WHEN MY LOVE DRAWS NIGH "When my love draws nigh, When his voice I hear, Why am I all eye? Why am I all ear? [94 THE HERMIT I seem to see a hermit good: He has no pride, he begs his food; From man-made laws his acts are free; He seeks no man's society; He has no care for common ways Of giving, getting all his days; He stitches up his garment ragged With wayside tatters, torn and jagged; No false conceit his fancy haunts Eternal peace is all he wants. [95] WHY GO TO COURT? I am not fashion's changing sport, I never acted, sang, nor hated; What figure should I cut at court? I am no lady languid-gaited. [96] IMPOSSIBLE ! The consecrated saints of eld Who lived on water, leaves, and air, Went mad with love when they beheld A face that showed how maids are fair. And if the common men who eat Their rice and milk and curds and ghee, Should curb the wish for things so sweet, The mountains would fly oversea. [97] HINDRANCES 'T would not be hard, through life's gray sea To find the track; But fawn-eyed women hinder me, And hold me back. [98] DIVINE VISION My love is in a distant land, And yet I see her where I stand. The gods have vision less divine, Because the eye of love is mine. [99] WHY MY POEMS DIED The critics all were jealous, The patrons full of pride, The public had no judgment; And so my poems died. [100] CENTRAL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY University of California, San Diego DATE DUE r rrjr 90 r AUG09 J9Z8L NOV 2 Z 1973 JAN I 1980 C139 UCSD Libr. A 000 668 543 2