Various

“ Thy swan, thy warbler's snatched by ruthless fate!
Oh, snatched in prime of life, thy darling child,
Datta who sang in magic numbers wild
Great Megnath—Indra's haughty conquering foe,
Hurled by brave Lakshman to the shades below!
—Hushed is the tuneful voice that thrilled the soul,
Silent the lyre whose swelling notes did roll
In streams of music sweet that did impart
A life—a soul ev'n to the dullest heart!
Ah, poor unhappy land! how sad thy doom,
Thy noblest sons are lost in vigor's bloom! ”

“ Was done the bursting storm to quell in India's evil day!
But a heavy task is still on hand, for an omniscient God
Hath women's blood and children's seen run reeking on the sod.
Yes, a heavy task remains behind—a burden's laid on thee,
Thou hast been chosen Minister—such is thy destiny;
Oh, pray—for highest counsel pray!— of such shalt thou have need,
For vengeance is a fearful thing—and vengeance is decreed.
Strike thou and home, but not in wrath fulfil a high command;
Avenging angels weep to smite a sin-o'erburdened land ”

“ Where dwells but April, dwells but sleep,
⁠What presence clear
⁠Like a beam has entered here?
⁠What lov'd footstep, that the trees
⁠Freshen their soliloquies,
⁠Birds break into louder lays?
⁠All fair Nature's heart runs wild
⁠To remember her sweet child:
⁠In the wood Myvanwy strays!
⁠O what gladness thrills her through
Her wayward darling back to woo
⁠From life again,
⁠Thought, and passion, stir and men! ”

“ Amidst the crowd's mad turmoil, whence hast thou
That peace in which thou in an instant stoodst
Alone at the deep centre of all things—
Where dwells the One alone in sun, moon, flowers,
In leaves, and beasts and birds, and dust and stones,
—Where still one sleepless Life on its own lap
Rocks all things with a wordless melody,
All things that move or that seem motionless! ”

“ We love thee with an ardent love sincere,
⁠For 'neath thy quiet and benignant sway,
Gaunt Care, and sombre Grief, and trembling Fear
⁠Depart, and vanish from our homes away,
And sunshine lights each heart so dark erewhile,
The glad bright sunshine of thy cheerful smile. ”

“ Loses itself amid the bending sky.
How pleasant now, at ease reclined to mark
The sombre shadows of each varying tree:
The mangoe here, with countless leaves adorned,
Casts densest shade, and there the towering palm
Mirrors its length. The scented baubool next
With fragrant yellow flowers and clust'ring leaves,
Bends o'er the wave to see its image fair.
One mass of green the trees far off appear,
And cast new shadows on the flood below. ”

“ Where the throstle keeps time to the soft-crooning rill,
Samarsi at nightfall, unknown to the Moor,
Lights his watch-fire in peace, when his labours are o'er,
And revels in freedom till morning again
Gives the signal to mount and ride down to the plain. ”

“ Shall the blossom live when the tree is dead?
Life of my life, Death's bitter sword
Hath severed us like a broken word,
Rent us in twain who are but one—
Shall the flesh survive when the soul is gone? ”

“ Freedom from each earthly woe,
Destroying all the sins that be
Pertaining to humanity,
And ensure at being's close,
Sweet and undisturbed repose.
Nay! even the deities love to lave
Their forms of glory in thy wave. ”

“ As star by star leaps out above,
⁠As twilight deepens into night,
As round me cluster those I love,
⁠And eye meets eye in glances bright,
I feel that earth itself may be
Lit up with heaven's own radiancy. ”

“ Thy task of vengeance now is o'er;
⁠Rest, ruthless conqueror, rest!
As speeds the whirlwind o'er the wave
⁠With its resistless might,
The torrent of thy wrath has roll'd
⁠Upon the field of fight.
The world aghast has quaked beneath
⁠The terrors of thy frown ”

“ In heat and passion of the noon-day air!
—In life that has been lived in black despair,
Or in the splendour of the city's worth,
Where mortals moving with no joy or mirth
Have yet aspired to do, conceive, and dare! ”

“ And she upon a camel fleet
⁠Shall cross the sea of sand.
'The foe, the foe, I hear the drum,
⁠The trumpet's echoing peal,
I see the waving of their flags,
⁠The flashing of their steel.
A thousand dark plumes cloud the air,
⁠A thousand flambeaux burn;
They speed, like eagles from their home,
⁠Among the mountain fern.
'The earth shakes 'neath their chargers' tramp,
⁠Mount, mount my liege in haste,
Ere like the wild and fierce Simoom
⁠They sweep across the waste. ”

“ When the terror and tumult of hate shall cease,
And life be refashioned on anvils of peace,
And your love shall offer memorial thanks
To the comrades who fought in your dauntless ranks,
And you honour the deeds of the deathless ones,
Remember the blood of my martyred sons! ”

“ Has pitiless humanity
⁠Forgot its sacred ties and laws?
The rigours of a life austere,
⁠Followed by every fear and shame,
Await thee as thy portion here:
⁠What is thy being but a name?
Thou may'st not, dar'st not, must not hope
⁠A joy upon the world beneath;
But thou must e'er with sorrows cope,
⁠Sorrows which only end in death. ”

“ For every pain I'll find a balm
⁠On those sweet lips of thine, dear love! on those sweet lips of thine.
But if remorseless death should dart
⁠The cruel shaft at me,
Though hence my spirit should depart,
⁠It still should pray for thee, dear love! it still should pray for thee. ”

“ Reft of its heat, its turmoil, and its strife,
Its busy wasting cares, its stunning noise,
Its idle flouting glare, and scorching winds.
Naught now disturbs the stillness of the scene—
The holy stillness—save the cricket's song
That lulls each weary sense to pleasant sleep
By shrill monotony, and the night-bird's lay.
Anon that lay is hushed. The fishes leap
Up in the clear moonlight from out the wave,
Then fall again and raise a sullen splash ”

“ It is not for her trampled flag that England bares her sword;
It is not for a just revenge upon a murderous horde;
It is to prove to blood-stained men, self-blinded of their sight,
That evil hath no chance with good or darkness with the light. ”

“ How joyous then we past the night
⁠In Jumna's blessed bowers, sweet bird!
⁠In Jumna's blessed bowers!
But past and gone are those sweet days,
⁠And all our joys are o'er;
Thy songs but sad remembrance raise,
⁠Oh! sing thy lays no more, sweet bird!
⁠Oh! sing thy lays no more! ”

“ Sudden the Indian sky is overcast,
⁠And all the land is shrouded deep in gloom:
⁠A wail goes forth from many an Indian home,
And tears from old and young are streaming fast.
For where is he, our fearless champion bold,
⁠India's unflinching advocate and friend,
⁠Whose lofty purpose and whose cherish'd end,
Were Justice, Truth, and Righteousness to uphold? ”

“ The bird has flown; no stubborn cage
⁠Its wily heart could tame;
For deadlier works of death prepare—
⁠He comes with sword and flame!
Ye ply to trap with subtle words;
⁠That feeble art is vain;
The trusting bird, when once deceived,
⁠Will never trust again. ”

“ When the night is dark and dreary, and the north wind whistles shrill,
And the snow storm drives in fury down the gorges of the hill,
Like the necromancer's mirror, when his magic perfumes burn,
Mocking Time, these curious volumes make the glorious Past return. ”

“ The whirlwind's blast, and lightning's dazzling flame,
All—all thy pow'r and providence proclaim.
Descend, great Deity! from thy cloud girt seat
⁠Amidst the changeless, everlasting snows
Of lofty Himmala, where at thy feet
⁠Time's self doth lie like Passion in repose.
And Kartikaya on his star-eyed bird,
As fits the war-god, bravely keeps his guard ”

“ And guide the war-horse in the fray.
'From girlhood, I have vowed a vow
⁠Our honour to redeem,
And make my noble father's name
⁠Of every song the theme;
To rescue Thoda from the slave
⁠Who lives to fill a coward's grave. ”

“ Of battling tempests and unconquered seas?
Yea, you may smite my mouth to throbbing silence,
Pluck from my lips power of articulate words—
Say, shall my heart lack its familiar language
While earth has nests for her mellifluous birds? ”

“ Spake unto the brave Yujutsu, Kuru's last surviving chief,
Spake to faithful Indrasena and to warriors sunk in grief;
"Pious rites are due to foemen and to friends and kinsmen slain,
None shall lack a fitting funeral, none shall perish on the plain." ”

“ The funeral pyre consumes the lovers, and the tale ends with the disappointed Moslem's entry into the doomed city.
High flames the fiercely kindling pyre
Like Rudra's all consuming ire;
And many a spark ascends on high
Like light-wing'd birds which wildly fly
Or gayly sweep along the sky ”

“ Maiden, would you soar like me with sky-upclouding tresses?
Beauty into bounty change, bend down the eye that blesses,
Make from heaven a shelter cool for shepherd and sheep silly,
Shadow with shadiness hot rose and fainting lily. ”

“ The wind of change for ever blows
Across the tumult of our way,
To-morrow's unborn griefs depose
The sorrows of our yesterday.
Dream yields to dream, strife follows strife,
And Death unweaves the webs of Life. ”

“ Power Almighty to explain,
Quoted he from holy sastras,
Argued long, but argued vain!
To his reasons, to his learning,
Ever answered thus the king,
⁠Mighty wondrous is all nature,
But it is created thing! ”

“ Land of the faith by pensive Buddha rear'd,
Where thought is stable, prayers are roll'd by wheels,
Faith moves with a dull motion as she feels
Her way thro' gloom of births, where Fate is fear'd,
God is unknown, and man in darkness reels! ”

“ Her glorious kinsfolk, that forsook us,
⁠Wake:
Each lily, for the light's own sake.
But she, more strong, more swift to bloom,
Kept captive in the cold earth's gloom,
Will she not with the beaming crocus
⁠Upbreak? ”

“ But though no hand unsanctioned dares
Unveil the mysteries of her grace,
Time lifts the curtain unawares,
And Sorrow looks into her face—
Who shall prevent the subtle years,
Or shield a woman's eyes from tears? ”

“ To pierce a gayer, mortal heart
Than thine, which ah! hath felt the smart!
Though life no more is warm in thee,
Yet thou dost look as though 't may be
That life in thee is full and warm;
Not cruel death could mar thy form ”

“ Thou brave and noble knight,
Thy gallant warhorse paws the ground,
Impatient for the fight.
A sister's love for thee hath wrought
⁠This silken tie so fair,
That thou protected by the gods
⁠The deadly fray may'st share. ”

“ A creeper climbs, in whose embraces bound
⁠No other tree could live. But gallantly
The giant wears the scarf, and flowers are hung
In crimson clusters all the boughs among,
⁠Whereon all day are gathered bird and bee ”

“ The mighty demons of the storm have met
In battle fierce. Relentless anger fires
Their bosoms, proud of desolating power.
Their swords in rapid wavings flash; and oft
In lightning gleams illume the darkened earth. ”

“ Like maids who coyly shun each wanton gaze;
And RAJNI-GANDHA, that expands at night
Alone, and like a lover's vow doth breathe
Its odour rich in secret. There—'tis done,
The wreath's complete, an offering rich and rare,
Fit to adorn the forehead of the fair. ”

“ One happy whole, where they are parts.
It is the fragrance of their hearts
That the rose breathes: the water's sound
Answers a feeling near, profound,
And flashing, eddying fast and bright
It leaps with their own heart's delight. ”

“ Oh, leave me not in bitter grief to pine!
O thou! who dwellest on the lofty crown
⁠'Mid the pure snows of cloud-capped Kalasay,
⁠From thy bright region of ne'er-ending day,
In pity on this sinful one look down. ”

“ Lovely and large thy heritage,
⁠As lovely as a bride,
To keep her still thine own gird on
⁠That bright sword by thy side.
See now it hangs on yonder wall
⁠ (For powerless is the hand
That wielded it in hunt or fray)
⁠My own, my noble brand. ”

“ From land to land shall spread aright,
Whose right to rule shall ne'er decrease,
To her who ever shall be bright,
I, prone to perish, offer these
Decaying, dying melodies,
I, rushing into endless night. ”

“ In the fields of France?
⁠Or classic Italy's wave-saluted shore?
⁠Or dearer Scotland's barren heaths and moor?
Or Staffa's natural temple, where in trance
We shadowy beings may behold? Command,—
All wait the movement of the enchanter's wand. ”

“ Fret not so, nor fear my raiment:
⁠Heed not thou!
⁠Softly though he flatters now.
Woods nor whispers thinks she sweet,
⁠Mother, to thy vague murmurs:
Men, the world, the roaring street,
⁠Father, he prefers. ”

“ Kisses and tears,—sweet idle things,
Things dearer than the world is worth,
In speech their brimming hearts break forth
Words that with ravishing music pierce
Each other's hearts, each other's ears. ”

“ Indians at the Front.
Fight for the cause of Britain and of right,
Ye Indians brave, and lay the tyrant low,
A 'cultured' yet at heart a savage foe,
That dares astound the world with ruthless might. ”

“ A man content I roved the green,
In folly's path was never seen.
The sick, the grieved, I tend them still
⁠Beside their beds of straw;
A welcome guest where'er I come,
I always seek the poor man's home:
⁠My word they say is law ”