FRANCE
1870
Not dead—oh no—she cannot die!
Only a swoon, from loss of blood!
Levite England passes her by,
Help, Samaritan! None is nigh;
Who shall staunch me this sanguine flood?
'Range the brown hair, it blinds her eyne,
Dash cold water over her face!
Drowned in her blood, she makes no sign,
Give her a draught of generous wine.
None heed, none hear, to do this grace.
Head of the human column, thus
Ever in swoon wilt thou remain?
Thought, Freedom, Truth, quenched ominous
Whence then shall Hope arise for us,
Plunged in the darkness all again.
No, she stirs!—There's a fire in her glance,
Ware, oh ware of that broken sword!
What, dare ye for an hour's mischance,
Gather around her, jeering France,
Attila's own exultant horde?
Lo, she stands up—stands up e'en now,
Strong once more for the battle-fray,
Gleams bright the star, that from her brow
Lightens the world. Bow, nations, bow,
Let her again lead on the way!
THE TREE OF LIFE
Broad daylight, with a sense of weariness!
Mine eyes were closed, but I was not asleep,
My hand was in my father's, and I felt
His presence near me. Thus we often passed
In silence, hour by hour. What was the need
Of interchanging words when every thought
That in our hearts arose, was known to each,
And every pulse kept time? Suddenly there shone
A strange light, and the scene as sudden changed.
I was awake:—It was an open plain
Illimitable—stretching, stretching—oh, so far!
And o'er it that strange light—a glorious light
Like that the stars shed over fields of snow
In a clear, cloudless, frosty winter night,
Only intenser in its brilliance calm.
And in the midst of that vast plain, I saw,
For I was wide awake—it was no dream,
A tree with spreading branches and with leaves
Of divers kinds—dead silver and live gold,
Shimmering in radiance that no words may tell!
Beside the tree an Angel stood; he plucked
A few small sprays, and bound them round my head.
Oh, the delicious touch of those strange leaves!
No longer throbbed my brows, no more I felt
The fever in my limbs—"And oh," I cried,
"Bind too my father's forehead with these leaves."
One leaf the Angel took and therewith touched
His forehead, and then gently whispered "Nay!"
Never, oh never had I seen a face
More beautiful than that Angel's, or more full
Of holy pity and of love divine.
Wondering I looked awhile—then, all at once
Opened my tear-dimmed eyes—When lo! the light
Was gone—the light as of the stars when snow
Lies deep upon the ground. No more, no more,
Was seen the Angel's face. I only found
My father watching patient by my bed,
And holding in his own, close-prest, my hand.
MADAME THÉRÈSE
Written on the fly-leaf of Erckmann-Chatrian's novel, entitled, "Madame
Thérèse."
Wavered the foremost soldiers—then fell back.
Fallen was their leader, and loomed right before
The sullen Prussian cannon, grim and black,
With lighted matches waving. Now, once more,
Patriots and veterans!—Ah! Tis in vain!
Back they recoil, though bravest of the brave;
No human troops may stand that murderous rain;
But who is this—that rushes to a grave?
It is a woman—slender, tall, and brown!
She snatches up the standard as it falls—
In her hot haste tumbles her dark hair down,
And to the drummer-boy aloud she calls
To beat the charge; then forwards on the pont
They dash together;—who could bear to see
A woman and a child, thus Death confront,
Nor burn to follow them to victory?
I read the story and my heart beats fast!
Well might all Europe quail before thee, France,
Battling against oppression! Years have passed,
Yet of that time men speak with moistened glance.
Va-nu-pieds! When rose high your Marseillaise
Man knew his rights to earth's remotest bound,
And tyrants trembled. Yours alone the praise!
Ah, had a Washington but then been found!
SONNET
A sea of foliage girds our garden round,
But not a sea of dull unvaried green,
Sharp contrasts of all colors here are seen;
The light-green graceful tamarinds abound
Amid the mango clumps of green profound,
And palms arise, like pillars gray, between;
And o'er the quiet pools the seemuls lean,
Red—red, and startling like a trumpet's sound.
But nothing can be lovelier than the ranges
Of bamboos to the eastward, when the moon
Looks through their gaps, and the white lotus changes
Into a cup of silver. One might swoon
Drunken with beauty then, or gaze and gaze
On a primeval Eden, in amaze.
SONNET
Love came to Flora asking for a flower
That would of flowers be undisputed queen,
The lily and the rose, long, long had been
Rivals for that high honor. Bards of power
Had sung their claims. "The rose can never tower
Like the pale lily with her Juno mien"—
"But is the lily lovelier?" Thus between
Flower-factions rang the strife in Psyche's bower.
"Give me a flower delicious as the rose
And stately as the lily in her pride"—
"But of what color?"—"Rose-red," Love first chose,
Then prayed—"No, lily-white—or, both provide;"
And Flora gave the lotus, "rose-red" dyed,
And "lily-white"—the queenliest flower that blows.
OUR CASUARINA-TREE
Like a huge Python, winding round and round
The rugged trunk, indented deep with scars
Up to its very summit near the stars,
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;
And oft at nights the garden overflows
With one sweet song that seems to have no close,
Sung darkling from our tree, while men repose,
When first my casement is wide open thrown
At dawn, my eyes delighted on it rest;
Sometimes, and most in winter—on its crest
A gray baboon sits statue-like alone
Watching the sunrise; while on lower boughs
His puny offspring leap about and play;
And far and near kokilas hail the day;
And to their pastures wend our sleepy cows;
And in the shadow, on the broad tank cast
By that hoar tree, so beautiful and vast,
The water-lilies spring, like snow enmassed.
But not because of its magnificence
Dear is the Casuarina to my soul:
Beneath it we have played; though years may roll,
O sweet companions, loved with love intense,
For your sakes, shall the tree be ever dear!
Blent with your images, it shall arise
In memory, till the hot tears blind mine eyes!
What is that dirge-like murmur that I hear
Like the sea breaking on a shingle-beach?
It is the tree's lament, an eerie speech,
That haply to the unknown land may reach.
Unknown, yet well-known to the eye of faith!
Ah, I have heard that wail far, far away
In distant lands, by many a sheltered bay,
When slumbered in his cave the water-wraith
And the waves gently kissed the classic shore
Of France or Italy, beneath the moon,
When earth lay tranced in a dreamless swoon:
And every time the music rose—before
Mine inner vision rose a form sublime,
Thy form, O Tree, as in my happy prime
I saw thee, in my own loved native clime.
Therefore I fain would consecrate a lay
Unto thy honor, Tree, beloved of those
Who now in blessed sleep, for aye, repose,
Dearer than life to me, alas! were they!
May'st thou be numbered when my days are done
With deathless trees—like those in Borrowdale,
Under whose awful branches lingered pale
"Fear, trembling Hope, and Death, the skeleton,
And Time, the shadow;" and though weak the verse
That would thy beauty fain, oh fain rehearse,
May Love defend thee from Oblivion's curse.
FOOTNOTES
[1] "The Lights of Canopus," a Persian paraphrase; as the "Khirad
Afroz," "the lamp of the Understanding," is in Hindustani.
[2] The Vedas are the holy books of India. They are four in number: The
Rig-Veda, Yajur-Veda, Sama-Veda, and Atharva-Veda.
[3] Used in many religious observances by the Hindoos.
[4] Heaven, earth, and the lower regions.
[5] The Hindoo accounts for the origin of evil by this theory of a
series of existences continued until the balance is just, and the soul
has purified itself. Every fault must have its expiation and every
higher faculty its development; pain and misery being signs of the
ordeals in the trial, which is to end in the happy re-absorption of the
emancipated spirit.
[6] The mouse, as vehicle of Gunesh, is an important animal in Hindoo
legend.
[7] The champak is a bushy tree, bearing a profusion of star-like
blossoms with golden centres, and of the most pleasing perfume.
[8] A religious observance. The devotee commences the penance at the
full moon with an allowance of fifteen mouthfuls for his food,
diminishing this by one mouthful each day, till on the fifteenth it is
reduced to one. As the new moon increases, his allowance ascends to its
original proportion.
[9] The wife of Vishnoo, Goddess of beauty and abundance.
[10] The black or Indian cuckoo.
[11] A grove where the Vedas are read and expounded.
[12] The white umbrella borne above the heads of Indian rajahs.
[13] The deity of prudence.
[14] Regal authority derives its rights from three sources: Power,
Prescription or continuance, and Wisdom.
[15] The lotus resembles the water-lily, but is more varied in form and
color.
[16] The peacock is wild in most Indian jungles. The swan is a species
of flamingo of a white color. The voice and gait of a beautiful woman
are likened by the Hindoo poets to those of the swan.
[17] By such a death as that alluded to, she earns the title of Sati,
the "excellent."
[18] The common Indian crane; a graceful white bird, seen everywhere in
the interior of Hindoostan.
[19] A man of military caste.
[20] Large branching horns which reach backward and rub upon his
shoulders.
[21] A young Brahman, being invested with the sacred thread, and having
concluded his studies, becomes of the second order: a householder.
[22] Jhillikas are the large wood-crickets
[23] A caravan.
[24] This is a secretion which flows by a small orifice from the
elephant's temples at certain seasons. It is sweet-smelling, and
constantly alluded to in Hindoo poetry.
[25] "Gentleness is chief of virtues."
[26] These "curls" are the "Arvathas," or marks of good blood and
high-breeding.
[27] "O Beautiful One!"
[28] This raining down of heavenly flowers on auspicious occasions is a
frequent incident in ancient Indian poetry.
[29] A short; broad-bladed sword.
[30] Nandana is the Paradise of Indra.
[31] Ancient name of India: "The Land of the Rose-apple Tree."
[32] Ceylon.
[33] The speed of the chariot resembled that of the wind and the sun.
Indra was the god of the firmament or atmosphere. The sun, in Hindoo
mythology, is represented as seated in a chariot drawn by seven green
horses, having before him a lovely youth without legs, who acts as
charioteer, and who is Aruna, or the Dawn personified.
[34] The Matron or Superior of the female part of the society of
hermits. Their authority resembled that of an abbess in a convent of
nuns.
[35] A grass held sacred by the Hindoos and freely used at their
religious ceremonies. Its leaves are very long and taper to a
needle-like point.
[36] The religious rites of holy men were often disturbed by certain
evil spirits called Rákshasas, who were the determined enemies of piety
and devotion.
[37] Vishnu, the Preserver, was one of the three principal gods.
[38] Káma, the Hindoo Cupid, or god of love. He has five arrows, each
tipped with the blossom of a flower, which pierce the heart through the
five senses.
[39] A marriage without the usual ceremonies is called Gándharva. It was
supposed to be the form of marriage prevalent among the nymphs of
Indra's heaven.
[40] The sandal-tree is a large kind of myrtle, with pointed leaves. The
wood affords many highly esteemed perfumes and is celebrated for its
delicious scent. It is chiefly found on the slopes of the Malay
mountains or Western Ghants, on the Malabar coast.
[41] The Köil is the Indian cuckoo. It is sometimes called Parabhrita
(nourished by another) because the female is known to leave her eggs in
the nest of the crow to be hatched. The bird is a great favorite with
the Indian poets, as the nightingale with Europeans.
[42] Palace of King Dushyanta, so-called because it was as lofty as the
clouds.
[43] A sacred range of mountains lying along the Himálaya chain
immediately adjacent to Kailása, the paradise of Kuvera, the god of
wealth.
[44] According to the mythical geography of the Hindoos the earth
consisted of seven islands surrounded by seven seas.