'Come, Ogresses, and tame her pride.'

He spoke; and quicker than the word,
The coming of the fiends was heard.
Shuddered the air as on they sped,

Aud the earth shook beneath their tread.

Before their lord they humbly bowed,

And pressed round Sita in a crowd.

To the Asoka garden bear

My prize,' he cried, and guard her there,
Until her stubborn pride be bent

By mingled threat and blandishment:
See that ye watch her well, and tame,
Like some wild thing, the haughty dame.'
They bore her to that garden, bright

With every flower that charms the sight,

Where sweet streams under branches flowed,
And fruit through all the seasons glowed.
Prostrate, before those fiendish eyes,
Like a poor trembling deer that lies

Beneath a tiger's paw, she lay

Thinking of Rama far away.

RAMA IN THE SPRING.

"I sought thee there,

And, mourning for my darling, scarce could bear
The sweet cool smell of lakes and pleasant showers,

The beauty and the perfume of the flowers,

And all delights of sight, and sound, and smell;
For, without Sita, Heaven itself were Hell.”

KALIDASA.

'Look, brother, at that grove,' he cried,
'That lines sweet Pampa's shelving side.
Those trees of giant girth that rear
Their heads so high, like hills appear,

These are the pleasant days that fire
The youthful bosom with desire;

When soft winds, breathing balm, dispense Wood odours that enthral the sense,

And pour a ceaseless rain of flowers

As drops the cloud his summer showers.
Look, even as I speak, my head

Is covered with the blooms they shed.
How soft the west wind moves along
To music of the wild bee's song;
His breath is of the woodland spring,
The sandal's odour lades his wing.
Look up, there hardly glimmers through
These arching trees one speck of blue.
Look there, the Cassia's bloom behold,

A giant clad in burning gold.

O happy spring, whom birds rejoice

To welcome with their gladdest voice!

O happy time, but not to me,

For I am wandering far from thee,

My darling of the large soft eye.

That Koil with his loud shrill cry
Of joy and freedom and desire

That the first days of spring inspire,

Seems calling, as he cheers his mate,

To me all lone and desolate.'

See, where the joyous mallard leads

His partner through that fringe of reeds. Each happy bird, and none alone,

Hails the spring air with gladdest tone, All revelling in bliss alike,

The swan, the hawk, the dove, the shrike.
Look, brother, in that shady glen

The peacock dances round his hen:
No giant's hand has reft away

The mate with whom he loves to play.
There, round the Mango blossom, press
Wild bees, with lovers' eagerness.

But Ah! the blissful life around,

Each lovely sight, each pleasant sound,
Pierces my very heart, and slays
With memory of perisht days,
That flew in heavenly rapture by

With Sita of the roe-deer's eye!'

1 "Thou 'll break my heart, thou bonnie bird That sings beside thy mate." BURNS.

TIDINGS OF SITA.

As on the breezy hill I stood, That rises o'er the pathless wood,

High o'er me flew a monstrous form, Dark as the cloud that heralds storm.

I saw the giant's flashing eye;

I heard a woman's piteous cry.
A voice from out the still air came
Of weeping mixt with Rama's name.
A dove, whom eagle talons grasp,
She struggled in the giant's clasp.
I heard again a wilder shriek :
She saw me on the mountain peak.