With happier light for thee the planets shine! Thou shalt not fear, by guardian angels screened, Before thy steps let cruel tigers flee, Then on his knees before her Rama fell, Prest her dear feet and said his last farewell; And, radiant with the light her blessings lent, To Sita's home his anxious steps he bent. I THE TRIUMPH OF LOVE. But Rama's hardest trial yet remains, the parting from Sita his lovely and beloved wife. He briefly tells her of his altered lot, and bids her in his absence carefully discharge her duties to the Gods, his father, the three queens, the new King Bharat and his brothers. She tells him that man and wife are not thus to be parted, and declares that whithersoever he goes she will go also. In vain he sets before her the dangers and miseries that wait on banishment. Truth smiles at fear; and Love sees a Paradise in the wild with him. Rama yields to the passionate prayers of his devoted wife, and allows her to accompany him to the forest. 1 As through his stately halls the hero past, The load of anguish that was heavy there. Soon as she markt the clammy drops that hung On his pale cheek, she cried, with faltering tongue : 1 A version of part of this scene, from Gorresio's edition of the Bengal recension of the Ramayana, has appeared, under the title of "Sita," in Idylls from the Sanskrit. The main features are the same in both, but the details slightly differ. "What ails thee, O my lord? This happy day Should see thee joyful: all but thou are gay. For its white beauty, shade thee to thy home? To bring thee home with melody and song? Thus Sita questioned in her wild suspense. And Rama said: "My father sends me hence An exile to the forest: hear me tell The story, Sita, as it all befell. Of old, to queen Kaikeyi, bound by oath, Two boons he granted: now she claims them both. All was prepared for me: my father now Is forced by Duty's mightier law to bow; So Bharat sits upon the throne, and I For twice seven years to distant forests fly. And now, dear Sita, never praise my name I go be firm and strong, my noble spouse, And O, forget not, Rama's brothers claim, |