27G 



Life and Writings of Fathei' Beschi, 



[April 



hered blessings are conferred! 0 thou icho art the knowledge which giveth 

 understandings who in the human form destroy edst sin.' who art a pre^ 

 Clous jewel set in gold! 1 worship thy feet diffusing fragrance. 



O thou who possesseth knowledge not conveyed hy words and art the 

 word by which the highest virtue is conferred! 0 thou who art a broad 

 ocean without a shore and the shore attained by beatified spirits! 0 thou, 

 uho art eternal happiness without limit and the limit to be attained only 

 by unceasing devotion! 0 thou, the Son of man without an equals I wor^ 

 ship the newly blown fower of thy feet ! 



O thou whose protecting grace resembleih the shade of fragrant flow- 

 ers, who art the exalted sense of the scripture, whose hand, bounteous as 

 the clouds, dispenseth felicity, who art alone the cause of salvation, whose 

 feet those dwelling in the two worlds adore and adorn with flowers, who 

 art both the teacher and the path of virtue, I worship the blooming flower 

 of thy feet! 



THE DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY OF JUDEA. 



On the Cloud and Rain.* 



(oLsn' n i^pik}0&[rQleu'ofr n'QpirQiS'iTe&QijuesroLS ^gy 

 u es) L—0 LLi <oiir & 0 (F (1^ ill u s ^ iruui—if ^ ^ <ssr Qj io eo [T p 



As in an army arrayed for battle, over all the sky, where the birds rove, 

 white clouds appear resembling white banners ; but, having filled them- 

 selves with the clear waves of the ocean, they spread abroad and seem 

 like a mighty herd of black and furious elephants. 



Like bright spears glancing from the breasts of enemies in the field 



* It is an invariable lule in the Tamil language, after the invocation, and the state- 

 ment of the subject, to open a poem with a description of the hero's country, and of the 

 capital where he is supposed to have reigned or flourished ; and these are represented 

 in the most favourable colours ; not such as they are believed to have been, but such as 

 the poet chooses to describe them. In this description, the rains which descend in the 

 mountains, the streams which flow from them, and the consequent fertility of the goua- 

 try, never fail to hare their place. Vide paae 112, Shea Tamil Grammar, . 



