1861 .] 
Indian Idylls, No. 1. 
11 
“ Safe in thy love, I dread no living foe ; 
Thy friendship, sage, protects from every woe ; 
Vain are my arrows, vain all earthly arms, 
For thou hast blest me with thy mystic charms. 
Heaven hears thy voice ; thou bid’st the flame arise, 
To call down water from obedient skies ; 
My people thrive, from grief and sickness free, 
And all these blessings, Saint, we owe to thee. 
“ With thee, great lord, to counsel and befriend, 
The bliss thou sendest surely ne’er should end ; 
But Mother Earth, whom tears nor prayers have won, 
Is still ungracious and denies a son ; 
She teems with jewels, and can yet withhold 
One treasure lovelier than gems and gold. 
“ The spirits of my fathers pine to see 
No hope of funeral offerings after me, 
And, if they taste the drink my care supplies, 
They taste it heated with unceasing sighs. 
As Lokaloka’s chain,* with one side bright, 
The other buried in eternal night, 
Pure is my soul through sacrifice and prayer, 
But all the rest is dark without an heir. 
Thou knowest in the world to eome our bliss 
Springs from our Penance and good works in this ; 
But he to whom a saviour son is given 
Finds peace on earth and endless joy in Heaven. 
“ Dear guide and guardian, thou would’st grieve to see 
No golden blossoms on the favourite tree 
Thou hast so often watered ; and, when I, 
Thy friend, am childless, wilt thou check the sigh ? 
Oh, aid me in my woe : ’tis ever thine 
To bring good succour to our ancient line !” 
He spake. One instant, ere the sage replies, 
He fixes, in deep thought, his searching eyes ; 
Still as some lake at summer’s noon, when deep 
In sunless caverns lie the fish asleep. 
* A mountainous belt, surrounding the outermost of the seven sens, and bound 
mg the world. 
Q 2 
