Canto 7Saraswati with the Lotus
Book 1. Part One - England and Baroda 1883 – 1898
England and Baroda, 1883–1898
Souls regal to the mould divine most near,
And reign, or rise on throne-intending wings,
Making thee father to a line of kings.
5On a Satyr and Sleeping Love
Me whom the purple mead that Bromius owns
And girdles rent of amorous girls did please,
Now the inspired and curious hand decrees
That waked quick life in these quiescent stones,
10To yield thee water pure. Thou lest the sleep
Yon perilous boy unchain, more softly creep.
PLATO
A Rose of Women
Now lilies blow upon the windy height,
15Now flowers the pansy kissed by tender rain,
Narcissus builds his house of self-delight
And Love’s own fairest flower blooms again;
Vainly your gems, O meadows, you recall;
One simple girl breathes sweeter than you all.
20MELEAGER
Saraswati with the Lotus
(Bankim Chandra Chatterji. Obiit 1894)
Thy tears fall fast, O mother, on its bloom,
O white-armed mother, like honey fall thy tears;
25Yet even their sweetness can no more relume
The golden light, the fragrance heaven rears,
The fragrance and the light for ever shed
Upon his lips immortal who is dead.