Unseen the magic arrow came,
Amidst the laughter and the
scorn
Of royal youths—like
lightning flame
Sudden and sharp. They
blew the horn,
As down upon the ground he
fell,
Not hurt, but made a jest
and game;—
He rose—and waved
a proud farewell,
But cheek and brow grew red
with shame.
And lo—a single,
single tear
Dropped from his eyelash as
he past,
“My place I gather is
not here;
No matter—what
is rank or caste?
In us is honor, or disgrace,
Not out of us,” ’twas
thus he mused,
“The question is—not
wealth or place,
But gifts well used, or gifts
abused.”
“And I shall do my best
to gain
The science that man will
not teach,
For life is as a shadow vain,
Until the utmost goal we reach
To which the soul points.
I shall try
To realize my waking dream,
And what if I should chance
to die?
None miss one bubble from
a stream.”
So thinking, on and on he
went,
Till he attained the forest’s
verge,
The garish day was well-nigh
spent,
Birds had already raised its
dirge.
Oh what a scene! How
sweet and calm!
It soothed at once his wounded
pride,
And on his spirit shed a balm
That all its yearnings purified.
What glorious trees!
The sombre saul
On which the eye delights
to rest,
The betel-nut—a
pillar tall,
With feathery branches for
a crest,
The light-leaved tamarind
spreading wide,
The pale faint-scented bitter
neem,
The seemul, gorgeous as a
bride,
With flowers that have the
ruby’s gleam,
The Indian fig’s pavilion
tent
In which whole armies might
repose,
With here and there a little
rent,
The sunset’s beauty
to disclose,
The bamboo boughs that sway
and swing
’Neath bulbuls as the
south wind blows,
The mango-tope, a close dark
ring,
Home of the rooks and clamorous
crows,
The champac, bok, and South-sea
pine,
The nagessur with pendant
flowers
Like ear-rings—and
the forest vine
That clinging over all, embowers,
The sirish famed in Sanscrit
song
Which rural maidens love to
wear,
The peepul giant-like and
strong,
The bramble with its matted
hair,
All these, and thousands,
thousands more,
With helmet red, or golden
crown,
Or green tiara, rose before
The youth in evening’s
shadows brown.
He passed into the forest—there
New sights of wonder met his
view,
A waving Pampas green and
fair
All glistening with the evening
dew.
How vivid was the breast-high
grass!
Here waved in patches, forest
corn—
Here intervened a deep morass—
Here arid spots of verdure
shorn
Lay open—rock or
barren sand—
And here again the trees arose
Thick clustering—a
glorious band
Their tops still bright with
sunset glows.—