hopes—­
  Made him forget how sorrow fills the world,
  How strength is used to crush and not to raise,
  How creeds are bandages to blind men’s eyes,
  Lest they should see and walk in duty’s path
  That leads to peace on earth and joy in heaven,
  And even made him for the time forget
  His noble mission to restore and save.

  He sought her for his bride, but waited long,
  For princes cannot wed like common folk—­
  Friends called, a feast prepared, some bridal gifts,
  Some tears at parting and some solemn vows,
  Rice scattered, slippers thrown with noisy mirth,
  And common folk are joined till death shall part. 
  Till death shall part!  O faithless, cruel thought! 
  Death ne’er shall part souls joined by holy love,
  Who through life’s trials, joys and cares
  Have to each other clung, faithful till death,
  Tender and true in sickness and in health,
  Bearing each other’s burdens, sharing griefs,
  Lightening each care and heightening every joy. 
  Such life is but a transient honeymoon,
  A feeble foretaste of eternal joys. 
  But princes when they love, though all approve,
  Must wait on councils, embassies and forms. 
  But how the coach of state lumbers and lags
  With messages of love whose own light wings
  Glide through all bars, outstrip all fleetest things—­
  No bird so light, no thought so fleet as they.

  But while the prince chafed at the long delay,
  The sweet Yasodhara began to feel
  The bitter pangs of unrequited love. 
  But her young hands, busy with others’ wants,
  And her young heart, busy with others’ woes,
  With acts of kindness filled the lagging hours,
  Best of all medicines for aching hearts. 
  Yet often she would seek a quiet nook
  Deep in the park, where giant trees cross arms,
  Making high gothic arches, and a shade
  That noonday’s fiercest rays could scarcely pierce,
  And there alone with her sad heart communed: 
  “Yes!  I have kept it for the giver’s sake,
  But he has quite forgot his love, his gift, and me. 
  How bright these jewels seemed warmed by his love,
  But now how dull, how icy and how dead!”
  But soon the soft-eyed antelopes and fawns
  And fleet gazelles came near and licked her hands;
  And birds of every rich and varied plume
  Gathered around and filled the air with song;
  And even timid pheasants brought their broods,
  For her sweet loving life had here restored
  The peace and harmony of paradise;
  And as they shared her bounty she was soothed
  By their mute confidence and perfect trust.

  But though time seems to lag, yet still it moves,
  Resistless as the ocean’s swelling tide,
  Bearing its mighty freight of human lives
  With all their joys and sorrows, hopes and fears,
  Onward, forever onward, to life’s goal.