He used to love, when women friends were near,
  To whisper things he might have said aloud
    That he might touch thy face and kiss thine ear;
  Unheard and even unseen, no longer proud,
  He now must send this yearning message by a cloud.

  XLI

According to the treatise called “Virtues Banner,” a lover has four solaces in separation:  first, looking at objects that remind him of her he loves;

    ’I see thy limbs in graceful-creeping vines,
  Thy glances in the eyes of gentle deer,
    Thine eyebrows in the ripple’s dancing lines,
  Thy locks in plumes, thy face in moonlight clear—­
  Ah, jealous!  But the whole sweet image is not here.

  XLII

  second, painting a picture of her;

    And when I paint that loving jealousy
  With chalk upon the rock, and my caress
    As at thy feet I lie, I cannot see
  Through tears that to mine eyes unbidden press—­
  So stern a fate denies a painted happiness.

  XLIII

  third, dreaming of her;

    And when I toss mine arms to clasp thee tight,
  Mine own though but in visions of a dream—­
    They who behold the oft-repeated sight,
  The kind divinities of wood and stream,
  Let fall great pearly tears that on the blossoms gleam.

  XLIV

  fourth, touching something which she
  has touched.

    Himalaya’s breeze blows gently from the north,
  Unsheathing twigs upon the deodar
    And sweet with sap that it entices forth—­
  I embrace it lovingly; it came so far,
  Perhaps it touched thee first, my life’s unchanging star!

  XLV

    Oh, might the long, long night seem short to me! 
  Oh, might the day his hourly tortures hide! 
    Such longings for the things that cannot be,
  Consume my helpless heart, sweet-glancing bride,
  In burning agonies of absence from thy side.

  XLVI

  The bride is besought not to lose heart at
  hearing of her lover’s wretchedness,

    Yet much reflection, dearest, makes me strong,
  Strong with an inner strength; nor shouldst thou feel
    Despair at what has come to us of wrong;
  Who has unending woe or lasting weal? 
  Our fates move up and down upon a circling wheel.

  XLVII

and to remember that the curse has its appointed end, when the rainy season is over and the year of exile fulfilled.  Vishnu spends the rainy months in sleep upon the back of the cosmic serpent Shesha.

    When Vishnu rises from his serpent bed
  The curse is ended; close thine eyelids tight
    And wait till only four months more are sped;
  Then we shall taste each long-desired delight
  Through nights that the full autumn moon illumines bright.

  XLVIII