Never should she behold her father more,
The wretched Maiden said, in her despair;
Yet would not quit the shore,

Nor turn her eyes one moment from the sea:
Never before

Had Kailyal watch'd it so impatiently,
Never so eagerly had hoped before,
As now, when she believed, and said, all hope was

o'er.

6.

Beholding her, how beautiful she stood,
In that wild solitude,

Baly from his invisibility

Had issued then, to know her cause of woe;
But that in the air beside her, he espied
Two Powers of Evil for her hurt allied,
Foul Arvalan and dreadful Lorrinite.
Walking in darkness him they could not see,
And marking with what demon-like delight
They kept their innocent prey in sight,
He waits, expecting what the end may be.

7.

She starts; for lo! where, floating many a rood, A Monster, hugest of the Ocean brood, Weltering and lifeless, drifts toward the shore. Backward she starts in fear before the flood, And, when the waves retreat,

They leave their hideous burden at her feet.

8.

She ventures to approach with timid tread; She starts, and half draws back in fear, Then stops, and stretches out her head, To see if that huge Beast indeed be dead. Now, growing bold, the Maid advances near, Even to the margin of the ocean-flood. Rightly she reads her Father's victory, And lifts her joyous hands exultingly To Heaven in gratitude. Then, spreading them toward the Sea, While pious tears bedim her streaming eyes, Come! come! my Father, come to me;

Ereenia, come! she cries;

Lo! from the opening deep they rise, And to Ladurlad's arms the happy Kailyal flies.

9.

The Asuras once again appear, And seize Ladurlad and the Glendoveer.

11.

Hold your accursed hands!

A voice exclaim'd, whose dread commands Were fear'd through all the vaults of Padalon; And there among them, in the midnight air, The presence of the mighty Baly shone. He, making manifest his mightiness, Put forth on every side a hundred arms, And seized the Sorceress; maugre all her charms, Her and her fiendish ministers he caught With force as uncontrollable as fate, And that unhappy Soul, to whom The Almighty Rajah's power availeth not Living to avert, nor dead to mitigate, His righteous doom.

12.

Help, help, Kehama! Father, help! he cried; But Baly tarried not to abide

That mightier Power; with irresistible feet He stamp'd and cleft the Earth; it open'd wide, And gave him way to his own Judgment-seat. Down, like a plummet, to the World below He sunk, and bore his prey

To punishment deserved, and endless woe.

XVIII.

KEHAMA'S DESCENT.

1.

THE Earth, by Baly's feet divided, Closed o'er his way as to the Judgment-seat He plunged and bore his prey. Scarce had the shock subsided, When, darting from the Swerga's heavenly heights, Kehama, like a thunderbolt, alights. In wrath he came; a bickering flame Flash'd from his eyes, which made the moonlight

dim,

And passion forcing way from every limb, Like furnace-smoke, with terrors wrapt him round. Furious he smote the ground;

That thou shouldst brave me?-kindling in his pride

The dreadful Rajah cried.

Ho! Yamen! hear me. God of Padalon,
Prepare thy throne,

And let the Amreeta cup

Be ready for my lips, when I anon
Triumphantly shall take my seat thereon,
And plant upon thy neck my royal feet.

3.

In voice like thunder thus the Rajah cried, Impending o'er the abyss, with menacing hand Put forth, as in the action of command, And eyes that darted their red anger down. Then, drawing back, he let the earth subside,

And, as his wrath relax'd, survey'd, Thoughtfully and silently, the mortal Maid. Her eye the while was on the farthest sky,

Where up the ethereal height Ereenia rose and pass'd away from sight. Never had she so joyfully Beheld the coming of the Glendoveer, Dear as he was and he deserved to be, As now she saw him rise and disappear. Come now what will, within her heart said she; For thou art safe, and what have I to fear?

In fear no longer for the Glendoveer, Now toward the Rajah Kailyal turn'd her eyes, As if to ask what doom awaited her. But then surprise,

Even as with fascination, held them there;
So strange a thing it seem'd to see the change
Of purport in that all-commanding brow,
Which thoughtfully was bent upon her now.
Wondering she gazed, the while her Father's eye

Was fixed upon Kehama haughtily;
It spake defiance to him, high disdain,
Stern patience unsubduable by pain,
And pride triumphant over agony.

6.

Ladurlad, said the Rajah, thou and I Alike have done the work of Destiny, Unknowing each to what the impulse tended; But now that over Earth and Heaven my reign Is stablish'd, and the ways of Fate are plain Before me, here our enmity is ended. I take away thy Curse. As thus he said,

The fire which in Ladurlad's heart and brain
Was burning, fled, and left him free from pain.
So rapidly his torments were departed,
That at the sudden ease he started,

As with a shock, and to his head
His hands up-fled,

As if he felt through every failing limb The power and sense of life forsaking him.

7.

Then turning to the Maid, the Rajah cried, O Virgin, above all of mortal birth Favor'd alike in beauty and in worth, And in the glories of thy destiny, Now let thy happy heart exult with pride, For Fate hath chosen thee To be Kehama's bride, To be the Queen of Heaven and Earth, And of whatever Worlds beside Infinity may hide; for I can see The writing which, at thy nativity, All-knowing Nature wrought upon thy brain, In branching veins, which to the gifted eye Map out the mazes of futurity. There is it written, Maid, that thou and I, Alone of human kind a deathless pair, Are doom'd to share

The Amreeta-drink divine Of immortality. Come, Maiden mine! High-fated One, ascend the subject sky, And by Kehama's side Sit on the Swerga throne, his equal bride.

She needeth not my counsel, he replied, And idly, Rajah, dost thou reason thus Of Destiny! for though all other things Were subject to the starry influencings, And bow'd submissive to thy tyranny, The virtuous heart and resolute mind are free. { Thus in their wisdom did the Gods decree When they created man. Let come what will This is our rock of strength; in every ill, Sorrow, oppression, pain, and agony, The spirit of the good is unsubdued, And, suffer as they may, they triumph still.

11. Obstinate fools! exclaim'd the Mighty One; Fate and my pleasure must be done, And ye resist in vain!

Take your fit guerdon till we meet again! So saying, his vindictive hand he flung Towards them, fill'd with curses; then on high Aloft he sprung, and vanish'd through the Sky.

XIX.

MOUNT CALASAY.

1.

THE Rajah, scattering curses as he rose, Soar'd to the Swerga, and resumed his throne. Not for his own redoubled agony, Which now, through heart and brain, With renovated pain,

Rush'd to its seat, Ladurlad breathes that groan.
That groan is for his child; he groan'd to see
That she was stricken now with leprosy,
Which, as the enemy vindictive fled,
O'er all her frame with quick contagion spread.
She, wondering at events so passing strange,
And fill'd with hope and fear,
And joy to see the Tyrant disappear,
And glad expectance of her Glendoveer,
Perceived not in herself the hideous change.
His burning pain, she thought, had forced the

groan

Her father breathed; his agonies alone Were present to her mind; she clasp'd his knees, Wept for his Curse, and did not feel her own.

2.

Nor, when she saw her plague, did her good heart,
True to itself, even for a moment fail.
Ha, Rajah! with disdainful smile she cries,
Mighty, and wise, and wicked as thou art,
Still thy blind vengeance acts a friendly part.
Shall I not thank thee for this scurf and scale
Of dire deformity, whose loathsomeness,
Surer than panoply of strongest mail,
Arms me against all foes? Oh, better so,
Better such foul disgrace,
Than that this innocent face
Should tempt thy wooing! That I need not dread:
Nor ever impious foe

Will offer outrage now, nor further woe Will beauty draw on my unhappy head; Safe through the unholy world may Kailyal go.

3.

Her face, in virtuous pride,

Was lifted to the skies,

As him and his poor vengeance she defied;

A thought of earthly love which troubled her? 1 Like yon thin cloud, amid the moonlight sky, That flits before the wind,

And leaves no trace behind,

The womanly pang pass'd over Kailyal's mind. This is a loathsome sight to human eye, Half shrinking at herself, the maiden thought; Will it be so to him? Oh, surely not! The immortal Powers, who see Through the poor wrappings of mortality, Behold the soul, the beautiful soul, within, Exempt from age and wasting maladies, And undeform'd, while pure and free from sin. This is a loathsome sight to human eyes, But not to eyes divine,

Ereenia, Son of Heaven, oh, not to thine!

4.

The wrongful thought of fear, the womanly pain Had pass'd away; her heart was calm again. She raised her head, expecting now to see The Glendoveer appear;

Where hath he fled, quoth she,

That he should tarry now? Oh! had she known Whither the adventurous Son of Heaven was flown,

Strong as her spirit was, it had not borne The appalling thought, nor dared to hope for his

return.

5.

For he in search of Seeva's throne was gone,
To tell his tale of wrong;

In search of Seeva's own abode
The Glendoveer began his heavenly road.
O wild emprise! above the farthest skies
He hoped to rise!

Him who is throned beyond the reach of thought,
The Alone, the Inaccessible, he sought.
O wild emprise! for when, in days of yore,
For proud preeminence of power,

Brama and Veeshnoo, wild with rage, contended,
And Seeva, in his might,

Their dread contention ended,

Before their sight

In form a fiery column did he tower,
Whose head above the highest height extended,
Whose base below the deepest depth descended.
Downward, its depth to sound,
Veeshnoo a thousand years explored
The fathomless profound,

And yet no base he found:
Upward, to reach its head,

Ten myriad years the aspiring Brama soar'd,
And still, as up he fled,

Above him still the Immeasurable spread.
The rivals own'd their Lord,

And trembled and adored.
How shall the Glendoveer attain

As if she sought to hide

The tear which in her own despite would rise. Did then the thought of her own Glendoveer Call forth that natural tear?

Was it a woman's fear,

6.

Ne'er did such thought of lofty daring enter Celestial Spirit's mind. O wild adventure That throne to find, for he must leave behind

This World, that in the centre, Within its salt-sea girdle, lies confined; Yea, the Seven Earths that, each with its own

ocean,

Ring clasping ring, compose the mighty round. What power of motion,

In less than endless years shall bear him there, Along the limitless extent,

To the utmost bound of the remotest spheres?
What strength of wing

Suffice to pierce the Golden Firmament
That closes all within?

Yet he hath pass'd the measureless extent,
And pierced the Golden Firmament;

For Faith hath given him power, and Space and
Time

Vanish before that energy sublime.
Nor doth eternal Night

And outer Darkness check his resolute flight; By strong desire through all he makes his way, Till Seeva's Seat appears, behold Mount Calasay!

7.

Behold the Silver Mountain! round about
Seven ladders stand, so high, the aching eye,
Seeking their tops in vain amid the sky,
Might deem they led from earth to highest Heaven.
Ages would pass away,
And worlds with age decay,

Ere one, whose patient feet, from ring to ring,
Must win their upward way,
Could reach the summit of Mount Calasay.
But that strong power that nerved his wing,
That all-surmounting will,

Intensity of faith and holiest love,
Sustain'd Ereenia still;

And he hath gain'd the plain, the sanctuary above.

8.

Lo, there the Silver Bell,

That, self-sustain'd, hangs buoyant in the air!
Lo! the broad Table there, too bright
For mortal sight,

From whose four sides the bordering gems unite
Their harmonizing rays,

In one mid fount of many-color'd light. The stream of splendor, flashing as it flows, Plays round, and feeds the stem of yon celestial

Rose !

Where is the Sage whose wisdom can declare The hidden things of that mysterious flower, That flower which serves all mysteries to bear?

The sacred Triangle is there,

Holding the Emblem which no tongue may tell; Is this the Heaven of Heavens, where Seeva's self doth dwell?

9.

Here first the Glendoveer

Felt his wing flag, and paused upon his flight.
Was it that fear came over him, when here
He saw the imagined throne appear?

Not so, for his immortal sight
Endured the Table's light;

So saying, up he sprung,

And struck the Bell, which self-suspended hung Before the mystic Rose.

From side to side the silver tongue Melodious swung, and far and wide Soul-thrilling tones of heavenly music rung. Abash'd, confounded

It left the Glendoveer; yea, all astounded In overpowering fear and deep dismay; For when that Bell had sounded, The Rose, with all the mysteries it surrounded, The Bell, the Table, and Mount Calasay,

The holy Hill itself, with all thereon, Even as a morning dream, before the day, Dissolves away, they faded and were gone.

12.

Where shall he rest his wing? where turn for flight?
For all around is Light,

Primal, essential, all-pervading Light!
Heart cannot think, nor tongue declare,
Nor eyes of Angel bear
That Glory unimaginably bright;
The Sun himself had seem'd
A speck of darkness there,
Amid that Light of Light!

13.

Down fell the Glendoveer;

Down through all regions, to our mundane sphere

He fell; but in his ear

A Voice, which from within him came, was heard,
The indubitable word

Of Him to whom all secret things are known:
Go, ye who suffer, go to Yamen's throne.
He hath the remedy for every woe;
He setteth right whate'er is wrong below.

XX.

THE EMBARKATION.

1.

Down from the Heaven of Heavens Ereenia fell Precipitate, yet imperceptible

His fall; nor had he cause nor thought of fear; And when he came within this mundane sphere, And felt that Earth was near,

The Glendoveer his azure wings expanded,
And, sloping down the sky

Toward the spot from whence he sprung on high,

There on the shore he landed.

2.

Kailyal advanced to meet him,

Not moving now as she was wont to greet him,
Joy in her eye and in her eager pace;
With a calm smile of melancholy pride
She met him now, and, turning half aside,
Her warning hand repell'd the dear embrace.

3.

Strange things, Ereenia, have befallen us here,
The Virgin said; the Almighty Man hath read
The lines which, traced by Nature on my brain,
There to the gifted eye
Make all my fortunes plain,
Mapping the mazes of futurity.

He sued for peace, for it is written there
That I with him the Amreeta cup must share;
Wherefore he bade me come, and by his side
Sit on the Swerga-throne, his equal bride.
I need not tell thee what reply was given;
My heart, the sure interpreter of Heaven,
His impious words belied.

"Thou seest his poor revenge! So having said, One look she glanced upon her leprous stain Indignantly, and shook

Her head in calm disdain

4.

O Maid of soul divine!

O more than ever dear,

And more than ever mine,
Replied the Glendoveer;

He hath not read, be sure, the mystic ways
Of Fate; almighty as he is, that maze
Hath mock'd his fallible sight.
Said he the Amreeta cup? So far aright
The Evil One may see; for Fate displays
Her hidden things in part, and part conceals,
Baffling the wicked eye

Alike with what she hides, and what reveals,

When with unholy purpose it would pry
Into the secrets of futurity.

So may it be permitted him to see
Dimly the inscrutable decree;
For to the World below,

Where Yamen guards the Amreeta, we must go; Thus Seeva hath express'd his will; even he, The Holiest, hath ordain'd it; there, he saith, All wrongs shall be redress'd

By Yamen, by the righteous Power of Death.

5.

Forthwith the Father and the fated Maid,
And that heroic Spirit, who for them
Such flight had late essay'd,
The will of Heaven obey'd.
They went their way along the road
That leads to Yamen's dread abode.

6.

Many a day hath pass'd away
Since they began their arduous way,
Their way of toil and pain;
And now their weary feet attain
The Earth's remotest bound,
Where outer Ocean girds it round.
But not like other Oceans this;
Rather it seem'd a drear abyss,
Upon whose brink they stood.
Oh! scene of fear! the travellers hear
The raging of the flood;
They hear how fearfully it roars,
But clouds of darker shade than night
Forever hovering round those shores,

Hide all things from their sight;
The Sun upon that darkness pours
His unavailing light,

Nor ever Moon nor Stars display, Through the thick shade, one guiding ray To show the perils of the way.

7.

There, in a creek, a vessel lay;
Just on the confines of the day,

It rode at anchor in its bay,
These venturous pilgrims to convey
Across that outer Sea.
Strange vessel sure it seem'd to be,
And all unfit for such wild sea!
For through its yawning side the wave
Was oozing in; the mast was frail,
And old and torn its only sail.
How may that crazy vessel brave
The billows that in wild commotion
Forever roar and rave?

How hope to cross the dreadful Ocean O'er which eternal shadows dwell, Whose secrets none return to tell!

8.

Well might the travellers fear to enter!
But summon'd once on that adventure,
For them was no retreat.
Nor boots it with reluctant feet
To linger on the strand;