Page:Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan.djvu/72

36 Oh let me, let me ever dwell
 * Amidst the good, where'er it be,

Whether in lowly hermit-cell
 * Or in some spot beyond the sea.

The favours man accords to men
 * Are never fruitless, from them rise

A thousand acts beyond our ken
 * That float like incense to the skies;

For benefits can ne'er efface,
 * They multiply and widely spread,

And honour follows on their trace.
 * Sharp penances, and vigils dread,

Austerities, and wasting fasts,
 * Create an empire, and the blest

Long as this spiritual empire lasts
 * Become the saviours of the rest."

"O thou endowed with every grace
 * And every virtue,—thou whose soul

Appears upon thy lovely face,
 * May the great gods who all control

Send thee their peace. I too would give
 * One favour more before I go;

Ask something for thyself, and live
 * Happy, and dear to all below,