Page:Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan.djvu/91

Rh A ragged herd-boy, here and there,
 * With his long stick and naked feet;

A ploughman wending to his care,
 * The field from which he hopes the wheat;

An early traveller, hurrying fast
 * To the next town; an urchin slow

Bound for the school; these heard and past,
 * Unheeding all,—"Shell-bracelets ho!"

Pellucid spread a lake-like tank
 * Beside the road now lonelier still,

High on three sides arose the bank
 * Which fruit-trees shadowed at their will;

Upon the fourth side was the Ghat,
 * With its broad stairs of marble white,

And at the entrance-arch there sat,
 * Full face against the morning light,

A fair young woman with large eyes,
 * And dark hair falling to her zone,

She heard the pedlar's cry arise,
 * And eager seemed his ware to own.

"Shell-bracelets ho! See, maiden see!
 * The rich enamel sunbeam-kist!

Happy, oh happy, shalt thou be,
 * Let them but clasp that slender wrist;