Page:Poets of John Company.djvu/26

4 Above the warring waves it danc'd elate,
 * Till from its bursting shell with lovely state
 * A form cerulean flutter'd o'er the deep.
 * Brightest of beings, greatest of the great:
 * Who, not as mortals steep
 * Their eyes in dewy sleep,

But heav'nly-pensive on the Lotus lay, That blossom'd at his touch and shed a golden ray.

Hail, primal Blossom! hail empyreal gem!
 * KEMEL, or PEDMA, or whate'er high name
 * Delight thee, say, what four-form'd Godhead came,
 * With graceful stole and beamy diadem,
 * Forth from thy verdant stem?

Full-gifted BREHMA! Rapt in solemn thought
 * He stood, and round his eyes fire-darting threw:
 * But, whilst his viewless origin he sought,
 * One plain he saw of living waters blue,
 * Their spring nor saw nor knew.

Then, in his parent stalk again retir'd
 * With restless pain for ages he inquir'd.
 * What were his pow'rs, by whom, and why conf err'd:
 * With doubts perplex'd, with keen impatience fir'd
 * He rose, and rising heard
 * Th' unknown all-knowing Word,
 * "BREHMA! no more in vain research persist:

My veil thou canst not move.—Go; bid all worlds exist."

Hail, self-existent, in celestial speech
 * NARAYEN, from thy watery cradle, nam'd;
 * Or VENAMALY may I sing unblam'd,
 * With flow'ry braids, that to thy sandals reach.
 * Whose beauties, who can teach?
 * Or high PEITAMBER clad in yellow robes
 * Than sunbeams brighter in meridian glow.
 * That weave their heav'n-spun light o'er circling globes?
 * Unwearied, lotus-eyed, with dreadful bow,
 * Dire Evil's constant foe,