Page:The Bird of Time (Naidu).djvu/73



are my pitchers and far to carry, Lone is the way and long, Why, O why was I tempted to tarry Lured by the boatmen's song? Swiftly the shadows of night are falling, Hear, O hear, is the white crane calling, Is it the wild owl's cry? There are no tender moonbeams to light me, If in the darkness a serpent should bite me, Or if an evil spirit should smite me, Rām re Rām! I shall die.

My brother will murmur "Why doth she linger?" My mother will wait and weep, Saying, "O safe may the great gods bring her, The Jamuna's waters are deep." . . . 57