Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 9.djvu/200

170 I shall be amongst the gods. E'en the heavenly boy's own image, Though in brow and eye so lovely, Sinking downwards to the bosom Mad and raging lust will stir.

"'Twill return again for ever, Ever rising, ever sinking, Now obscured, and now transfigured, So great Brama hath ordained. He 'twas sent the beauteous pinions, Radiant face, and slender members Of the only God-begotten, That I might be proved and tempted; For from high descends temptation. When the gods ordain it so. And so I, the Brahmin woman, With my head in Heaven reclining, Must experience, as a Pariah, The debasing power of earth.

"Son, I send thee to thy father! Comfort him! Let no sad penance, Weak delay, or thought of merit. Hold thee in the desert fast; Wander on through ev'ry nation, Roam abroad throughout all ages. And proclaim to e'en the meanest, That great Brama hears his cry!

"None is in his eyes the meanest— He whose limbs are lame and palsied, He whose soul is wildly riven, Worn with sorrow, hopeless, helpless, Be he Brahmin, be he Pariah, If tow'rd heaven he turns his gaze,