Page:The poetical works of Matthew Arnold, 1897.djvu/133

Rh In vain therefore, with wistful eyes

Gazing up hither, the poor man,

Who loiters by the high-heaped booths,

Below there, in the Registàn,—

Says, "Happy he who lodges there!

With silken raiment, store of rice,

And for this drought, all kinds of fruits,

Grape-sirup, squares of colored ice,—

"With cherries served in drifts of snow."

In vain hath a king power to build

Houses, arcades, enamelled mosques;

And to make orchard-closes, filled

With curious fruit-trees brought from far,

With cisterns for the winter-rain,

And, in the desert, spacious inns

In divers places,—if that pain

Is not more lightened, which he feels,

If his will be not satisfied;

And that it be not, from all time

The law is planted, to abide.

Thou wast a sinner, thou poor man!

Thou wast athirst; and didst not see,

That, though we take what we desire,

We must not snatch it eagerly.

And I have meat and drink at will,

And rooms of treasures, not a few.

But I am sick, nor heed I these;

And what I would, I cannot do.