The Curse of Kehama/The Retreat

THE CURSE OF KEHAMA. XIII. THE RETREAT.

1. Around her Father's neck the Maiden lock'd Her arms, when that portentous blow was given ; Clinging to him she heard the dread uproar, And felt the shuddering shock which ran through Heaven. Earth underneath them rock'd, Her strong foundations heaving in commotion, Such as wild winds upraise in raving Ocean, As though the solid base were rent asunder. And lo ! where, storming the astonish'd sky, Kehama and his evil host ascend ! Before them rolls the thunder, Ten thousand thousand lightnings round them fly, Upward the lengthening pageantries aspire, Leaving from Earth to Heaven a widening wake of fire. .

2. When the wild uproar was at length allay'd, And Earth, recovering from the shock, was still, Thus to her father spake the imploring Maid. Oh ! by the love which we so long have borne Each other, and we ne'er shall cease to bear,. . Oh ! by the sufferings we have shar'd, And must not cease to share,,. One boon I supplicate in this dread hour, One consolation in this hour of woe ! Thou hast it in thy power, refuse not thou The only comfort now That my poor heart can know.

3. O dearest, dearest Kailyal ! with a smile Of tenderness and sorrow, he replied, O best belov'd, and to be lov'd the best Best worthy,. . set thy duteous heart at rest. I know thy wish, and let what will betide, Ne'er will I leave thee wilfully again. My soul is strengthen'd to endure its pain ; Be thou, in all my wanderings, still my guide ; Be thou, in all ray sufferings, at my side.

4. The Maiden, at those welcome words, imprest A passionate kiss upon her father's cheek : They look'd around them, then, as if to seek Where they should turn, North, South,orEastor West, Wherever to their vagrant feet seem'd best. But, turning from the view her mournful eyes, Oh, whither should we wander, Kailyal cries, Or wherefore seek in vain a place of rest ? Have we not here the Earth beneath our tread, Heaven overhead, A brook that winds through this sequester'd glade, And yonder woods, to yield us fruit and shade ! The little all our wants require is nigh ; Hope we have none,. . why travel on in fear ? We cannot fly from Fate, and Fate will find us here.

5. 'Twas a fair scene wherein they stood, A green and sunny glade amid the wood, And in the midst an aged Banian grew. It was a goodly sight to see That venerable tree, For o'er the lawn, irregularly spread, Fifty straight columns propt its lofty head ; And many a long depending shoot, Seeking to strike its root, Straight like a plummet, grew towards the ground. Some on the lower boughs, which crost their way, Fixing their bearded fibres, round and round, With many a ring and wild contortion wound ; Some to the passing wind at times, with sway Of gentle motion swung, Others of younger growth, unmov'd, were hung Like stone-drops from the cavern's fretted height. Beneath was smooth and fair to sight, Nor weeds nor briars deform'd the natural floor, And through the leafy cope which bower'd it o'er Came gleams of checquered light. So like a temple did it seem, that there A pious heart's first impulse would be prayer.

6. A brook, with easy current, murmured near ; Water so cool and clear The peasants drink not from the humble well, Which they with sacrifice of rural pride, Have wedded to the cocoa-grove beside ; Nor tanks of costliest masonry dispense To those in towns .who dwell, The work of Kings, in their beneficence- Fed by perpetual springs, a small lagoon, Pellucid, deep, and still, in silence join'd And swell'd the passing stream. Like burnish'd steel Glowing, it lay beneath the eye of noon ; And when the breezes, in their play, Ruffled the darkening surface, then, with gleam Of sudden light, around the lotus stem It rippled, and the sacred flowers that crown The lakelet with their roseate beauty, ride, In gentlest waving rock'd, from side to side ; And as the wind upheaves Their broad and buoyant weight, the glossy leaves Flap on the twinkling waters, up and down.

7. They built them here a bower 5 of jointed cane, Strong for the needful use, and light and long Was the slight frame-work rear'd, with little pain; Lithe creepers, then, the wicker-sides supply, And the tall jungle-grass fit roofing gave Beneath that genial sky. And here did Kailyal, each returning day, Pour forth libations from the brook, to pay The Spirits of her Sires their grateful rite ; In such libations pour'd in open glades, Beside clear streams and solitary shades, The Spirits of the virtuous dead delight. And duly here, to Marriataly's praise, The Maid, as with an Angel's voice of song, Pour'd her melodious lays Upon the gales of even, Arid gliding in religious dance along, Mov'd, graceful as the dark-eyed Nymphs of Heayen, Such harmony to all her steps was given.

8. Thus ever, in her Father's doting eye, Kailyal perform'd the customary rite ; He, patient of his burning pain the while, Beheld her, and approv'd her pious toil ; And sometimes, at the sight, A melancholy smile Would gleam upon his awful countenance. He, too, by day and night, and every hour, Paid to a higher Power his sacrifice ; An offering, not of ghee, or fruit, or rice, Flower-crown, or blood ; but of a heart subdued, A resolute, unconquer'd fortitude, An agony represt, a will resign'd, To her, who, on her secret throne reclin'd, Amid the milky Sea, by Veeshnoo's side, Looks with an eye of mercy on mankind. By the Preserver, with his power endued, There Voomdavee beholds this lower clime, And marks the silent sufferings of the good, To recompense them in her own good time.

9. O force of faith ! O strength of virtuous will ! Behold him, in his endless martyrdom, Triumphant still ! The Curse still burning in his heart and brain, And yet doth he remain Patient the while, and tranquil, and content ! The pious soul hath frum'd unto itself A second nature, to exist in pain As in its own allotted element.

10. Such strength the will reveal'd had given This holy pair, such influxes of grace, That to their solitary resting place ' They brought the peace of Heaven. Yea all around was hallowed ! Danger, Fear, Nor thought of evil ever entered here. A charm was on the Leopard when he came Within the circle of that mystic glade ; Submiss he crouch'd before the heavenly maid, And offered to her touch his speckled side ; Or with arch'd back erect, and bending head, And eyes half-clos'd for pleasure, would he stand. Courting the pressure of her gentle hand.

11. Trampling his path through wood and brake, And canes which crackling fall before his way, And tassel-grass, whose silvery feathers play O'ertoppiug the young trees, On comes the Elephant, to slake His thirst at noon in yon pellucid springs. . Lo ! from his trunk upturn'd, aloft he flings The grateful shower; and now Plucking the broad-leav'd bough Of yonder plane, with waving motion slow, Fanning the languid air, He moves it to and fro. , But when that form of beauty meets his sight, The trunk its undulating motion stops, From liis forgetful hold the plane-branch drop?, Reverent he kneels, and lifts his rational eyes To her as if in prayer ; And when she pours her angel voice in song, Entranced he listens to the thrilling notes, Till his strong temples, bath'd with sudden dews, Their fragrance of delight and love diffuse.

12. Lo ! as the voice melodious floats around, The Antelope draws near, The Tygress leaves her toothless cubs to hear, The Snake comes gliding from the secret brake, Himself in fascination forced along By that enchanting song ; The antic Monkies, whose wild gambols late, When not a breeze wav'd the tall jungle-grass, Shook the whole wood, are hush'd, and silently Hang on the cluster'd trees. All things in wonder and delight are still ; Only at times the Nightingale is heard, Not that in emulous skill that sweetest bird Her rival strain would try, A mighty songster, with the Maid to vie; She only bore her part in powerful sympathy.

13. Well might they thus adore that heavenly Maid ! For never Nymph of Mountain, Or Grove, or Lake, or Fountain, With a diviner presence fill'd the shade. No idle ornaments deface Her natural grace, Musk-spot, nor sandal-streak, nor scarlet stain, Ear-drop nor chain, nor arm nor ankle-ring, Nor trinketry on front, or neck, or breast, Marring the perfect form : she seem'd a thing Of Heaven's prime uncorrupted work, a child Of early Nature undefil'd, A daughter of the years of innocence. And therefore all things lov'd her. When she stood Beside the glassy pool, die fish, that flies Quick as an arrow from all other eyes, Hover'd to gaze on her. The mother bird, When Kailyal's steps she heard, Sought not to tempt her from her secret nest, But, hastening to the dear retreat, would fly To meet and welcome her benignant eye.

14. Hope we have none, said Kailyal to her Sire. Said she aright ? and had the Mortal Maid No thoughts of heavenly aid,. . No secret hopes her inmost heart to move With longings of such deep and pure desire, As vestal Maids, whose piety is love, Feel in their extasies, when rapt above, Their souls unto their heavenly Spouse aspire ? Why else so often doth that searching eye Roam through the scope of sky ? Why, if she sees a distant speck on high, Starts there that quick suffusion to her cheek ? ' Tis but the Eagle, in his heavenly height; Reluctant to believe, she hears his cry, And marks his wheeling flight, Then languidly averts her mournful sight. Why ever else, at morn, that waking sigh, Because the lovely form no more is nigh Which hath been present to her soul all night ; And that injurious fear Which ever, as it riseth, is represt, Yet riseth still within her troubled breast, That she no more shall see the Glendoveer !

15. Hath; he forgotten me? The wrongful thought Would stir within her, and, though still repell'd With shame and self-reproaches, would recur. Days after days unvarying come and go, And neither friend nor foe Approaches them in their sequestered bower. Maid of strange destiny ! but think not thou Thou art forgotten now, And hast no cause for farther hope or fear. High-fated Maid, thou dost not know What eyes watch over thee for weal and woe ! Even at this hour, Searching the dark decrees divine, Kehama, in the fulness of his power, Perceives his thread of fate entwin'd with thine. The Glendoveer, from his far sphere, With love that never sleeps, beholds thee here, And, in the hour permitted, will be near. Dark Lorrinite on thee hath fix'd her sight, And laid her wiles, to aid Foul Arvalan when he shall next appear ; For well she ween'd his Spirit would renew Old vengeance now, with unremitting hate ; The Enchantress well that evil nature knew, The accursed Spirit hath his prey in view, And thus, while all their separate hopes pursue, All work, unconsciously, the will of Fate.

16. Fate work'd its own the while. A band Of Yoguees, as they roam'd the land, Seeking a spouse for Jaga-Naut their God, Stray'd to this solitary glade, And reach'd the bower wherein the Maid abode. Wondering at form so fair, they deem'd the power Divine had led them to his chosen bride, And seiz'd and bore her from her father's side.

The curse of Kehama By Robert Southey Published by, 1812 Original from Oxford University Digitized Sep 22, 2006