song;
  And here a widespread lawn bedecked with flowers,
  With clumps of brilliant roses grown to trees,
  And fields with dahlias spread,[4] not stiff and prim
  Like the starched ruffle of an ancient dame,
  But growing in luxuriance rich and wild,
  The colors of the evening and the rainbow joined,
  White, scarlet, yellow, crimson, deep maroon,
  Blending all colors in one dazzling blaze;
  There orchards bend beneath their luscious loads;
  Here vineyards climb the hills thick set with grapes;
  There rolling pastures spread, where royal mares,
  High bred, and colts too young for bit or spur,
  Now quiet feed, then, as at trumpet’s call,
  With lion bounds, tails floating, neck outstretched,[5]
  Nostrils distended, fleet as the flying wind
  They skim the plain, and sweep in circles wide—­
  Nature’s Olympic, copied, ne’er excelled. 
  Here, deer with dappled fawn bound o’er the grass,[6]
  And sacred herds, and sheep with skipping lambs;
  There, great white elephants in quiet nooks;
  While high on cliffs framed in with living green
  Goats climb and seem to hang and feed in air—­
  Sweet spot, with all to please and nothing to offend.

  Here on a hill the royal palace stood,
  A gem of art; and near, another hill,
  Its top crowned by an aged banyan tree,
  Its sides clad in strange jyotismati grass,[7]
  By day a sober brown, but in the night
  Glowing as if the hill were all aflame—­
  Twin wonders to the dwellers in the plain,
  Their guides and landmarks day and night,
  This glittering palace and this glowing hill. 
  Within, above the palace rose a tower,
  Which memory knew but as the ancient tower,
  Foursquare and high, an altar and a shrine
  On its broad top, where burned perpetual fire,
  Emblem of boundless and eternal love
  And truth that knows no night, no cloud, no change,
  Long since gone out, with that most ancient faith
  In one great Father, source of life and light.[8]
  Still round this ancient tower, strange hopes and fears,
  And memories handed down from sire to son,
  Were clustered thick.  An army, old men say,
  Once camped against the city, when strange lights
  Burst from this tower, blinding their dazzled eyes. 
  They fled amazed, nor dared to look behind. 
  The people bloody war and cruel bondage saw
  On every side, and they at peace and free,
  And thought a power to save dwelt in that tower. 
  And now strange prophecies and sayings old
  Were everywhere rehearsed, that from this hill
  Should come a king or savior of the world. 
  Even the poor dwellers in the distant plain
  Looked up; they too had heard that hence should come
  One quick to hear the poor and strong to save. 
  And who shall dare to chide their simple faith? 
  This humble reverence for the great unknown
  Brings men near God, and opens unseen worlds,
  Whence comes all life, and where all power doth dwell.