XV

    Bright as a heap of flashing gems, there shines
  Before thee on the ant-hill, Indra’s bow;
    Matched with that dazzling rainbow’s glittering lines,
  Thy sombre form shall find its beauties grow,
  Like the dark herdsman Vishnu, with peacock-plumes aglow.

  XVI

  The Mala plateau.

    The farmers’ wives on Mala’s lofty lea,
  Though innocent of all coquettish art,
    Will give thee loving glances; for on thee
  Depends the fragrant furrow’s fruitful part;
  Thence, barely westering, with lightened burden start.

  XVII

  The Mango Peak.

    The Mango Peak whose forest fires were laid
  By streams of thine, will soothe thy weariness;
    In memory of a former service paid,
  Even meaner souls spurn not in time of stress
  A suppliant friend; a soul so lofty, much the less.

  XVIII

    With ripened mango-fruits his margins teem;
  And thou, like wetted braids, art blackness quite;
    When resting on the mountain, thou wilt seem
  Like the dark nipple on Earth’s bosom white,
  For mating gods and goddesses a thrilling sight.

  XIX

  The Reva, or Nerbudda River, foaming
  against the mountain side,

    His bowers are sweet to forest maidens ever;
  Do thou upon his crest a moment bide,
    Then fly, rain-quickened, to the Reva river
  Which gaily breaks on Vindhya’s rocky side,
  Like painted streaks upon an elephant’s dingy hide.

  XX

and flavoured with the ichor which exudes from the temples of elephants during the mating season.

  Refresh thyself from thine exhausted state
    With ichor-pungent drops that fragrant flow;
  Thou shalt not then to every wind vibrate—­
  Empty means ever light, and full means added weight.

  XXI

   Spying the madder on the banks, half brown,
  Half green with shoots that struggle to the birth,
    Nibbling where early plantain-buds hang down,
  Scenting the sweet, sweet smell of forest earth,
  The deer will trace thy misty track that ends the dearth.

  XXII

    Though thou be pledged to ease my darling’s pain,
  Yet I foresee delay on every hill
    Where jasmines blow, and where the peacock-train
  Cries forth with joyful tears a welcome shrill;
  Thy sacrifice is great, but haste thy journey still.

  XXIII

The Dasharna country,

    At thine approach, Dasharna land is blest
  With hedgerows where gay buds are all aglow,
    With village trees alive with many a nest
  Abuilding by the old familiar crow,
  With lingering swans, with ripe rose-apples’ darker show.

  XXIV

and its capital Vidisha, on the banks of Reed River.

    There shalt thou see the royal city, known
  Afar, and win the lover’s fee complete,
    If thou subdue thy thunders to a tone
  Of murmurous gentleness, and taste the sweet,
  Love-rippling features of the river at thy feet.