III Now rings the bell, nine times reverberating, And the white daybreak stealing up the sky Sees in two cottages two maidens waiting,— How differently! Queen of a day, by flatterers caressed, The one puts on her cross and crown, And flaunting, fluttering up and down, Has neither crown nor flower's perfume; And, 'neath her bodice of bright scarlet dye, The one, fantastic, light as air, And joyous singing, Forgets to say her morning prayer! The other, with cold drops upon her brow, Joins her two hands, and kneels upon the floor, "O God! forgive me now!" And then the orphan, young and blind, Towards the church, through paths unscanned, And in the sky as yet no sunny ray, Near that castle, fair to see, Crowded with sculptures old, in every part, And proud of its name of high degree, At the base of the rock is builded there; Above each jealous cottage roof Its sacred summit, swept by autumn gales, "Paul, lay thy noisy rattle by!" Thus Margaret said. "Where are we? we ascend!" The night we watched beside his bed, Thou tremblest! O my God! thou art going to swoon!" She could no more, - the blind girl, weak and weary! But Paul, impatient, urges evermore Her steps towards the open door; And when, beneath her feet, the unhappy maid At length the bell With booming sound Sends forth, resounding round, Its hymeneal peal o'er rock and down the dell. For soon arrives the bridal train, In sooth, deceit maketh no mortal gay, Thinks only of the beldame's words of warning. And Angela thinks of her cross, iwis; To be a bride is all! The pretty lisper Feels her heart swell to hear all round her whisper, "How beautiful! how beautiful she is!" But she must calm that giddy head, At the holy table stands the priest; The wedding-ring is blessed; Baptiste receives it; He must pronounce one word at least! 'Tis spoken; and sudden at the groomsman's side And while the wedding guests all hold their breath, At eve, instead of bridal verse, The De Profundis' filled the air; To the church-yard forth they bear; Nowhere was a smile that day, No, ah no! for each one seemed to say : "The road should mourn and be veiled in gloom, Should mourn and should weep, ah, well-away! Longfellow's Translation. By courtesy of Houghton, Mifflin & Co., publishers, 8208 JAYADEVA (ABOUT THE TWELFTH CENTURY A. D.) BY A. V. WILLIAMS JACKSON AYADEVA was a Sanskrit lyric poet, author of the GītaGovinda' or 'Shepherd's Canticle,' an Indian Song of Songs.' This passionate lyrist, who is presumed to have lived in the twelfth century of our era, is believed to have been a native of Kinduvilva in the district of Bengal. With all the fervor of a Theocritus piping in the vales of Sicily, he sang in melting strains the divine love of the god Vishnu, incarnate as herdsman and shepherd on the banks of the Indian Jumna. Little is known of his life. A passing mention in his poem implies that his father's name was Bhoja-deva, and that his mother's name was Rāma-devī; but that is all. We know also from the poem that he was a religious devotee of the Vaishnavite sect, for the praise of Vishnu forms the burden of the refrains in his song. He is to be distinguished, according to general opinion, from a Sanskrit dramatist of the same name. The article 'Indian Literature' should be consulted in order to give an idea of the age in which Jayadeva flourished. It The poem 'Gita-Govinda' (literally "song of the cowherd") is one of the most celebrated compositions in Sanskrit literature. is a lyrical-dramatic piece, a musical pastoral, or a sort of Oriental opera in narrative. As before remarked, the theme of this religious canticle is the story of the love of Vishnu, incarnate as Krishna or Hari, for his devoted Rādhā. The half-human yet divine Krishna, a very Apollo in beauty, has strayed from the true love of his heart, the herdsman's daughter Rādhā, and he disports himself with the gopis, or shepherd damsels, in all the enchanting ecstasies of transitory passion. The neglected and grieving Rādhā searches for her erring lover to reclaim him. A handmaiden, her lone companion, bears the messages to Krishna, whose fleeting frenzied passion for the shepherdesses is soon spent, and who longs for reunion with his soul's idol, the perfect maiden Rādhā. All this is rendered with gen the story, but he tells it in so vivid a way that it is truly dramatic. uine dramatic power, yet there is no dialogue: the poet simply tells The handmaid finally brings about the reconciliation of the lovers, and accomplishes their reunion in a moonlit bower amid a flooded with Oriental coloring. scene Like the Song of Solomon, which should be read in this connection, the 'Gīta-Govinda' is frequently interpreted as an allegory, portraying figuratively a struggle of the soul amid human passions and the final attainment of supreme spiritual bliss. Such figurative methods of expression and symbolic imagery in poetry have indeed prevailed in the East since time immemorial, as is seen in the case of Hafiz (the article on whom might be consulted); and it is hardly to be questioned that a religious element is present in the 'Gita,' for Jayadeva's oft repeated refrains of pious devotion stand out in quite clear tone amid the erotic strains. On the other hand, the sacred erotism of the poem may show something of the sensuality of the Vishnu-Krishna cult. In whichever way we criticize the poem, we must allow the presence of a devotional element and the consequent possibilities, as we would in Solomon's Divine Song. As a poem, the Gita-Govinda' is a masterpiece of art. To read it in the original is the true way to gain an idea of the charm and artistic finish of the composition. The ever changing rhythms, the rich rhymes which are often interlaced or concealed, the alliteration, assonance, fanciful metrical devices, and a dozen subtle graces which belong to the Sanskrit art poesy, surprise by their variety and their abundance. The diversity in tone and shade adds to the effect; the feeling is tender and delicate, but sometimes it is passionate to excess, and is expressed with a warmth and fervor or a lavishness of Oriental coloring that is occasionally too exuberant for Occidental taste. The poem is divided into twelve short cantos, and it contains more than twenty lyrical gems. The text provides for musical accompaniments in different measures and modes, suited to the lyrical effusion which forms its burden or which is expressed in its refrain. It is almost impossible in translation to convey a true idea of the finish and delicacy of the original. The German poetical rendering by Rückert is believed to have come nearest to success in this. Sir Edwin Arnold's paraphrase, 'The Indian Song of Songs,' may well be read to catch something of the spirit of the composition. Lassen's Latin version is one of the classic works on the subject. The prose rendering into English by Sir William Jones in the fourth volume of his Collected Works, in spite of abridgment and some alterations, is sufficiently near to the original to convey a good idea of the merits and to our mind, of some of the defects of this Sanskrit masterpiece. Selections from that rendering, with slight changes in spelling, are appended. Rādhā is searching for her erring lover Krishna. XIV-514 A.r.w A.r.Willams 1 Jackens |