The Legend of Maitreyi

1

Unto her, his well-beloved, —
Maitreyi his pious wife, —
Spake the saintly Yajna-valkya,
When he took to forest life.
" Worldly wealth and every object
Now I leave behind, my fair,
Katyayani takes her portion,
Thou, Maitreyi, take thy share. "

2

" Worldly wealth and precious objects, "
Asked the pious-hearted wife,
" Will they lead to my salvation,

If it be shame to love a pretty woman

28

If it be shame to love a pretty woman,
  Then shameful loving is a pretty thing.
And of all things the most divinely human
  Is this:—Love purifies life's Fountain Spring;
And he who has not quaffed that fount is no man—
  I'd rather be a lover than a king.
And then, preach as we will or may, we'll find
That Cupid, dear young god, is sometimes blind.

Aurora and Tithonus

(T ROADES , A NTISTROPHE , 853)

Love , Love, who once didst pass the Dardan portals,
Because of Heavenly passion!
Who once didst lift up Troy in exultation,
To mingle in thy bond the high Immortals! —
Love, turned from his own name
To Zeus's shame,
Can help no more at all.
And Eos' self, the fair, white-steeded Morning, —
Her light which blesses other lands, returning,
Has changed to a gloomy pall!
She looked across the land with eyes of amber, —
She saw the city's fall, —

Variations upon Love - Part 4.

I loved her; and you say she loved me not.
Well, if I loved her? And if she forgot,
Well, I have not forgotten even yet:
Time, and spent tears, may teach me to forget.
And so she loves another, and did then
When she was heaven and earth to me, and when,
Truly, she made me happy. It may be:
I only know how good she was to me.
Friend, to have loved, to have been made happy thus,
What better fate has life in store for us,
The dream of life from which we have to wake,
Happier, why not? why not for a dream's sake?

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