Had heard an Angel's call. Yea, Marriataly, thou hast deign'd to save! 5. Headlong in hope and in joy He rushes to his daughter, And treads the river-depths in transport wild, And clasps and saves his child. 6. Upon the farther side a level shore Of sand was spread: thither Ladurlad bore His daughter, holding still with senseless hand The saving Goddess; there upon the sand He laid the livid maid, Raised up against his knees her drooping head; Bent to her lips, . . . her lips as pale as death, ... If he might feel her breath, ... His own the while in hope and dread suspended; 7. Soon did his touch perceive, or fancy there, He chafes her feet, and lays them bare Relapsing as it seem'd to dead repose. 8. So in her father's arms thus languidly, While over her with earnest gaze he hung, Silent and motionless she lay, And painfully and slowly writhed at fits, At fits to short convulsive starts was stung. Till when the struggle and strong agony Had left her, quietly she lay reposed: Her eyes now resting on Ladurlad's face, Relapsing now, and now again unclosed. The look she fix'd upon his face, implies Nor thought nor feeling; senselessly she lies, Composed like one who sleeps with open eyes. 9. Long he leant over her, In silence and in fear. Kailyal !... at length he cried in such a tone As a poor mother ventures who draws near, With silent footstep, to her child's sick bed. My Father! cried the maid, and raised her head, Awakening then to life and thought,... thou here? For when his voice she heard, The dreadful past recurr'd, Which dimly, like a dream of pain, Till now with troubled sense confused her brain. 10. And hath he spared us then? she cried, For hope and joy the sudden strength supplied; Oh! he hath laid a Curse upon my life, Hath sent a fire into my heart and brain, The Winds of Heaven must never breathe on me; 11. This is a dream! exclaimed the incredulous maid, Yet in her voice the while a fear exprest, Which in her larger eye was manifest. This is a dream! she rose and laid her hand Upon her father's brow, to try the charm; He could not bear the pressure there;...he shrunk,... He warded off her arm, As though it were an enemy's blow, he smote His daughter's arm aside. Her eye glanced down, his mantle she espied And caught it up; ... Oh misery! Kailyal cried, He bore me from the river-depths, and yet His garment is not wet! 23 IV. THE DEPARTURE. 1. RECLINED beneath a Cocoa's feathery shade And Kailyal on his lap her head hath laid, The boatman, sailing on his easy way, With envious eye beheld them where they lay; For every herb and flower Was fresh and fragrant with the early dew, Sweet sung the birds in that delicious hour, And the cool gale of morning as it blew, Not yet subdued by day's increasing power, Ruffling the surface of the silvery stream, Swept o'er the moisten'd sand, and raised no shower. Telling their tale of love, The boatman thought they lay At that lone hour, and who so blest as they! 2. But now the Sun in heaven is high, |