And springs aloft in air with sinewy wings,

And bears the Maiden there,

Where Himakoot, the holy Mount, on high
From mid-earth rising in mid-Heaven,

Shines in its glory like the throne of Even.
Soaring with strenuous flight above,

He bears her to the blessed Grove, Where in his ancient and august abodes, There dwells old Casyapa, the Sire of Gods.

The Father of the Immortals sate,

Where underneath the Tree of Life,

The fountain of the Sacred River sprung:
The Father of the Immortals smil'd

Benignant on his son.

Knowest thou, he said, my child,

Ereenia, knowest thou whom thou bringest here, A mortal to the holy atmosphere?

EREENIA.

I found her in the Groves of Earth,

Beneath a poison-tree,

Thus lifeless as thou seest her.

In pity have I brought her to these bowers,
Not erring, Father! by that smile...
By that benignant eye!

CASYAPA.

What if the maid be sinful? if her ways

Were ways of darkness, and her death predoom'd To that black hour of midnight, when the Moon Hath turn'd her face away,

Then what a lie, my Sire, were written here,

In these fair characters! and she had died, Sure proof of purer life and happier doom, Now in the moonlight, in the eye of Heaven,

If I had left so fair a flower to fade.
But thou,... all knowing as thou art,
Why askest thou of me?

O Father, oldest, holiest, wisest, best,

To whom all things are plain,

Why askest thou of me?

CASYAPA.

Knowest thou Kehama?

EREENIA.

The Almighty Man!

Who knows not him and his tremendous power? The Tyrant of the Earth,

The Enemy of Heaven!

CASYAPA.

Fearest thou the Rajah?

EREENIA.

He is terrible!

CASYAPA.

Yea, he is terrible! such power hath he

That Hope hath entered Hell.

The Asuras and the spirits of the damn'd

Acclaim their Hero; Yamen, with the might Of Godhead, scarce can quell

The rebel race accurst;

Half from their beds of torture they uprise,

And half uproot their chains.

Is there not fear in Heaven?

The souls that are in bliss suspend their joy; The danger hath disturb'd

The calm of Deity,

And Brama fears, and Veeshnoo turns his face In doubt toward Seeva's throne.

EREENIA.

I have seen Indra tremble at his prayers,

And at his dreadful penances turn pale. They claim and wrest from Seeva power so vast, That even Seeva's self,

The Highest, cannot grant and be secure.

CASYAPA.

And darest thou, Ereenia, brave

The Almighty Tyrant's power?

EREENIA.

I brave him, Father! I?

CASYAPA.

Darest thou brave his vengeance?... for if not,
Take her again to earth,

Cast her before the tyger in his path,
Or where the death-dew-dropping tree

May work Kehama's will.

EREENIA.

Never!

CASYAPA.

Then meet his wrath! for he, even he,

Hath set upon this worm his wanton foot.

EREENIA.

I knew her not, how wretched and how fair,

When here I wafted her:...poor Child of Earth,