Lotus and Jewel Containing "In an Indian Temple", "A Casket of Gems", "A Queen's Revenge": With Other Poems: By Edwin Arnold |
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An Adieu.
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An Adieu.
India farewell! I shall not see againThy shining shores, thy peoples of the Sun,
Gentle, soft-mannered, by a kind word won
To such quick kindness! O'er the Arab main
Our flying flag streams back; and backwards stream
My thoughts to those fair open fields I love,
City and village, maidan, jungle, grove,
The temples and the rivers! Must it seem
Too great for one man's heart to say it holds
So many many Indian sisters dear,
So many Indian brothers? that it folds
Lakhs of true friends in parting? Nay! but there
Lingers my heart, leave-taking; and it roves
From hut to hut whispering “he knows, and loves!”
Good-bye! Good-night! Sweet may your slumbers be,
Gunga! and Kaśi! and Sarâswati!
March 5, 1886,
S.S. Siam.
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