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But when the days were numbered, then befell

The parting of our Lord—which was to be—

Whereby came wailing in the Golden Home,

Woe to the King and sorrow o'er the land,

But for all flesh deliverance, and that Law

Which whoso hears, the same shall make him free.

Softly the Indian night sinks on the plains

At full moon in the month of Chaitra Shud,

When mangoes redden and the asoka buds

Sweeten the breeze, and Rama's birthday comes,

And all the fields are glad and all the towns.

Softly that night fell over Vishramvan,

Fragrant with blooms and jewelled thick with stars,

And cool with mountain airs sighing adown

From snow-flats on Himala high-outspread;

For the moon swung above the eastern peaks,

Climbing the spangled vault, and lighting clear

Robini's ripples and the hills and plains,

And all the sleeping land, and near at hand

Silvering those roof-tops of the pleasure-house,

Where nothing stirred nor sign of watching was,

Save at the outer gates, whose warders cried

Mudra, the watchword, and the countersign

Angana, and the watch-drums beat a round;

Whereat the earth lay still, except for call

Of prowling jackals, and the ceaseless trill

Of crickets on the garden grounds.

Within—

Where the moon glittered through the laceworked stone,

Lighting the walls of pearl-shell and the floors

Paved with veined marble—softly fell her beams

On such rare company of Indian girls,

It seemed some chamber sweet in Paradise

Where Devis rested. All the chosen ones

Of Prince Siddartha's pleasure-home were there,

The brightest and most faithful of the Court,

Each form so lovely in the peace of sleep,

That you had said "This is the pearl of all!"

Save that beside her or beyond her lay

Fairer and fairer, till the pleasured gaze

Roamed o'er that feast of beauty as it roams

From gem to gem in some great goldsmith-work,

Caught by each colour till the next is seen.

With careless grace they lay, their soft brown limbs

Part hidden, part revealed; their glossy hair

Bound back with gold or flowers, or flowing loose

In black waves down the shapely nape and neck.

Lulled into pleasant dreams by happy toils,

They slept, no wearier than jewelled birds

Which sing and love all day, then under wing

Fold head till morn bids sing and love again.

Lamps of chased silver swinging from the roof

In silver chains, and fed with perfumed oils,

Made with the moonbeams tender lights and shades,

Whereby were seen the perfect lines of grace,

The bosom's placid heave, the soft stained palms

Drooping or clasped, the faces fair and dark,

The great arched brows, the parted lips, the teeth

Like pearls a merchant picks to make a string,

The satin-lidded eyes, with lashes dropped

Sweeping the delicate cheeks, the rounded wrists

The smooth small feet with bells and bangles decked,

Tinkling low music where some sleeper moved,

Breaking her smiling dream of some new dance

Praised by the Prince, some magic ring to find,

Some fairy love-gift. Here one lay full-length,

Her vina by her cheek, and in its strings

The little fingers still all interlaced

As when the last notes of her light song played

Those radiant eyes to sleep and sealed her own.

Another slumbered folding in her arms

A desert-antelope, its slender head

Buried with back-sloped horns between her breasts

Soft nestling; it was eating—when both drowsed—

Red roses, and her loosening hand still held

A rose half-mumbled, while a rose-leaf curled

Between the deer's lips. Here two friends had dozed

Together, wearing mogra-buds, which bound

Their sister-sweetness in a starry chain,

Linking them limb to limb and heart to heart,

One pillowed on the blossoms, one on her.

Another, ere she slept, was stringing stones

To make a necklet—agate, onyx, sard,

Coral, and moonstone—round her wrist it gleamed

A coil of splendid colour, while she held,

Unthreaded yet, the bead to close it up

Green turkis, carved with golden gods and scripts.

Lulled by the cadence of the garden stream,

Thus lay they on the clustered carpets, each

A girlish rose with shut leaves, waiting dawn

To open and make daylight beautiful.

This was the antechamber of the Prince;

But at the purdah's fringe the sweetest slept—

Gunga and Gotami—chief ministers

In that still house of love.

The purdah hung,

Crimson and blue, with broidered threads of gold,

Across a portal carved in sandal-wood,

Whence by three steps the way was to the bower

Of inmost splendour, and the marriage-couch

Set on a dais soft with silver cloths,

Where the foot fell as though it trod on piles

Of neem-blooms. All the walls, were plates of pearl,

Cut shapely from the shells of Lanka's wave;

And o'er the alabaster roof there ran

Rich inlayings of lotus and of bird,

Wrought in skilled work of lazulite and jade,

Jacynth and jasper; woven round the dome,

And down the sides, and all about the frames

Wherein were set the fretted lattices,

Through which there breathed, with moonlight and cool airs,

Scents from the shell-flowers and the jasmine sprays;

Not bringing thither grace or tenderness

Sweeter than shed from those fair presences

Within the place—the beauteous Sakya Prince,

And hers, the stately, bright Yasodhara.

Half risen from her soft nest at his side,

The chuddah fallen to her waist, her brow

Laid in both palms, the lovely Princess leaned

With heaving bosom and fast falling tears.

Thrice with her lips she touched Siddartha's hand,

And at the third kiss moaned: "Awake, my Lord!

Give me the comfort of thy speech!" Then he—

"What is with thee, O my life?" but still

She moaned anew before the words would come;

Then spake: "'Alas, my Prince! I sank to sleep

Most happy, for the babe I bear of thee

Quickened this eve, and at my heart there beat

That double pulse of life and joy and love

Whose happy music lulled me, but—aho!—

In slumber I beheld three sights of dread,

With thought whereof my heart is throbbing yet.

I saw a white bull with wide branching horns,

A lord of pastures, pacing through the streets,

Bearing upon his front a gem which shone

As if some star had dropped to glitter there,

Or like the kantha-stone the great Snake keeps

To make bright daylight underneath the earth.

Slow through the streets toward the gates he paced,

And none could stay him, though there came a voice

From Indra's temple, 'If ye stay him not,

The glory of the city goeth forth.

Yet none could stay him. Then I wept aloud,

And locked my arms about his neck, and strove,

And bade them bar the gates; but that ox-king

Bellowed, and, lightly tossing free his crest,

Broke from my clasp, and bursting through the bars,

Trampled the warders down and passed away.

The next strange dream was this: Four Presences

Splendid with shining eyes, so beautiful

They seemed the Regents of the Earth who dwell

On Mount Sumeru, lighting from the sky

With retinue of countless heavenly ones,

Swift swept unto our city, where I saw

The golden flag of Indra on the gate

Flutter and fall; and lo! there rose instead

A glorious banner, all the folds whereof

Rippled with flashing fire of rubies sewn

Thick on the silver threads, the rays wherefrom

Set forth new words and weighty sentences

Whose message made all living creatures glad;

And from the east the wind of sunrise blew

With tender waft, opening those jewelled scrolls

So that all flesh might read; and wondrous blooms

Plucked in what clime I know not-fell in showers,

Coloured as none are coloured in our groves."

Then spake the Prince: "All this, my Lotus-flower!

Was good to see."

"Ay, Lord," the Princess said,

"Save that it ended with a voice of fear

Crying, `The time is nigh! the time is nigh!'

Thereat the third dream came; for when I sought

Thy side, sweet Lord! ah, on our bed there lay

An unpressed pillow and an empty robe—

Nothing of thee but those!—-nothing of thee,

Who art my life and light, my king, my world!

And sleeping still I rose, and sleeping saw

Thy belt of pearls, tied here below my breasts,

Change to a stinging snake; my ankle-rings

Fall off, my golden bangles part and fall;

The jasmines in my hair wither to dust;

While this our bridal-couch sank to the ground,

And something rent the crimson purdah down;

Then far away I heard the white bull low,

And far away the embroidered banner flap,

And once again that cry, 'The time is come!'

But with that cry—which shakes my spirit still—

I woke! O Prince! what may such visions mean

Except I die, or—worse than any death—

Thou shouldst forsake me or be taken?"

Sweet

As the last smile of sunset was the look

Siddartha bent upon his weeping wife.

"Comfort thee, dear!" he said, "if comfort lives

In changeless love; for though thy dreams may be

Shadows of things to come, and though the gods

Are shaken in their seats, and though the world

Stands nigh, perchance, to know some way of help,

Yet, whatsoever fall to thee and me,

Be sure I loved and love Yasodhara.

Thou knowest how I muse these many moons,

Seeking to save the sad earth I have seen;

And when the time comes, that which will be will.

But if my soul yearns sore for souls unknown,

And if I grieve for griefs which are not mine,

Judge how my high-winged thoughts must hover here

O'er all these lives that share and sweeten mine

So dear! and thine the dearest, gentlest, best,

And nearest. Ah, thou mother of my babe!

Whose body mixed with mine for this fair hope,

When most my spirit wanders, ranging round

The lands and seas—as full of ruth for men

As the far-flying dove is full of ruth

For her twin nestlings—ever it has come

Home with glad wing and passionate plumes to thee,

Who art the sweetness of my kind best seen,

The utmost of their good, the tenderest

Of all their tenderness, mine most of all.

Therefore, whatever after this betide,

Bethink thee of that lordly bull which lowed,

That jewelled banner in thy dreams which waved

Its folds departing, and of this be sure,

Always I loved and always love thee well,

And what I sought for all sought most for thee.

But thou, take comfort; and, if sorrow falls,

Take comfort still in deeming there may be

A way of peace on earth by woes of ours;

And have with this embrace what faithful love

Can think of thanks or frame for benison—

Too little, seeing love's strong self is weak—

Yet kiss me on the mouth, and drink these words

From heart to heart therewith, that thou mayst know—

What others will not—that I loved thee most

Because I loved so well all living souls.

Now, Princess! rest, for I will rise and watch."

Then in her tears she slept, but sleeping sighed—

As if that vision passed again—"The time!

The time is come!" Whereat Siddartha turned,

And, lo! the moon shone by the Crab! the stars

In that same silver order long foretold

Stood ranged to say: "This is the night!—choose thou

The way of greatness or the way of good

To reign a King of kings, or wander lone,

Crownless and homeless, that the world be helped."

Moreover, with the whispers of the gloom

Came to his ears again that warning song,

As when the Devas spoke upon the wind:

And surely gods were round about the place

Watching our Lord, who watched the shining stars.

"I will depart," he spake; "the hour is come!

Thy tender lips, dear sleeper, summon me

To that which saves the earth but sunders us;

And in the silence of yon sky I read

My fated message flashing. Unto this

Came I, and unto this all nights and days

Have led me; for I will not have that crown

Which may be mine: I lay aside those realms

Which wait the gleaming of my naked sword

My chariot shall not roll with bloody wheels

From victory to victory, till earth

Wears the red record of my name. I choose

To tread its paths with patient, stainless feet,

Making its dust my bed, its loneliest wastes

My dwelling, and its meanest things my mates:

Clad in no prouder garb than outcasts wear,

Fed with no meats save what the charitable

Give of their will, sheltered by no more pomp

Than the dim cave lends or the jungle-bush,

This will I do because the woful cry

Of life and all flesh living cometh up

Into my ears, and all my soul is full

Of pity for the sickness of this world;

Which I will heal, if healing may be found

By uttermost renouncing and strong strife.

For which of all the great and lesser gods

Have power or pity? Who hath seen them—who?

What have they wrought to help their worshippers?

How hath it steaded man to pray, and pay

Tithes of the corn and oil, to chant the charms,

To slay the shrieking sacrifice, to rear

The stately fane, to feed the priests, and call

On Vishnu, Shiva, Surya, who save

None—not the worthiest—from the griefs that teach

Those litanies of flattery and fear

Ascending day by day, like wasted smoke?

Hath any of my brothers 'scaped thereby

The aches of life, the stings of love and loss,

The fiery fever and the ague-shake,

The slow, dull sinking into withered age,

The horrible dark death—and what beyond

Waits—till the whirling wheel comes up again,

And new lives bring new sorrows to be borne,

New generations for the new desires

Which have their end in the old mockeries?

Hath any of my tender sisters found

Fruit of the fast or harvest of the hymn,

Or bought one pang the less at bearing-time

For white curds offered and trim tulsi-leaves?

Nay; it may be some of the gods are good

And evil some, but all in action weak;

Both pitiful and pitiless, and both

As men are—bound upon this wheel of change,

Knowing the former and the after lives.

For so our scriptures truly seem to teach,

That—once, and wheresoe'er, and whence begun—

Life runs its rounds of living, climbing up

From mote, and gnat, and worm, reptile, and fish,

Bird and shagged beast, man, demon, Deva, God,

To clod and mote again; so are we kin

To all that is; and thus, if one might save

Man from his curse, the whole wide world should share

The lightened horror of this ignorance

Whose shadow is chill fear, and cruelty

Its bitter pastime. Yea, if one might save!

And means must be! There must be refuge!"

"Men

Perished in winter-winds till one smote fire

From flint-stones coldly hiding what they held,

The red spark treasured from the kindling sun.

They gorged on flesh like wolves, till one sowed corn,

Which grew a weed, yet makes the life of man;

They mowed and babbled till some tongue struck speech,

And patient fingers framed the lettered sound.

What good gift have my brothers but it came

From search and strife and loving sacrifice?

If one, then, being great and fortunate,

Rich, dowered with health and ease, from birth designed

To rule—if he would rule—a King of kings;

If one, not tired with life's long day, but glad

I' the freshness of its morning, one not cloyed

With love's delicious feasts, but hungry still;

If one not worn and wrinkled, sadly sage,

But joyous in the glory and the grace

That mix with evils here, and free to choose

Earth's loveliest at his will: one even as I,

Who ache not, lack not, grieve not, save with griefs

Which are not mine, except as I am man;—

If such a one, having so much to give,

Gave all, laying it down for love of men.

And thenceforth spent himself to search for truth,

Wringing the secret of deliverance forth,

Whether it lurk in hells or hide in heavens,

Or hover, unrevealed, nigh unto all:

Surely at last, far off, sometime, somewhere,

The veil would lift for his deep-searching eyes,

The road would open for his painful feet,

That should be won for which he lost the world,

And Death might find him conqueror of death.

This will I do, who have a realm to lose,

Because I love my realm, because my heart

Beats with each throb of all the hearts that ache,

Known and unknown, these that are mine and those

Which shall be mine, a thousand million more

Saved by this sacrifice I offer now.

Oh, summoning stars! Oh, mournful earth

For thee and thine I lay aside my youth,

My throne, my joys, my golden days, my nights,

My happy palace—and thine arms, sweet Queen!

Harder to put aside than all the rest!

Yet thee, too, I shall save, saving this earth;

And that which stirs within thy tender womb,

My child, the hidden blossom of our loves,

Whom if I wait to bless my mind will fail.

Wife! child! father! and people! ye must share

A little while the anguish of this hour

That light may break and all flesh learn the Law.

Now am I fixed, and now I will depart,

Never to come again till what I seek

Be found—if fervent search and strife avail."

So with his brow he touched her feet, and bent

The farewell of fond eyes, unutterable,

Upon her sleeping face, still wet with tears;

And thrice around the bed in reverence,

As though it were an altar, softly stepped

With clasped hands laid upon his beating heart,

"For never," spake he, "lie I there again!"

And thrice he made to go, but thrice came back,

So strong her beauty was, so large his love

Then, o'er his head drawing his cloth, he turned

And raised the purdah's edge.

There drooped, close-hushed,

In such sealed sleep as water-lilies know,

The lovely garden of his Indian girls;

Those twin dark-petalled lotus-buds of all—

Gunga and Gotami—on either side,

And those, their silk-leaved sisterhood, beyond.

"Pleasant ye are to me, sweet friends!" he said,

"And dear to leave; yet if I leave ye not

What else will come to all of us save eld

Without assuage and death without avail?

Lo! as ye lie asleep so must ye lie

A-dead; and when the rose dies where are gone

Its scent and splendour? when the lamp is drained

Whither is fled the flame? Press heavy, Night!

Upon their down-dropped lids and seal their lips,

That no tear stay me and no faithful voice.

For all the brighter that these made my life,

The bitterer it is that they and I,

And all, should live as trees do—so much spring,

Such and such rains and frosts, such wintertimes,

And then dead leaves, with maybe spring again,

Or axe-stroke at the root. This will not I,

Whose life here was a god's!—this would not I,

Though all my days were godlike, while men moan

Under their darkness. Therefore farewell, friends!

While life is good to give, I give, and go

To seek deliverance and that unknown Light!"

Then, lightly treading where those sleepers lay,

Into the night Siddartha passed: its eyes,

The watchful stars, looked love on him: its breath,

The wandering wind, kissed his robe's fluttered fringe;

The garden-blossoms, folded for the dawn,

Opened their velvet hearts to waft him scents

From pink and purple censers: o'er the land,

From Himalay unto the Indian Sea,

A tremor spread, as if earth's soul beneath

Stirred with an unknown hope; and holy books—

Which tell the story of our Lord—say, too,

That rich celestial musics thrilled the air

From hosts on hosts of shining ones, who thronged

Eastward and westward, making bright the night

Northward and southward, making glad the ground.

Also those four dread Regents of the Earth,

Descending at the doorway, two by two,—

With their bright legions of Invisibles

In arms of sapphire, silver, gold, and pearl—

Watched with joined hands the Indian Prince, who stood,

His tearful eyes raised to the stars, and lips

Close-set with purpose of prodigious love.

Then strode he forth into the gloom and cried,

"Channa, awake! and bring out Kantaka!"

"What would my Lord?" the charioteer replied—

Slow-rising from his place beside the gate

"To ride at night when all the ways are dark?"

"Speak low," Siddartha said, "and bring my horse,

For now the hour is come when I should quit

This golden prison where my heart lives caged

To find the truth; which henceforth I will seek,

For all men's sake, until the truth be found."

"Alas! dear Prince," answered the charioteer,

"Spake then for nought those wise and holy men

Who cast the stars and bade us wait the time

When King Suddhodana's great son should rule

Realms upon realms, and be a Lord of lords?

Wilt thou ride hence and let the rich world slip

Out of thy grasp, to hold a beggar's bowl?

Wilt thou go forth into the friendless waste

That hast this Paradise of pleasures here?"

The Prince made answer: "Unto this I came,

And not for thrones: the kingdom that I crave

Is more than many realms, and all things pass

To change and death. Bring me forth Kantaka!"

"Most honored," spake again the charioteer,

"Bethink thee of their woe whose bliss thou art—

How shalt thou help them, first undoing them?"

Siddartha answered: "Friend, that love is false

Which clings to love for selfish sweets of love;

But I, who love these more than joys of mine—

Yea, more than joy of theirs—depart to save

Them and all flesh, if utmost love avail.

Go, bring me Kantaka!"

Then Channa said,

"Master, I go!" and forthwith, mournfully,

Unto the stall he passed, and from the rack

Took down the silver bit and bridle-chains,

Breast-cord and curb, and knitted fast the straps,

And linked the hooks, and led out Kantaka

Whom tethering to the ring, he combed and dressed,

Stroking the snowy coat to silken gloss;

Next on the steed he laid the numdah square,

Fitted the saddle-cloth across, and set

The saddle fair, drew tight the jewelled girths,

Buckled the breech-bands and the martingale,

And made fall both the stirrups of worked gold.

Then over all he cast a golden net,

With tassels of seed-pearl and silken strings,

And led the great horse to the palace door,

Where stood the Prince; but when he saw his Lord,

Right glad he waxed and joyously he neighed,

Spreading his scarlet nostrils; and the books

Write, "Surely all had heard Kantaka's neigh,

And that strong trampling of his iron heels,

Save that the Devas laid their unseen wings

Over their ears and kept the sleepers deaf."

Fondly Siddartha drew the proud head down,

Patted the shining neck, and said, "Be still,

White Kantaka! be still, and bear me now

The farthest journey ever rider rode;

For this night take I horse to find the truth,

And where my quest will end yet know I not,

Save that it shall not end until I find.

Therefore tonight, good steed, be fierce and bold!

Let nothing stay thee, though a thousand blades

Deny the road! let neither wall nor moat

Forbid our flight! Look! if I touch thy flank

And cry, `On, Kantaka! I let whirlwinds lag

Behind thy course! Be fire and air, my horse!

To stead thy Lord, so shalt thou share with him

The greatness of this deed which helps the world;

For therefore ride I, not for men alone,

But for all things which, speechless, share our pain

And have no hope, nor wit to ask for hope.

Now, therefore, bear thy master valorously!"

Then to the saddle lightly leaping, he

Touched the arched crest, and Kantaka sprang forth

With armed hoofs sparkling on the stones and ring

Of champing bit; but none did hear that sound,

For that the Suddha Devas, gathering near,

Plucked the red mohra-flowers and strewed them thick

Under his tread, while hands invisible

Muffled the ringing bit and bridle chains.

Moreover, it is written when they came

Upon the pavement near the inner gates,

The Yakshas of the air laid magic cloths

Under the stallion's feet, so that he went

Softly and still.

But when they reached the gate

Of tripled brass—which hardly fivescore men

Served to unbar and open—lo! the doors

Rolled back all silently, though one might hear

In daytime two koss off the thunderous roar

Of those grim hinges and unwieldy plates.

Also the middle and the outer gates

Unfolded each their monstrous portals thus

In silence as Siddartha and his steed

Drew near; while underneath their shadow lay.

Silent as dead men, all those chosen guards—

The lance and sword let fall, the shields unbraced,

Captains and soldiers—for there came a wind,

Drowsier than blows o'er Malwa's fields of sleep

Before the Prince's path, which, being breathed,

Lulled every sense aswoon: and so he passed

Free from the palace.

When the morning star

Stood half a spear's length from the eastern rim,

And o'er the earth the breath of morning sighed

Rippling Anoma's wave, the border-stream,

Then drew he rein, and leaped to earth and kissed

White Kantaka betwixt the ears, and spake

Full sweet to Channa: "This which thou hast done

Shall bring thee good and bring all creatures good.

Be sure I love thee always for thy love.

Lead back my horse and take my crest-pearl here,

My princely robes, which henceforth stead me not,

My jewelled sword-belt and my sword, and these

The long locks by its bright edge severed thus

From off my brows. Give the King all, and say

Siddartha prays forget him till he come

Ten times a prince, with royal wisdom won

From lonely searchings and the strife for light;

Where, if I conquer, lo! all earth is mine—

Mine by chief service!—tell him—mine by love!

Since there is hope for man only in man,

And none hath sought for this as I will seek,

Who cast away my world to save my world."