1

The C OW AND H ER C ALF

With one knee slightly bent,
And its pretty tail ceaselessly swishing,
The calf repeatedly butts with its head,
And greedily it drinks from its mother's dripping udder.
Its ears are pricked upward,
And its nose is flecked by drops of falling milk —
While the cow lows softly for pleasure
And licks its body to her heart's content.

2

The T RAVELLER

In a corner of the straw shelter of the tutelary goddess of the village
A wandering ascetic has lain down to rest,
While the wind, mixed with snow-flakes, blows cold,
And the edges of his two rows of teeth are chattering.
At midnighThe wraps about him his patched cloak,
Heavy with its texture of old, malodorous threads.
The tatters crackle when he grasps his neck, or his toes, or his knees.

3

B URNING OF THE C ITY OF T RIPURA

Glory to the god Shiva, the Destroyer,
That the bow fell from his hands, and his eyes grew moist in pity,
When on the mantles of the women in the inner apartments of Tripura
He saw the fire trembling;
Running up their rope-like braids,
Slowly creeping over the folds of their bodices,
And flaming brightly on their laps and their rounded breasts.