"But 'tis not thoughts so grave and sad
Alone that thou dost with thee bring,
A shadow o'er our hearts to fling
Thy beams returning make us glad.

"Thy sister, sad and sombre Night,
With stars that in the blue expanse,
Like sleepless eyes, mysterious glance,
At thy approach is quenched in light;

"And earthly forms, till now concealed
Behind her veil of dusky hue,
Once more come sharply out to view,
By thine illuming glow revealed.

"Thou art the life of all that lives,
The breath of all that breathes; the sight
Of thee makes every countenance bright,
New strength to every spirit gives.

"When thou dost pierce the murky gloom,
Birds flutter forth front every brake,
All sleepers as from death awake,
And men their myriad tasks resume.

"Some, prosperous, wake in listless mood,
And others every nerve to strain
The goal of power or wealth to gain,
Or what they deem the highest good.

"But some to holier thoughts aspire,
In hymns the race celestial praise,
And light, on human Hearths to blaze,
The heaven-born sacrificial fire.

"And not alone do bard and priest
Awake--the gods thy power confess
By starting into consciousness
When thy first rays suffuse the east;

"And hasting downward from the sky,
They visit men devout and good,
Consume their consecrated food,
And all their longings satisfy.

"Bright goddess, let thy genial rays
To us bring store of envied wealth
In kine and steeds, and sons, with health,
And joy of heart, and length of days."

In the later writings we find merely the name of Ushas. The people lost much of their poetic fire; hence the more human and practical deities caused the more poetical ones to pass into oblivion. Some of the figures in the preceding extracts are most beautifully drawn. The changing colours of the dawn are compared to the many-coloured robes of the dancing girl; the golden tipped clouds that appear ere the sun shines in his strength, are like the jewels of a bride decked for her husband; whilst the quiet modesty of the dawn herself is like a shy maiden, conscious indeed of her beauty, entering society under the protection of her mother. And from the last four lines of the metrical sketch it will be noticed that she was believed to be able to bestow upon her worshippers cattle, horses, sons, health, joy, and length of days.

Footnotes

^30:* "Indian Wisdom," p. 20.

^31:* Kennedy's "Hindu Mythology," p. 345.

^32:* "Indian Wisdom," p. 19.

^33:* Muir, O. S. T., v. 162 ff.

^33:+ Book iii. chap. ii.

^34:* Kennedy's "Hindu Mythology," p. 349.