Alas! Alas! blithe gamesome Kate,

I groaned as viewed the upward line,

Is this the certain law of Fate ?

Wouldst thou be changed so, wert thou mine?

Yes, onward, onward flows the tide :

Love's raptures bless Youth's revel day;
The matron staid succeeds the bride,
And follows fast Eld's sad decay.
Why then rebel at the decree?

Come, ripe and bursting bud, be mine!
Three KATES, and thou the third, I see-
To see a fourth I'll not repine.

BY ALARIC A. WATTS.

FARE thee well! 'Tis meet we part,
Since other ties and hopes are thine;
Pride that can nerve the lowliest heart,
Will surely strengthen mine!
Yes, I will wipe my tears away,
Repress each struggling sigh,
Call back the thoughts thou led'st astray,
Then lay me down and die!

Fare thee well!-I'll not upbraid

Thy fickleness or falsehood now :Can the wild taunts of love betrayed Repair one broken vow?

But if reproach may wake regret

In one so false or weak,

Think what I was-when first we met,
And read it-on my cheek!

Fare thee well! On yonder tree

One leaf is fluttering in the blast, Withered and sere-a type of meFor I shall fade as fast!

Whilst many a refuge still hast thou,

Thy wandering heart to save

From the keen pangs that wring mine now; I have but one-the grave!

SONG

OF

THE HINDOO WOMEN,

While accompanying a widow to the funeral pile f her husband.

On the decease of the husband, if his widow resolves to accompany him to the world of Spirits, a funeral pile is erected, covered with an arbour of dry boughs, where the dead body is placed: the living victim follows dressed in her bridal jewels, surrounded by relations, priests, and musicians. After certain prayers and ceremonies, she takes off her jewels, and presenting them with her last blessing to her nearest relative, she ascends the funeral pile, enters the awful bower, and placing herself near the body of her husband, with her own hand generally sets fire to the pile, which being constantly supplied with aromatic oils, the mortal frames are soon consumed; and the Hindoos entertain no doubt of the souls' reunion in purer realms. During the cremation, the noise of the trumpets and other musical instruments, overpowers the cries of the self-devoted victim, should her resolution fail her but those who have attended this solemn sacrifice, assure us, that they always observed even the youngest widows manifest the greatest composure and dignity throughout the awful scene.

Forbes's Oriental Memoirs.

She who follows her husband to another world, shall dwell in a region of joy for so many years as there are hairs on the human body, or thirty-five millions.

The Laws of Unggira and Heerut.

NOT in grief to the pile we go

With looks of fear, or sounds of woe,

T

But timing our steps to the eager swell
Of Citarr and Vin *-while each silver bell
That hangs on our dancers' feet resembles
The Lotos white when the dark wave trembles.

Proudly falls the raptured beam

Of the setting sun on our goddess' stream;
And there the tall ship meets his ray-
The gaudy Bolio's streamer gay-

The fabric slight—and the sail of snow
Of native boat, or Arab Dow;

And he smiles, as the offerers fondly tell,
On each floating wreath and gilded shell
That brightly on the waters swell,

The groves that hang o'er the river's bank,
Each sculptured temple, and shaded tank,†
With Ganga's festal lights are gleaming,
Through porch and lofty column streaming :-

*Musical Instruments.

+ A lake or reservoir of water, often surrounded with strong masonry, and the banks adorned by mango, banian, and tamarind trees.

Ganga is the goddess of the Ganges. During the festivals which commemorate her descent to earth, crowds of people assemble near the river, bringing offerings of fruit, rice, flour, sweetmeats, &c. and hang garlands across the river, even where it is very wide. At some of these festivals the banks of the Ganges are in many places gaily illuminated.

Haste, Lillah, haste, the rites are done,
Thy last bright thread of life is spun ;-
A moment, and its limit breaks-

A moment, and thy spirit wakes
From its earthly dream, in a land afar,
Higher and brighter than sun or star!
Each golden gate and ruby key,
And curtain of light, shall ope' for thee,
Till last and brightest of the seven,

*

Where Brahma dwells, shall be thy heaven!

We have wreathed thine arms with bracelets bright,

With chains of gold thine ancles light;

Thy limbs are dewed with fragrant ghee,
With many a balm from many a tree,
And o'er them falls thy light shalie.+
Thy dark and root-stained locks confined,
No longer float upon the wind;

O'er them each bright flower sheds its bloom-
The precious ottar its perfume;

Some of the Hindoos (like the Mahomedans) believe their eaven and hell divided into different stages, which are peopled by different kinds of angels and gods, and in which exists various degrees of happiness and misery.

The shalie is a light upper garment, generally composed of silk or cotton, and forms a very graceful drapery round the figure.