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; Come, ripe and bursting bud, be mine! BY ALARIC A. WATTS. FARE thee well! 'Tis meet we part, 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, 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 Proudly falls the raptured beam Of the setting sun on our goddess' stream; The fabric slight—and the sail of snow And he smiles, as the offerers fondly tell, The groves that hang o'er the river's bank, *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, A moment, and thy spirit wakes * 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, O'er them each bright flower sheds its bloom- 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. |