SELECTIONS IN ENGLISH POETRY
Down holy Ganges, floating vast and bright
Through old Magadha's forests. Far below
He hears the cool wave fret
On rocky islands; soft as moths asleep ^0
Come moonlit sails; there on a parapet
Of ruined marble, where the moss gleams wet
And from black cedars a lone peacock cries,
Uncloaking rests Asoka, bathing deep
In silence, and his'eyes 35
Of his own realm the wondrous prospect reap;
At last aloud he sighs.
ii :
"How ennobling it is to taste
Of the breath of a living power ! .
The shepherd boy on the waste 40
Whose converse, hour by hour,
Is alone with the stars and the sun,
His days are glorified!
And the steersman floating on
Down this great Ganges tide, 45
He is blest to be companion of the might
Of waters and unwearied winds that run
With him, by day, by night:
He knows not whence they come, but they his path
provide.
"But O more noble far 50
From the heart of power to proceed
As the beam flows forth from the star,
As the flower unfolds on the reed.
It is not we that are strong
"But the cause, the divine desire, 55
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