4. Musing so long he lay, that all things seem Unreal to his sense, even like a dream, A monstrous dream of things which could not be. That beating, burning brow, . . . why it was now The height of noon, and he was lying there In the broad sun, all bare! What if he felt no wind? the air was still, That was the general will Of nature, not his own peculiar doom; Yon rows of rice erect and silent stand, The shadow of the Cocoa's lightest plume Is steady on the sand. {31} 5. Is it indeed a dream? he rose to try, Impatient to the water-side he went, And down he bent, And in the stream he plung'd his hasty arm To break the visionary charm. With fearful eye and fearful heart, His daughter watch'd the event; She saw the start and shudder, She heard the in-drawn groan, For the Water knew Kehama's charm, The water shrunk before his arm. His dry hand mov'd about unmoisten'd there; As easily might that dry hand avail To stop the passing gale, Or grasp the impassive air. He is Almighty then! Exclaim'd the wretched man in his despair; Air knows him, Water knows him; Sleep His dreadful word will keep; Even in the grave there is no rest for me, Cut off from that last hope, . . . the wretches' joy; And Veeshnoo hath no power to save, Nor Seeva to destroy. {32} 6. Oh! wrong not them! quoth Kailyal, Wrong not the Heavenly Powers! Our hope is all in them: They are not blind! And lighter wrongs than ours, And lighter crimes than his, Have drawn the Incarnate down among mankind; Already have the Immortals heard our cries, And in the mercy of their righteousness Beheld us in the hour of our distress! She spake with streaming eyes, Where pious love and ardent feeling beam; And turning to the Image, threw Her grateful arms around it, . . . It was thou Who saved'st me from the stream! My Marriataly, it was thou! I had not else been here To share my Father's Curse, To suffer now, . . . and yet to thank thee thus! 7. Here then, the maiden cried, dear Father, here Raise our own Goddess, our divine Preserver! The mighty of the earth despise her rites, {33} She loves the poor who serve her. Set up her image here, With heart and voice the guardian Goddess bless, For jealously would she resent Neglect and thanklessness. . . . Set up her image here, And bless her for her aid with tongue and soul sincere.