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Kisses on her cheeks he heaps,

Till with love her heart runs o'er;
And the captive maiden weeps,
She who ne'er had wept before.
Motionless she sinks by him,

Ah, 'tis not the hope of gain-
'Tis not passion-each weak limb
Fails her, all her arts are vain.
And now for the festival couch of delight
The close veiling web, by the hours of the night,
Is woven, as darkness begins her mild reign.

Late in sleep she shuts her eyes,
Early wakes from transient rest,
Lo! upon her bosom lies,

Dead, her dearly cherished guest.
Loud she calls him in despair,

But no more shall he respire;
And the stiffening corse they bear
To the sacred funeral fire.

The bramins are chanting the dirges aloud

She hears them, she runs, and she pierces the crowd,— "Who art thou? and why dost thou rush to the pyre?"

Frantic by the bier she falls,

Fills the air with sorrowing shriek;
"Give me back my spouse," she calls,
"Him beneath the flames I seek.
Shall the fire to dust consume

Limbs, that shone with heavenly light?
Mine he was by heaven's high doom,

Mine, though but for one short night."
Hark! the song of the bramins-"We bury the old,
That have wearily languished, and late have grown cold;
We bury the young, ere they dream of life's blight.”

"Maid! thy priests' stern precepts hear;
Thou'rt not bound by nuptial tie,
But didst live as Bayadeer:

Ask not as a bride to die.
Shades alone, so death allows,
Follow the departed frame;
Spouse alone may follow spouse;
This is duty, truth, and fame."

The sacred lament with the tabors they raise;

"Receive O ye Gods! the young pride of our days, Receive to your mansion the youth from the flame."

Thus the choir unpitying cried;

Rent with grief, she pants for breath,
And, with arms extended wide,
Darts into the fiery death.

But serenely from the place,

Rose the godlike youth once more;
And within his safe embrace

Up the rescued maiden bore.

Of the Godhead, the smiles on the contrite are bent;
Immortals will stoop to the souls that repent;
Through flames to the skies the lost sinner may soar.

PARAPHRASE

Of the Hymn sung by the Hierophant, at the Eleusinian

Mysteries.

[THIS celebrated hymn, in which the Unity of the Deity is promulged, is preserved by Eusebius. The Hierophant, arrayed in the emblems of the Creator's attributes, clothed in a cærulean robe, and bearing a sceptre tipt with wings, came forward during the celebration of the mysteries, and sang this hymn to the initiated.]

HENCE ye profane!

But ye who from corruption's stain
Are free, ye initiate hear!
And listen now

To the' awful truths that I declare.
And thou, Musæus,* thou!
Blest offspring of Selenè fair,
Attend the song,

And through the vail-hung roof the sacred strain prolong.
O! let not evil, not dark error mar
Thy destiny, and thy happy star

Truth crowned, shall lead thee to the heights of heaven,
The bliss to the holy given.

* Musæus was the disciple of Orpheus, the supposed author of this hymn.

O! take the virtuous part:
Revere the aspéct divine

Of nature, and before her shrine,

Keep pure the soul, and govern well the heart.
Behold! the One Supreme,

Who rules the world, whose eye's far-piercing beam
The universe surveys;

From whom all life and all creation sprung.
Lo! he exists alone,

But by his glories and his mercies known.
Him, therefore, praise!

With golden lyre, and with inspired tongue
Breathe forth the holy hymn with awe,
To him who bindeth all things in his law;
Whom mortal eye may never see,

But who beholdeth all, throned in eternity.

MUSEUS.

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