[_Exit_.

KING. [_Aside_.

Strange! that song has filled me with a most peculiar sensation.
A melancholy feeling has come over me, and I seem to yearn after
some long-forgotten object of affection. Singular, indeed! but

Not seldom In our happy hours of ease,
When thought is still, the sight of some fair form,
Or mournful fall of music breathing low,
Will stir strange fancies, thrilling all the soul
With a mysterious sadness, and a sense
Of vague yet earnest longing. Can it be
That the dim memory of events long past,
Or friendships formed in other states of being[74],
Flits like a passing shadow o'er the spirit?

[_Remains pensive and sad_.

_Enter the_ CHAMBERLAIN[75], _named_ VATAYANA.

CHAMBERLAIN.

Alas! to what an advanced period of life have I attained!

Even this wand betrays the lapse of years;
In youthful days 'twas but a useless badge
And symbol of my office; now it serves
As a support to prop my tottering steps.

Ah me! I feel very unwilling to announce to the King that a
deputation of young hermits from the sage Kanwa has arrived, and
craves an immediate audience. Certainly, his Majesty ought not to
neglect a matter of sacred duty, yet I hardly like to trouble him
when he has just risen from the judgment-seat. Well, well; a
monarch's business is to sustain the world, and he must not
expect much repose; because--

Onward, for ever onward, in his car
The unwearied Sun pursues his daily course,
Nor tarries to unyoke his glittering steeds.
And, ever moving, speeds the rushing Wind
Through boundless space, filling the universe
With his life-giving breezes. Day and night,
The King of Serpents on his thousand heads[76]
Upholds the incumbent earth; and even so,
Unceasing toil is aye the lot of kings,
Who, in return, draw nurture from their subjects.

I will therefore deliver my message.

[_Walking on and looking about_.]

Ah! here comes the King.

His subjects are his children; through the day,
Like a fond father, to supply their wants,
Incessantly he labours; wearied now,
The monarch seeks seclusion and repose;
E'en as the prince of elephants defies
The sun's fierce heat, and leads the fainting herd
To verdant pastures, ere his wayworn limbs
He yields to rest beneath the cooling shade.

[_Approaching_.]

Victory to the King!