lost and found!'
A thousand voices cry.
But from the wondrous churning streamed
A poison fierce and dread,
Burning like fire: where'er it streamed
Thick noisome mists were spread.
The wanting venom onwards went,
And filled the Worlds with fear,
Till Brahma to their misery bent
His gracious pitying ear;
And ['S]iva those destroying streams
Drank up at Brahma's beck.
Still in thy throat the dark flood gleams,
God of the azure neck!"
Specimens of Old Indian Poetry--_Churning of the Ocean._

_Gates of sense._] The eyes, ears, &c.

_CANTO FOURTH._

_Late, dim, and joyless shall his rising be._] The Moon, in Hindu
mythology, is a male deity.

_This line of bees._] Kama's bow is sometimes represented as strung in
this extraordinary manner.

_And stain this foot._] "Staining the soles of the feet with a red
colour, derived from the Mehndee, the Lac, &c., is a favourite
practice of the Hindu toilet."--WILSON.

_CANTO FIFTH._

_And worn with resting on her rosary._] The Hindus use their rosaries
much as we do, carrying them in their hands or on their wrists. As
they turn them over, they repeat an inaudible prayer, or the name of
the particular deity they worship, as Vish[n.]u or S'iva. The
_Rudraksha mala_ (which we may suppose Uma to have used) is a string
of the seeds or berries of the Eleocarpus, and especially dedicated to
S'iva. It should contain 108 berries or beads, each of which is
fingered with the mental repetition of one of S'iva's 108
appellations.

_Not e'en her boy._] Kartikeya, the God of War.

_Of those poor birds._] The Chakravaki. These birds are always
observed to fly in pairs during the day, but are supposed to remain
separate during the night.

_That friendship soon in gentle heart is bred._]

"Amor in cor gentil ratto s'apprende."
DANTE.

_CANTO SIXTH._

_The Heavenly Dame._] Arundhati, wife of one of the Seven Saints.

_The Boar._] An Avatar, or incarnation of Vish[n.]u. In this form he
preserved the world at the deluge.

_That thirsty bird._] The Chataka, supposed to drink nothing but
rain-water.

_Proud Alaka._] The capital of Kuvera, the God of Wealth.

_The bright Champac._]

"The maid of India blest again to hold
In her broad lap the Champac's leaves of gold."
_Lalla Rookh._

_Angiras._