d not
possibly be known to a third person,
assures her that the cloud is a true
messenger_.

And one thing more: thou layest once asleep,
Clasping my neck, then wakening with a scream;
And when I wondered why, thou couldst but weep
A while, and then a smile began to beam:
"Rogue! Rogue! I saw thee with another girl in dream."

XLIX

This memory shows me cheerful, gentle wife;
Then let no gossip thy suspicions move:
They say the affections strangely forfeit life
In separation, but in truth they prove
Toward the absent dear, a growing bulk of tenderest love.'"

L

_The Yaksha then begs the cloud to return
with a message of comfort_.

Console her patient heart, to breaking full
In our first separation; having spoken,
Fly from the mountain ploughed by Shiva's bull;
Make strong with message and with tender token
My life, so easily, like morning jasmines, broken.

LI

I hope, sweet friend, thou grantest all my suit,
Nor read refusal in thy solemn air;
When thirsty birds complain, thou givest mute
The rain from heaven: such simple hearts are rare,
Whose only answer is fulfilment of the prayer.

LII

_and dismisses him, with a prayer for his
welfare_.

Thus, though I pray unworthy, answer me
For friendship's sake, or pity's, magnified
By the sight of my distress; then wander free
In rainy loveliness, and ne'er abide
One moment's separation from thy lightning bride.

* * * * *

THE SEASONS

_The Seasons_ is an unpretentious poem, describing in six short cantos
the six seasons into which the Hindus divide the year. The title is
perhaps a little misleading, as the description is not objective, but
deals with the feelings awakened by each season in a pair of young
lovers. Indeed, the poem might be called a Lover's Calendar.
Kalidasa's authorship has been doubted, without very cogent argument.
The question is not of much interest, as _The Seasons_ would neither
add greatly to his reputation nor subtract from it.

The whole poem contains one hundred and forty-four stanzas, or
something less than six hundred lines of verse. There follow a few
stanzas selected from each canto.

SUMMER

Pitiless heat from heaven pours
By day, but nights are cool;
Continual bathing gently lowers
The water in the pool;
The evening brings a charming peace:
For summer-time