Page:Oriental Sketches Dramatic Sketches and Tales.pdf/58

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
49


There the warm red of the pomegranate glows
    In ruby lustre; and acacias twine
Their many-colored wreaths amid the rose,
    The yellow champa and the jessamine;
Its mantling silver the clematis draws
    O'er clustering oleanders pink and white;
And the magnolia's richly scented vase
    Droops o'er the Baubool's bells of golden light.

And India's dark-browed natives dearly prize
    The silken treasures of their forest bowers;
They love to plait their fagrant rosaries,
    And heap each holy shrine with wreaths of flowers.
O'er the bright waters snowy chaplets float,
    With lotus crowns the pearly river glows,
And each proud shallop and each nut-shell boat
    Bear a rich garland on their dainty prows.