Indian Poetry Part 18

Bar thy door not to the stranger, be he friend or be he foe, For the tree will shade the woodman while his axe doth lay it low.

Greeting fair, and room to rest in; fire, and water from the well-- Simple gifts--are given freely in the house where good men dwell;--

Young, or bent with many winters; rich, or poor whate'er thy guest, Honour him for thine own honour--better is he than the best.

"Pity them that crave thy pity: who art thou to stint thy h.o.a.rd, When the holy moon shines equal on the leper and the lord?"

When thy gate is roughly fastened, and the asker turns away, Thence he bears thy good deeds with him, and his sins on thee doth lay.

In the house the husband ruleth; men the Brahman "master" call; Agni is the Twice-born's Master--but the guest is lord of all.

"He who does and thinks no wrong-- He who suffers, being strong-- He whose harmlessness men know-- Unto Swarga such doth go."

"In the land where no wise men are, men of little wit are lords; And the castor-oil's a tree, where no tree else its shade affords."

"Foe is friend, and friend is foe, As our actions make them so."

"That friend only is the true friend who abides when trouble comes; That man only is the brave man who can bear the battle-drums; Words are wind; deed proveth promise: he who helps at need is kin; And the leal wife is loving though the husband lose or win."

"Friend and kinsman--more their meaning than the idle-hearted mind; Many a friend can prove unfriendly, many a kinsman less than kind: He who shares his comrade's portion, be he beggar, be he lord, Comes as truly, comes as duly, to the battle as the board-- Stands before the king to succour, follows to the pile to sigh-- He is friend, and he is kinsman; less would make the name a lie."

"Stars gleam, lamps flicker, friends foretell of fate; The fated sees, knows, hears them--all too late."

"Absent, flatterers' tongues are daggers--present, softer than the silk; Shun them! 'tis a draught of poison hidden under harmless milk; Shun them when they promise little! Shun them when they promise much!

For enkindled, charcoal burneth--cold, it doth defile the touch."

"In years, or moons, or half-moons three, Or in three days--suddenly, Knaves are shent--true men go free."

"Anger comes to n.o.ble natures, but leaves there no strife or storm: Plunge a lighted torch beneath it, and the ocean grows not warm."

"n.o.ble hearts are golden vases--close the bond true metals make; Easily the smith may weld them, harder far it is to break.

Evil hearts are earthen vessels--at a touch they crack a-twain, And what craftsman's ready cunning can unite the shards again?"

"Good men's friendships may be broken, yet abide they friends at heart; Snap the stem of Luxmee's lotus, but its fibres will not part."

"One foot goes, and one foot stands, When the wise man leaves his lands."

"Over-love of home were weakness; wheresoe'er the hero come, Stalwart arm and steadfast spirit find or make for him a home.

Little recks the awless lion where his hunting jungles lie-- When he enters them be certain that a royal prey shall die."

"Very feeble folk are poor folk; money lost takes wit away: All their doings fail like runnels, wasting through the summer day."

"Wealth is friends, home, father, brother--t.i.tle to respect and fame; Yea, and wealth is held for wisdom--that it should be so is shame."

"Home is empty to the childless; hearts to those who friends deplore: Earth unto the idle-minded; and the three worlds to the poor."

"Say the sages, nine things name not: Age, domestic joys and woes, Counsel, sickness, shame, alms, penance; neither Poverty disclose.

Better for the proud of spirit, death, than life with losses told; Fire consents to be extinguished, but submits riot to be cold."

"As Age doth banish beauty, As moonlight dies in gloom, As Slavery's menial duty Is Honour's certain tomb;

As Hari's name and Hara's Spoken, charm sin away, So Poverty can surely A hundred virtues slay."

"Half-known knowledge, present pleasure purchased with a future woe, And to taste the salt of service--greater griefs no man can know."

"All existence is not equal, and all living is not life; Sick men live; and he who, banished, pines for children, home, and wife; And the craven-hearted eater of another's leavings lives, And the wretched captive, waiting for the word of doom, survives; But they bear an anguished body, and they draw a deadly breath; And life cometh to them only on the happy day of death."

"Golden gift, serene Contentment! have thou that, and all is had; Thrust thy slipper on, and think thee that the earth is leather-clad."

"All is known, digested, tested; nothing new is left to learn When the soul, serene, reliant, Hope's delusive dreams can spurn."

"Hast thou never watched, awaiting till the great man's door unbarred?

Didst thou never linger parting, saying many a sad last word?

Spak'st thou never word of folly, one light thing thou would'st recall?

Rare and n.o.ble hath thy life been! fair thy fortune did befall!"

"True Religion!--'tis not blindly prating what the gurus prate, But to love, as G.o.d hath loved them, all things, be they small or great; And true bliss is when a sane mind doth a healthy body fill; And true knowledge is the knowing what is good and what is ill."

"Poisonous though the tree of life be, two fair blossoms grow thereon: One, the company of good men; and sweet songs of Poets, one."

"Give, and it shall swell thy getting; give, and thou shalt safer keep: Pierce the tank-wall; or it yieldeth, when the water waxeth deep."