Lotus and Jewel - 1887 Author:Edwin Arnold Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: I. Idocrase ! Garnet from the Hills of Flame ! A stone thus known hides in dark Hentha's glade Which, when the Indians find, with joy they name, And—pro... more »ving—toil no more ; their gain is made : The " Noble Garnet!" There the colour lives So fine and rich no wheel can cut it dim: Flake it, or break it, every splinter gives One glorious crimson glow from core to rim; The colour of the blood of a man's heart When—between red and purple—it doth sweep Through the chief vein of all; nay, or a part Of the heart's self, carved where the life lies deep. So if you say " such praise is common speech ! " And " I have heard these tender things before !'' Ah, Sweetheart! let my Indian Garnets teach A better word to you, a wiser lore; For these are cut, Dear ! from a heart of faith ; The colour of Love's blood within them glows. Know you a mystical Purana saith There lurks in Balkh, under the lower snows, A gem so hued, like purple wine congealed, Styled Chintasiddhi (that's " Desire fulfilled "), And, whoso lighteth on it, goes afield Where two streams meet; and—water being spilled From forth his palm to all six quarters—then He whispers " OM "—the stone laid on his tongue, And therewith, from the forest or the glen, A red she-wolf advances, great with young, Who speaks a word ; and, if the man hath learned The counter-word, that wolf will whine and moan; And—sudden—to a red-haired woman turned Cry out: "I am the Servant of the Stone ! " " Command me as thou wilt! " Then, if he wills A feast be spread for him on plates of gold; A palace builded in the hidden hills, With courts and gardens wondrous to behold; Or, if he will a magic horse with wings To bear him through the Blue ; or mail of proof No stee...« less