Strong with an inner strength; nor shouldst thou feel
Despair at what has come to us of wrong;
Who has unending woe or lasting weal?
Our fates move up and down upon a circling wheel.

XLVII

_and to remember that the curse has its
appointed end, when the rainy season is
over and the year of exile fulfilled. Vishnu
spends the rainy months in sleep upon the
back of the cosmic serpent Shesha_.

When Vishnu rises from his serpent bed
The curse is ended; close thine eyelids tight
And wait till only four months more are sped;
Then we shall taste each long-desired delight
Through nights that the full autumn moon illumines bright.

XLVIII

_Then is added a secret which, as it could 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: