SHIVA

The third great Eye which cannot close,
That watched since time-tossed planets froze;
Beneath whose gaze all Nature quakes;
Within whose glance such splendour wakes:
- - -That is I.
Diffuser of the fainting breath
Into the Life beyond its death;
The three-fold cord that binds each soul
To drown as night's black waters roll -
- - -That is I, also.

*

The taker of the grasping life
Lamenting in the heaving strife;
The kindler of the searing fire,
The sorrow at the mourners' pyre:
- - -That is I.
The hidden fears that darkness brings,
The rustle of a Demon's wings;
The terror of the realms unknown,
The gulf wherein all dreams have flown -
- - -That is I, also.

*

The grief that grips the aching heart,
The reason why all friends must part;
Ordainer of tomorrow's fate
At whose command the lightnings wait:
- - -That is I.
The loneliness which haunts the moon
Who thirsts above the arid noon;
The flicker of a dying sun,
The anguished star whose course is run -
- - -That is I, also.

*

Destroyer! - Thus to re-create
The lower in a higher state;
To sever but a little space
And put a Universe in place -
- - -That is I.
Preserver of the will to live,
The Measure that must take or give ......
The loving Seed its ardour keeps
And in the Cosmic Lingam sleeps.
- - -That is I, also.