mystery; the supreme period
in the daily life of the great
fne. The people have
gone, but their tapers still
flicker in lonely recesses,
where shelter from the winds
prolongs their hour; flowers
exhale their perfume and
glint in the pale moonlight ;
blood-red hibiscus and orange
canna, pink and white roses,
yellow-hearted 1 tayouksaga ;
the idle wind, as she passes,
rustles the broad: leaves of
the palms and makes a shimmer
on the white gold-edged
umbrellas; Tagondaing banners
float with listless grace,
and the tremulous pipul
throws her young leaves, like
w o o d c a r v i n g a s h o w e r 0 f flre-flies, against
the sky. The palms are cut in silver. Overhead, stray
wisps of cloud hide for a passing moment the glory
of Orion. The melody of bells peals out from far and
near as the wind freshens, and, underlying their tinkling
music, there comes to the ear of the careful listener the
deep vibration of the whole mass of the building, like
the refrain of some distant elemental organ. Is there
any cathedral in the world like this, so happy in its site,
so splendid with its gold, so open to the universal life ?
144
Book III
TH E N O R TH E RN IR R AW AD D Y
T he Defiles—BhamoE -T he R oad to China
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VOL. I. HS I