Poems (Proctor)/In Old Siam

by Edna Dean Proctor

IN OLD SIAM.⁴

O the wonder! O the glory!
 Hunting deer by hill and glade,
In the balm and flush of morning
 Down the woodland ways I strayed.
Bright the lotus buds were blowing;
 Rose and jasmine wreathed the bowers;
Every thicket rung with music;
 Dropped the dews in pearly showers.
O the wonder! O the glory!
 Merit's ravishing reward!
 'Neath a stately Bo-tree's shadow,
 Still as statue on the sward,

Stood the pure, celestial lord,
 The White Elephant, a Buddha!
To the earth I fell and murmured,
 "Mighty one! how blest my fate
In the forest thus to find thee—
 I so low and thou so great!"
Breathless then I sought the temple,
 Calling high o'er hymn and prayer,
"Leave your chant, O priests, and offer
 Thanks and gifts beyond compare!
What is Kandy's Tooth, or Footprint,
 To a living, present lord?—
Tell the rulers! rouse the soldiers!
 Bid your fairest scribe record
 I have seen him on the sward,
 The White Elephant, a Buddha!"

How we bore him to the palace
 Down Meinam's rejoicing tide!—
I a noble now and honored,
 Standing proud my King beside.
Trumpets blew and cannon thundered;
 Chimed the sweet pagoda bells;
On his forehead holy water
 Princes poured from jewelled shells;
Every temple heaped its altars;
 Every town was wild with glee;
So with song and shout and splendor
 To the palace home came he,
 To his shrine that fronts the sea,—
 The White Elephant, a Buddha!