The Project Gutenberg EBook of Sonnets
by Nizam-ud-din-Ahmad, (Nawab Nizamat Jung Bahadur)

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org


Title: Sonnets

Author: Nizam-ud-din-Ahmad, (Nawab Nizamat Jung Bahadur)

Release Date: February 24, 2004 [EBook #11266]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SONNETS ***




Produced by Olaf Voss and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.




SONNETS

BY THE

NAWAB NIZAMAT JUNG BAHADUR


"_Love is not discoverable by the eye, but only by the soul. Its
elements are indeed innate in our mortal constitution, and we
give it the names of Joy and Aphrodite; but in its highest nature no
mortal hath fully comprehended it_."

EMPEDOCLES.


"_Every one choose the object of his affections according to his
character.... The Divine is beauty, wisdom, goodness, and by these the
wings of the soul are nourished_."

PLATO.




1917




CONTENTS


         FOREWORD, BY R.C. FRASER
         NOTE ON THE HISTORY OF THE SONNET IN ENGLISH LITERATURE
         PROLOGUE
      I. REBIRTH
     II. THE CROWN OF LIFE
    III. BEFORE THE THRONE
     IV. WORSHIP
      V. UNITY
     VI. LOVE'S SILENCE
    VII. THE SUBLIME HOPE
   VIII. THE HEART OF LOVE
     IX. "'TWIXT STAR AND STAR"
      X. THE HIGHER KNIGHTHOOD
     XI. IN BEAUTY'S BLOOM
    XII. ETERNAL JOY
   XIII. CONSTANCY
    XIV. CALM AFTER STORM
     XV. THE STAR OF LOVE
    XVI. IMPRISONED MUSIC
   XVII. LOVE'S MESSAGE
  XVIII. ECSTASY
    XIX. THE DREAM
     XX. ETHEREAL BEAUTY
    XXI. A CROWN OF THORNS
   XXII. TWO HEARTS IN ONE
  XXIII. YEARNING
   XXIV. LOVE'S GIFT
         EPILOGUE




FOREWORD

BY RICHARD CHARLES FRASER


The following Sonnet Sequence,--written during rare intervals of leisure
in a busy and strenuous life,--was privately printed in Madras early in
1914, without any intention of publication on the part of the author. He
has, however, now consented to allow it to be given to a wider audience;
and we anticipate in many directions a welcome for this small but
significant volume by the writer of _India to England_, one of the most
popular and often-quoted lyrics evoked by the Great War.

The Nawab Nizamat Jung Bahadur, was born in the State of Hyderabad, but
educated in England; and there are some--at Cambridge and elsewhere--who
will remember his keenly discriminating interest in British history and
literature, and the comprehensive way he, in a few words, would indicate
his impressions of poets and heroes, long dead, but to him ever-living.

His appreciation was both ardent and just; he could swiftly recognise
the nobler elements in characters which at first glance might seem
startlingly dissimilar; and he could pass without apparent effort from
study of the lives of men of action to the inward contemplations of
abstruse philosophers.

To those who have not met him, it may appear paradoxical to say that his
tastes were at the same moment acutely fastidious and widely
sympathetic; but anyone who has talked with him will recall the blend of
high impersonal ideas with a remarkable personality which seldom failed
to stimulate other minds--even if those others shared few if any of his
intellectual tastes.

A famous British General (still living) was once asked, "What is the
most essential quality for a great leader of men?" And he replied in one
word "SYMPATHY." The General was speaking of leadership in relation to
warfare; and by "Sympathy" he meant swift insight into the minds of
others; and, with this insight, the power to arouse and fan into a flame
the spark of chivalry and true nobility in each. The career of the Nawab
Nizamat Jung has not been set in the world of action,--he is at present
a Judge of the High Court in Hyderabad,--but nevertheless this
definition of sympathy is not irrelevant, for the Nawab's personal
influence has been more subtle and far-reaching than he himself is yet
aware. His love of poetry and history, if on the one hand it has
intensified his realisation of the sorrows and tragedies of earthly
life, on the other hand has equipped him with a power to awake in others
a vivid consciousness of the moral value of literature,--through which
(for the mere asking) we any of us can find our way into a kingdom of
great ideas. This kingdom is also the kingdom of eternal realities--or
so at least it should be; and those who in the early nineties in England
talked with Nizamoudhin (as he then was) could scarcely fail to notice
that he valued the genius of an author, or the exploits of a character
in history, chiefly in proportion to the permanent and vital nature of
the truths this character had laboured to express--whether in words or
action.

But Truth, has many faces; and scarcely any poet (except perhaps
Shakespeare) has come within measurable distance of expressing every
aspect of the human character. The Nawab could take pleasure in reading
poets as temperamentally dissimilar as Shelley and Scott, Spenser and
Byron,--to name only a few. Shelley, who was a spirit utterly unable to
understand this world or ordinary homespun human nature; and Scott, who
not only comprehended both without an effort, but who combined the
practical and the romantic elements successfully in his own life, A
devotion to Spenser, "the poet's poet," the poet of a dreamy yet very
real and living chivalry,--Spenser who used to forget himself in his
creations,--did not prevent the Nawab from understanding Byron, who
never could forget himself at all; and who, with all his vivid impulses
of generous sympathy for the oppressed, is nevertheless generally
classed to-day as a colossal egoist. (Unjustly so, for no mere egoist
would have toiled as he toiled for Greek emancipation, in the
nerve-racking campaign which cost him his life.)

In _India to England_--most characteristic of the war poems of Nizamat
Jung--we see traces of the influence of more than one of the English
poets he has read so lovingly. But the poem is none the less poignantly
personal. The same may be said of the Sonnets here prefaced; for
although they are related to the sonnets of earlier poets whose work
must be familiar to the writer, yet they are in no sense imitations, nor
are they echoes.

"_Poetry is the natural language of strong emotion_," the Nawab said many
years ago;--and if it may be asked why, holding this view, he has chosen
such an elaborate (and, some people might add, artificial) form as the
Sonnet, we can only answer that when an emotion or conviction is
deep-seated and permanent, it becomes clarified, concentrated, and
intensified under the stern discipline of compression within the
arbitrary yet expressive limitations of a sonnet.[A]

One of the main reasons why the Nawab's friends have urged the
publication of his Sonnets, is that despite occasional imperfections (of
which he himself is conscious), they form a consistent whole, and in
their spirit and sentiment they are akin to some of the most noble
utterances of the great minds and hearts whose words have been like
torches to show what heights a strong aspiring soul can climb.

"_The Will is the master. Imagination the tool, and the body the plastic
material_," said a famous physician, who was also a practical man of the
world;--and the poet who identifies his will and imagination with the
eternal truths, who looks up to the stars instead of down into the mud,
may always, even in his weariest hours, cheer himself by mental
companionship with the other resolute souls whose pens have been used as
swords in the service of Divine Beauty.

Of all the most famous writers of Sonnets, it is Michelangelo whose
words come back most vividly to memory as we read the Nawab's
expressions of faith.

  "_Love wakes the soul and gives it wings to fly_."


  "_All beauty that to human sight is given
  Is but the shadow, if we rightly see,
  Of Him from Whom man's spirit issueth_."


  "_As heat from fire, my love from the ideal
  Is parted never_."


  "_Oh noble spirit, noble semblance taking,
  We mirrored in Thy mortal beauty see
  What Heaven and earth achieve in harmony_."

Thus wrote Michelangelo of Vittoria Colonna (Marchioness of Pescara),
"being enamoured of her divine spirit";[B] and though in the Sonnets of
the Nawab, who uses what is for him a foreign tongue, the ideal is
sometimes greater than the expression of it, yet the spirit shines out
with a light which none can mistake. And whether the average man accepts
or rejects the standards therein embodied, lovers of poetry will
recognise that the Nawab, in his championship of a high and noble ideal,
fights in the same army as Dante and Michelangelo,--neither of them
cloistered dreamers, neither of them arm-chair theorists, but men who
lived and loved and suffered amidst the turmoil of a world they viewed
with wide-open eyes and unflinching minds.

The chivalrous ideal of an exalted and inspiring love can be rejected if
we please;--but let none claim to be manly because this ideal seems too
ethereal. For it is by the most vigorous, most strenuous, and most
commanding souls and minds that this faith in the Eternal Beauty has
been cherished and upheld most ardently and resolutely.

_September 29, 1917_.

FOOTNOTES:

[A] See "Note on the History of the Sonnet in English Literature," below.

[B] Ascanio Condivi's "Life of Michelangelo Buonarroti."




NOTE ON THE HISTORY OF THE SONNET IN ENGLISH LITERATURE


Now that Italy holds such a brilliant place among our Allies during this
the greatest war in the world's history--the war of chivalry (which is
to say moral and spiritual right) against the arrogant might of the
Prussian Octopus,--it is well to remember that it was from Italy the
Sonnet first came into England. The word _sonnet_ in fact, is from the
Italian _sonetto_ (literally "a little sound"), and the _sonetto_ was
originally a short poem recited or sung to the accompaniment of music,
probably the lute or mandolin.

Whether its birth should be attributed to Italy or Sicily,--or to
Provence, the cradle of troubadour poetry,--is a subject on which the
learned may still indulge in pleasant controversies. But in Italy,
towards the end of the thirteenth century, it had already become a
favourite mode of expression; and some forty years later, in a
manuscript treatise on the _Poetica Volgare_ (written in 1332 by a Judge
in Padua), sixteen different forms of sonnet were enumerated as then in
current use.

But despite the continued vogue of the Sonnet, and its association with
the names of such masters as Dante, Petrarch, Tasso and Michelangelo in
Italy; Ronsard in France; Camoens in Portugal; Shakespeare, Milton,
Wordsworth and Rossetti in England--to say nothing of a host of minor
poets, who, though one star differeth from another in glory, yet
constitute a brilliant galaxy--it is remarkable that even now the
average non-literary reader when asked "What is a Sonnet?" seldom gives
any more explicit reply than to say it is "a short poem limited to
fourteen lines."

The rules for the structure of those fourteen lines, and the labour and
patience entailed in producing a poem under these limitations, are not
always realised even by those who enjoy the results of the poet's
concentrated efforts. The more successful a sonnet, the more the reader
is apt to accept its beauty as if it had grown by a natural process like
a flower. This, perhaps, is the best compliment we could pay the poet;
but if the poet is one who boldly essays a most difficult and complex
form, in a language which for him is foreign, then we should pause a
moment to consider what it is that he has set out to accomplish.

Taking the structure first (though for the poet the spirit and impetus
of the central idea must of course come first)--a sonnet on the Italian
(Petrarchan) model must consist of fourteen lines of ten syllables each,
and must be composed of a major and minor system, i.e. an octave and a
sestet.

In the octave (the first eight lines) the first, fourth, fifth and
eighth lines must rhyme on the same sound, and the second, third, sixth
and seventh, must rhyme on another sound.

In the sestet (the last six lines) more liberty of rhyme and arrangement
is permitted, but a rhymed couplet at the end is not usual except when
the sonnet departs from the Italian model and is on the English or, as
we say, "Shakespearian" pattern.

Each sonnet must be complete; and, even if one of a sequence, it should
contain within itself everything necessary to the understanding of it.
It must be the expression of _one_ emotion, _one_ fact, _one_ idea, and
"the continuity of the thought, idea, or emotion must be unbroken
throughout." "Dignity and repose," "expression ample yet reticent," are
qualities which one of our ablest modern critics emphasises as
essential, and the end must always be more impressive than the
beginning,--the reader must be carried onwards and upwards, and left
with a definite feeling that in what has been said there is neither
superfluity nor omission, but rather a completeness which precludes all
wish or need for a longer poem.

How difficult this is for the poet can only be realised by trying to
achieve it.

The earliest writers of English sonnets were two very romantic and
gallant men of action, Sir Thomas Wyatt, and Henry Howard, Earl of
Surrey,--both destined to brief brilliant lives and tragic deaths. They
were followed by Spenser, Sir Philip Sidney and a host of Elizabethan
poets, courtly and otherwise. But it is Shakespeare whose Sonnets
(though not conforming to the Petrarchan model) show the most force and
fire of any in our language until those of Milton.

To analyse the variations of the Shakesperian, Spenserian and Miltonian
forms is, however, unnecessary to our present purpose, as the Sonnet
Sequence we are now prefacing is based on the Petrarchan model. Strictly
speaking, the Petrarchan sestet (the last six lines) should have three
separate rhymed sounds; the first and fourth lines, the second and
fifth, and the third and sixth should form the three rhymes. But this
rule is by no means invariably followed; even Wordsworth and Rossetti
often rhymed the first with the third, and the second with the fourth
lines; and sometimes used only two sounds,--the first, third, and fifth
lines making one rhyme and the second, fourth, and sixth the other.

As already said, these liberties are permitted, for the sestet is not
under such arbitrary regulations as the octave.

There are writers who keep all the rules, and yet leave their readers
cold; and others who are technically less correct, but in whom the
vigour and intensity of emotion is swiftly felt and silences adverse
criticism. The ideal is to combine deep and exalted feeling with perfect
expression, and produce a whole which goes to the heart like a beautiful
piece of music, and satisfies the mind--like one of those ancient Greek
gems which, in a small space, presents engraved images symbolic of
sublime ideas vast as the universe.

The Nawab Nizamat Jung has written in English several sonnets which we
should admire even if English were his native language. But if any of us
would like to form some estimate of the difficulties he has surmounted,
let us sit down and try to express in a sonnet in _any_ foreign language
our own thoughts and beliefs. We shall then the better appreciate what
he has achieved.

As, however, while the Great War lasts, few of us have leisure for
literary experiments, it will perhaps be best to read these Sonnets
primarily for their soul and spirit. In melody and expression they are
of varying degrees of merit and completeness, but in the inspiring ideal
they consistently embody they rise to heights which have been scaled
only by the noblest. In tone and temper--as already said--they are akin
to the Sonnets to Vittoria Colonna by Michelangelo,--of whom it was
written by one who knew him well, "_Though I have held such long
intercourse with him I have never heard from his mouth a word, that was
not most honourable.... In him there are no base thoughts.... He loves
not only human beauty, but everything that is beautiful and exquisite in
its own kind,--marvelling at it with a wonderful admiration_."

Here we see defined the temperament of the heroic poet, that inner
nobility and exaltation without which mere technical skill can avail
little in moving and holding the hearts of men.

This note on the structure of the Sonnet would fail in its purpose if it
distracted the reader from the spirit behind the form;--for the spirit
is the life,--and few who read these Sonnets will deny that the spirit
of Nizamat Jung is that of the true poet, ever striving to look beyond
ephemeral sorrows up to the Eternal Beauty--now hidden behind a veil,
but some day to be revealed in all its splendour and completeness.

R.C.F.

_October 6, 1917_.




SONNETS




PROLOGUE


  As one who wanders lone and wearily
  Through desert tracts of Silence and of Night,
  Pining for Lovers keen utterance and for light,
  And chasing shadowy forms that mock and flee,
  My soul was wandering through Eternity,
  Seeking, within the depth and on the height
  Of Being, one with whom it might unite
  In life and love and immortality;

  When lo! she stood before me, whom I'd sought,
  With dying hope, through life's decaying years--
  A form, a spirit, human yet divine.
  Love gave her eyes the light of heav'n, and taught
  Her lips the mystic music of the spheres.
  Our beings met,--I felt her soul in mine;




I

REBIRTH


  To me no mortal but a spirit blest,
  A Light-girt messenger of Love art thou--
  The radiant star of Hope upon thy brow.
  The thrice-pure fire of Love within thy breast!
  Thou comest to me as a heavenly guest,
  As God's fulfilment of the purest vow
  Love's heart e'er made--thou com'st to show e'en _now_
  The Infinite, th' Eternal and the Best!

  I clasp thy feet,--O fold me in thy wings,
  And place thy pure white hands upon my head,
  And breathe, O breathe, thy love-breath o'er mine eyes
  Till, like the flame that from dark ashes springs,
  My chastened spirit, from a self that's dead,
  Upon the wings of Love shall heav'nward rise.




II

THE CROWN OF LIFE


  I know not what Love is,--a memory
  Of Heav'n once known,--a yearning for some goal
  That shines afar,--a dream that doth control
  The spirit, shadowing forth what is to be.
  But this I know, my heart hath found in thee
  The crown of life, the glory of the soul,
  The healing of all strife, the making whole
  Of my imperfect being,--yea, of me!

  For to mine eyes thine eyes, through Love, reveal
  The smile of God; to me God's healing breath
  Comes through thy hallowed lips whose pray'r is Love.
  Thy touch gives life! And oh, let me but feel
  Thy hovering hand my closing eyes above,--
  Then, then, my soul will triumph over Death.




III

BEFORE THE THRONE


  When on thy brow I gaze and in thine eyes--
  Eyes heavy-laden with the soul's desire,
  Not passion-lit, but lit with Heav'n's own fire--
  I have a vision of Love's Paradise.
  Gazing, my tranced spirit straightway flies
  Beyond the zone to which the stars aspire;
  I hear the blent notes of the white-wing'd quire
  Around Immortal Love triumphant rise.

  And there I kneel before th' eternal throne
  Of Love, whose light conceals him,--there I see,
  Veiled in his sacred light, a face well known
  To me on earth, now, yearning, bend o'er me.
  Heaven's mystic veil, inwove of light and tone,
  Conceals thee not, Beloved,--I know thee!




IV

WORSHIP


  How poor is all my love, how great thy claim!
  How weak the breath, the voice which would reveal
  All that thy soul hath taught my soul to feel--
  Longings profound,--deep thoughts without a name.
  If God's self might be worshipped, without blame,
  In His best works, then would I silent kneel
  Watching thine eyes,--until my soul should steal
  Back, unperceived, to regions whence it came!

  If my whole life were but one thought of thee,
  That thought the purest worship of my heart
  And my soul's yearning blent; if at thy feet
  I offered such a life, there still would be
  Something to wish for,--something to complete
  The measure of my love and thy desert.




V

UNITY


  When I approach thee, Love, I lay aside
  All that is mortal in me; with a heart
  Absolved and pure, and cleansed in every part
  Of every thought that I might wish to hide
  From God, I come,--fit spirit to abide
  With such a soaring spirit as thou art,
  Whose eye transfixes with a fiery dart
  Presumptuous passion and ignoble pride.

  Yea, thus I come to thee, and thus I dare
  To gaze into thine eyes; I take thy hand,
  And its soft touch upon my lips and eyes
  Thrills thy pure being, while it lingers there,
  Into my heart and soul;--and then we stand
  Like the first two that loved in Paradise!




VI

LOVE'S SILENCE


  When through thine eyes the light of Heav'n doth shine
  Upon my being, and thy whisper brings,
  As the soft rustling of an angel's wings,
  Joy to my soul and peace and grace divine;
  When thus thy body and thy soul combine
  To weave the mystic web thy beauty flings
  Around my heart, whose thrilling silence rings
  With Hope's unuttered songs that make thee mine,--

  Ah, then, O Love! what need of words have we,
  Who speak in feeling to each other's heart?
  Words are too weak Love's message to impart,
  Too frail to live through Love's eternity.
  Silence, the voice of God, alone must be
  Love's voice for thee, beloved as them art.




VII

THE SUBLIME HOPE


  What need to tell thee o'er and o'er again
  What eyes to eyes have spoken silently
  And heart to heart hath uttered? Love must be
  For us a hushed delight, a voiceless pain
  Serenely borne! Our lips must ne'er profane
  Our inmost feelings,--lest the sanctity
  Of Love be lessened in our hearts and we
  Nought higher than the common path attain!

  The common path were death to us, whose love,
  O'erruled by Fate, from earthly hopes debarred,
  Must look to Heav'n for sublimer joys
  Than those which earth can give, which earth destroys.
  Our path is steep, but there is light above,
  And Faith can make the roughest way less hard.




VIII

THE HEART OF LOVE


  Look in mine eyes, Beloved,--for my tongue
  Must never utter what my heart doth claim,--
  And read Love there, for Love's forbidden name
  Dies on my trembling lips unvoiced, unsung.
  Nor sighs, nor tears--the bitter tribute wrung
  From hearts of woe--must e'er that love proclaim
  For which the world's unpitying heart would blame
  Thy pity--though from purest fountains sprung.

  Fate and the world, they bid wide oceans roll
  Between our yearning hearts and their desire;
  Yea, lips they silence, but can ne'er control
  The heart of Love, nor quench its sacred fire.
  I must not speak; O look into my soul--
  There read the message which thou dost require!




IX

"TWIXT STAR AND STAR"


  Not here,--not here, where weak conventions mar
  Life's hopes and joys, Love's beauty, truth and grace,
  Must I come near thee, greet thee face to face,
  Pour in thine ear the songs and sighs that are
  My heart's best offerings. But in regions far,
  Where Love's ethereal pinions may embrace
  Beauty divine--in the clear interspace
  Of twilight silence betwixt star and star,

  And in the smiles of cloudless skies serene,
  In Dawn's first blush and Sunset's lingering glow,
  And in the glamour of the Moon's chaste beams--
  My soul meets thine, and there thine image seen,
  More real than life, doth to my lone heart show
  Such charms as live in Memory's haunting dreams!




X

THE HIGHER KNIGHTHOOD


  A time there was, when for thy beauty's prize--
  Hadst thou but deemed my love that prize deserved--
  What hope, what faith my daring heart had nerved
  For proud achievement and for high emprize!
  No Knight, that owned the spell of Beauty's eyes
  And wore her sleeve upon his helm, had served
  His vows with faith like mine; I ne'er had swerved
  One jot from mine for all beneath the skies.

  That time is dead, alas! and yet this heart
  Is thine, still thine, with Love's high chivalry
  And Faith that cannot die; but now its part
  Must be a higher knighthood,--patiently
  To brook life's ills, and, pierced with many a dart,
  By sacrifice of self to merit thee.




XI

IN BEAUTY'S BLOOM


  As when the Moon, emerging from a cloud,
  Sheds on the dreary earth her gracious light,
  A smile comes o'er the frowning brow of Night,
  Who hastens to withdraw her sable shroud;
  And then the lurking shadows' dark-robed crowd,
  Pursued with glitt'ring shafts, is put to flight;
  And, robed in silv'ry raiment, soft and bright
  The humblest flower as a Queen seems proud;

  So when thou com'st to me in Beauty's bloom,
  And on thy face soft Pity's graces shine,
  Thou can'st dispel the heavy shades of gloom
  From my sad heart, which ceases then to pine;
  And Hope and Joy their quenched beams relume
  And gild the universe with light divine.




XII

ETERNAL JOY


  Truth is but as the eye of God doth see;
  And Love is truth, and Love hath made thee mine.
  What though on earth our lives may not combine,
  Love makes us one for all Eternity!
  God gives us to each other, bids us be
  Each other's soul's fulfilment, makes Love shine
  Upon our souls as His own light divine.
  An effluence of His own deity.

  Why ask for more? Our union is above
  All earthly unions, ours those heights serene
  Where Love alone is Heav'n and Heav'n is Love--
  Where never comes the world's harsh breath between
  Hope's fruits and flow'rs. Ah, why then earthward move,
  Where pure and perfect bliss hath never been?




XIII

CONSTANCY


  Ah, Love, I know that to my love thou art,
  And must be, in this life, a dream,--a name!
  But be it joy or grief, or praise or blame,
  I give thee all the worship of my heart.
  'Tis not for Love to bid life's cares depart;
  Love wings the soul for Heaven whence it came.
  Such love from Petrarch's soul did Laura claim,
  And Beatrice to Dante did impart.

  To thee I turn,--be thou or near or far,
  And whether on my love thou frown or smile,--
  As, in mid-ocean, to some fairy isle
  Palm-crowned; as, in the heav'ns, to eve's bright star
  Whose pure white fire allures the vision, while
  Myriads of paler lights unnoticed are!




XIV

CALM AFTER STORM


  Thou hast but seen what but mine eyes have shown--
  Mine eyes that gazing on thee picture Heaven;
  Thou hast but heard what but my voice hath given--
  My voice that takes from thine a calmer tone.
  Ah! couldst thou know all that my heart hath known,
  While with Despair's dark phantoms it hath striven--
  From faith to doubt, from joy to sorrow driven,
  Till rescued and redeemed by Love alone,--

  Thou wouldst not marvel were my cloudless brow
  O'er-clouded, were my aspect less serene!
  Love smiles on Death, unveils his mystery
  Of joy and grief, and Love bids me avow
  This truth, with chastened heart and tranquil mien,--
  'Less pure Love's bliss if less Love's agony.'




XV

THE STAR OF LOVE


  Time's cycle rolls--once more I hail the day
  On which propitious Heaven sent to Earth,
  Disguised in thy fair form, in mortal birth,
  The Star of Love, whose pure celestial ray
  Glides through the spirit's gloom and lights the way
  To bliss! I hail thy coming 'midst the dearth
  Of the soul's aspirations, when the worth
  Of hearts like thine had ceased men's hearts to sway.

  I greet thee, Love, and with thee scale the height,
  That cloudless height where winged spirits rest:
  Where the deep yearnings of the mortal breast,
  From mortal bin set free, reveal to sight
  That living Presence, that Eternal Light
  In which enwrapt the eager soul is blest.




XVI

IMPRISONED MUSIC


  Oh, had I but the poet's voice to sing,
  Then would the music prisoned in my heart
  (Panting in vain its message to impart)
  Hover around thee, Love, on trembling wing,
  To tell thee of the soft-eyed hopes that cling
  To Love's white feet, the doubts and fears that start
  And pierce his bosom with a poisoned dart,--
  The smiles that soothe, the cold hard looks that sting!

  But 'tis not mine, the soaring joy of Song:
  I strive to voice my soul, but strive in vain.
  Though passion thrills, and eager fancies throng,
  Deckt in the varying hues of joy and pain,
  Yet the weak voice--as weak as Love is strong--
  Dies murm'ring on Love's throbbing heart again.




XVII

LOVE'S MESSAGE


  We will not take Love's name; that little word,
  By lips too oft profaned, we will not use.
  From Nature's best and loveliest we will choose
  Fit symbols for Love's message; like a bird,--
  Whose warbled love-notes by its mate are heard
  In greenwood glade,--shalt thou in strains profuse
  The prisoned music of thy heart unloose,
  While my heart's love is by sweet flow'rs averred.

  Then take, O take these fresh-awakened flowers,
  The symbols of my love, and keep them near,
  Where they may feel thy breath and touch thy hand;
  Then sing thy songs to me,--in silver showers
  Pour forth, thine eager soul, and I shall hear;
  Ah, thus will Love Love's message Understand!




XVIII

ECSTASY


  The Nightingale upon the Rose's breast
  Warbling her tale of life-long sorrow lies,
  Till in love's tranced ecstasy her eyes
  Close and her throbbing heart is set at rest;
  For, to the yielding flow'r her bosom prest,
  Death steals upon her in the sweet disguise
  Of crowned love and brings what life denies,--
  mingling of the souls,--Love's eager quest!

  Thus let my heart against thy heart repose,
  Sigh forth its life in one delicious sigh,
  Then drink new life from out thy balmy breath;
  Thus in love's languor let our eyelids close,
  And let our blended souls enchanted lie,
  And dream of joy beyond the gates of death.




XIX

THE DREAM


  Was it a dream, when, through the spirit's gloom,
  I saw the yearning face of Beauty shine--
  Soft in its human aspect, though divine,
  Pleading for human love, though armed with doom?
  And was it but a dream, that faint perfume,
  Blent of loose tress and soft lips joined to mine,
  Those fair white arms that did my neck entwine,
  That neck's sweet warmth, that smooth cheek's floral bloom?

  Ah! was it true, or was it but a dream
  Of bliss that scarce to mortal hearts is given?
  Ah! was it thou, Beloved, or some bright
  Phantom of thee that made thy presence seem,
  Rich with the warmth of Life, the light of Heaven,
  To hover o'er the realms where both unite?




XX

ETHEREAL BEAUTY


  Nay, it was thou, when the fair Evening Star
  Leaned on the purple bosom of the West;
  'Twas thou, when o'er the far hills' frowning crest
  Fell the soft beams of Cynthia's silv'ry car:
  Thyself--than stars and moonbeams fairer far--
  A vision in ethereal beauty drest!
  But, when thy head drooped flow'r-like on my breast,
  Then did no word our souls' communion mar:

  Love spake to love without a sign or glance,
  And heart to heart its inmost depth revealed
  In the deep thrilling silence of that trance,
  Till earth, and earthly being ceased to be,
  And our blent souls at that high altar kneeled
  Whence Love doth gaze upon Eternity!




XXI

A CROWN OF THORNS


  There was a crown of thorns upon the head
  Of Love, when he across my threshold came.
  I knew the sign and did not ask his name,
  But took him to my heart, although he said,
  'The soul's dumb agonies, the tears unshed
  That sear the heart, th' injustice and the blame
  Of the harsh world,--God wills that I should claim
  Through these immortal Life when Hope is dead.'

  I took him to my heart and clasped him close.
  E'en though his thorns did make my bosom bleed.
  Then from the very core of pain arose
  A joy that seemed to be the utmost need
  Of my worn soul! Love whispered, '_This_ the meed
  Of hearts that keep their faith amidst Love's woes.'




XXII

TWO HEARTS IN ONE


  Two hearts made one by Love that cannot die
  Whatever life may bring, shall never part;
  In life they're one, and e'en in death one heart!
  Are we not such, Beloved, thou and I?
  Ah, then, why mourn that 'neath another sky,
  Far from these longing arms and eyes thou art?
  I clasp thee still, and lo! thy lips impart
  New life to me as in the days gone by.

  I feel thy heart in mine,--our hopes and fears,
  Like music's wedded notes, together flow;
  Our sighs the same, the same our smiles and tears,--
  The selfsame bliss is ours, the selfsame woe.
  For Love no weary leagues, no ling'ring years--
  Two hearts in one nor time nor distance know.




XXIII

YEARNING


  The night is sweet: thy breath is in the air,
  I feel it on my face; thy tender eyes
  Look love upon me from yon starry skies!
  They bring to me, those glancing moonbeams fair,
  The shine and ripple of thy silken hair.
  And in the silent whispers and the sighs
  That from the throbbing heart of Nature rise,
  I hear thee, feel thee,--own thy presence there.

  Ah, fond deceit!--too soon the heart, unblest,
  Unsated, turns from these illusive charms
  Back to the haunting dream of heav'n once known:
  It pines for those soft eyes, that throbbing breast,
  Those sweet life-giving lips, those circling arms--
  The breath, the touch, the warmth of Beauty flown.




XXIV

LOVE'S GIFT


  I'm far from thee, yet oft our spirits meet:
  We share the longings of each other's breast,
  And all our joys and sorrows are confest
  As though our lips did love's fond tale repeat.
  Ah! then thine eyes send forth, mine eyes to greet,
  Glances in which thy whole soul is exprest,
  Then, like some song-bird flutt'ring in its nest,
  I hear thy heart in pulsing cadence beat.

  I know its music and I know its thought;
  My heart to it th' unuttered words supplies;
  I listen to the thrilling melody
  Until my soul its subtle tone hath caught.
  And then I take it as Love's gift,--it lies
  Imprisoned in my own weak poesy!




EPILOGUE


  From out the golden dawn of vanished years
  She glides into my dreams, a form divine
  Of light and love, to soothe the thoughts that pine
  For what has been, to stem the tide of tears
  That inward flows upon the heart and sears
  Its inmost core. Her countenance benign,
  Where Love and Pity's chastened graces shine,
  Reflects the hallowed light of other spheres.

  Then to my anguished soul, with care outworn,
  Comes, like a strain on aerial wings upborne,
  This message from her soul:--'_Bid sorrow cease;
  Love dies not;--'tis th' immortal life above.
  And chastened souls, that win eternal peace
  Through earthly suff'ring, know that Heaven is Love_!'





End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Sonnets
by Nizam-ud-din-Ahmad, (Nawab Nizamat Jung Bahadur)

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SONNETS ***

***** This file should be named 11266.txt or 11266.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
        https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/2/6/11266/

Produced by Olaf Voss and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.

Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.

Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
redistribution.



*** START: FULL LICENSE ***

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
https://gutenberg.org/license).


Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic works

1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.

1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works.  See paragraph 1.E below.

1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.

1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
States.

1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
copied or distributed:

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
1.E.9.

1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.

1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.

1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg-tm License.

1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
that

- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."

- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
     License.  You must require such a user to return or
     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
     Project Gutenberg-tm works.

- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
     of receipt of the work.

- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.

1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.

1.F.

1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
your equipment.

1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.

1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
opportunities to fix the problem.

1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.

1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.


Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm

Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
people in all walks of life.

Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org.


Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation

The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
https://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.

The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
page at https://pglaf.org

For additional contact information:
     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
     Chief Executive and Director
     gbnewby@pglaf.org

Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation

Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
status with the IRS.

The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
particular state visit https://pglaf.org

While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
approach us with offers to donate.

International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.

Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including including checks, online payments and credit card
donations.  To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate


Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works.

Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.

Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.

Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's
eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII,
compressed (zipped), HTML and others.

Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over
the old filename and etext number.  The replaced older file is renamed.
VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving
new filenames and etext numbers.

Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:

     https://www.gutenberg.org

This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.

EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000,
are filed in directories based on their release date.  If you want to
download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular
search system you may utilize the following addresses and just
download by the etext year.

     https://www.gutenberg.org/etext06

    (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99,
     98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90)

EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are
filed in a different way.  The year of a release date is no longer part
of the directory path.  The path is based on the etext number (which is
identical to the filename).  The path to the file is made up of single
digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename.  For
example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at:

     https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234

or filename 24689 would be found at:
     https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689

An alternative method of locating eBooks:
     https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL