27 February 2008

India Reposing (Martin Farquhar Tupper)

Be glad, thou tranquil Hindostan,
That GOD such mercy gives -
That tribe with tribe, and man with man
In friendly concord lives!
Rejoice, for peace and quiet days, -
Instead of those old times
When all the region was ablaze
With cruelties and crimes!

O happy days for India,
Now wars are made to cease, -
Nor Timur, Singh, nor Sindiah
Invade thy plenteous peace!
Beneath the flag of England
Ye hundred millions, rest!
And shout for joy, and sing Land
In Britain's mercies blest!

For strong-arm'd Law protects the weak
From each marauding crew, -
Nor savage Gond, nor fiery Sikh,
Affrights the mild Hindoo;
No more can Thug or hireling Bheel
Infest the pool or steep,
No longer does Pindarree steel
The ryot's harvest reap!

Rejoice! from Himalaya's snows
To level Malabar, -
From where the Nilelike Ganges flows
To Cutch and Candahar, -
Rejoice! that those old times are past,
Those fears and sorrows fled,
That gospel peace is come at last
And India comforted!

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