72
SACONTALA;
Sac. Venerable matron, there is a change for the better.
Gaut. Then thou art in no danger. Mayst thou live many years! The day is departing; let us both go to the cottage.
Sac. [Aside, rising slowly.] O my heart, no sooner hadst thou begun to taste happiness, than the occasion slipped away! [She advances a few steps, and returns to the arbour.]—O bower of twining plants, by whom my sorrows have been dispelled, on thee I call; ardently hoping to be once more happy under thy shade.
[She goes out with Gautamí.
Dushm. [Returning to the bower, and sighing.] How, alas, have my desires been obstructed! Could I do less than kiss the lips of my charmer, though her modest cheeks were half averted; lips, whose sweetness had enchanted me, even when they pronounced a denial? Whither now can I go? I will remain a while in this arbour of creepers, which my darling's presence has illuminated.—[Looking round.]—Yes; this is her seat on the rock, spread with blossoms, which have been pressed by her delicate limbs.—Here lies her excellent love letter on the leaf of a water lily; here lay her bracelet of tender filaments which had fallen from her sweet wrist.—Though the bower of twining Vétasas be now desolate, since my charmer has left it, yet, while my eyes are fixed on all these delightful memorials of her, I am unable to depart.—[Musing.]—Ah!