This world was now astir, foretelling day.
"A king shall come, they say, to rule the world,
If he will rule; but whence this mighty king?
My years decline apace, and yet no son
Of mine to rule or light my funeral pile."
One night Queen Maya, sleeping by her lord,
Dreamed a strange dream; she dreamed she saw a star
Gliding from heaven and resting over her;
She dreamed she heard strange music, soft and sweet,
So distant "joy and peace" was all she heard.
In joy and peace she wakes, and waits to know
What this strange dream might mean, and whence it came.
Drums, shells and trumpets sound for joy, not war;
The streets are swept and sprinkled with perfumes,
And myriad lamps shine from each house and tree,
And myriad flags flutter in every breeze,
And children crowned with flowers dance in the streets,
And all keep universal holiday
With shows and games, and laugh and dance and song,
For to the gentle queen a son is born,
To King Suddhodana the good an heir.
But scarcely had these myriad lamps gone out,
The sounds of revelry had scarcely died,
When coming from the palace in hot haste,
One cried, "Maya, the gentle queen, is dead."
Then mirth was changed to sadness, joy to grief,
For all had learned to love the gentle queen--
But at Siddartha's birth this was foretold.
Among the strangers bringing gifts from far,
There came an ancient sage--whence, no one knew--
Age-bowed, head like the snow, eyes filmed and white,
So deaf the thunder scarcely startled him,
Who met them, as they said, three journeys back,
And all his talk was of a new-born king,
Just born, to rule the world if he would rule.
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