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THE CURSE OF KEHAMA.
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None hath seen its secret fountain;But on the top of Meru mountain,Which rises o’er the hills of earth,In light and clouds it hath its mortal birth.Earth seems that pinnacle to rearSublime above this worldly sphere,Its cradle, and its altar, and its throne;And there the new-born River liesOutspread beneath its native skies,As if it there would love to dwellAlone and unapproachable.Soon flowing forward, and resign’dTo the will of the Creating Mind,It springs at once, with sudden leap,Down from the immeasurable steep.From rock to rock, with shivering force rebounding,The mighty cataract rushes; Heaven around,Like-thunder, with the incessant roar resounding,And Meru’s summit shaking with the sound.Wide spreads the snowy foam, the sparkling sprayDances aloft; and ever there, at morning,The earliest, sun-beams haste to wing their way,With rain-bow wreaths the holy flood adorning;