Book V. Canto Ix. The Ladies' Bower Canto Ix.: The Ladies ' Bower. Where stately mansions rose around, A palace fairer still he found,Whose royal height and splendour showed Where Ravan's self, the king, abode,A chosen band with bow and sword Guarded the palace of their lord,Where Rksha's dames of noble race And many a princess fair of faceWhom Rvan's arm had torn away From vanquished kings in slumber lay. p. 401There jewelled arches high o'erhead An ever-changing lustre shed From ruby, pearl, and every gem On golden pillars under them.Delicious came the tempered air That breathed a heavenly summer there,Stealing through bloomy trees that bore Each pleasant fruit in endless store. No check was there from jealous guard, No door was fast, no portal barred;Only a sweet air breathed to meet The stranger, as a host should greetA wanderer of his kith and kin And woo his weary steps within.He stood within a spacious hall With fretted roof and painted wall, The giant Rvan's boast and pride, Loved even as a lovely bride. 'Twere long to tell each marvel there, The crystal floor, the jewelled stair, The gold, the silver, and the shine Of chrysolite and almandine. There breathed the fairest blooms of spring; There flashed the proud swan's silver wing,The splendour of whose feathers broke Through fragrant wreaths of aloe smoke. 'Tis lndra's heaven,' the Vnar cried Gazing in joy from side to side; 'The home of all the Gods is this, The mansion of eternal bliss.' There were the softest carpets spread, Delightful to the sight and tread,Where many a lovely woman lay O'ercome by sleep, fatigued with play. The wine no longer cheered the feast, The sound of revelry had ceased. The tinkling feet no longer stirred, No chiming of a zone was heard.So when each bird has sought her nest And swans are mute and wild bees rest,Sleep the fair lilies on the lake Till the sun's kiss shall bid them wake.Like the calm field of winter's sky Which stars unnumbered glorify,So shone and glowed the sumptuous room With living stars that chased the gloom. 'These are the stars,' the chieftain cried, 'In autumn nights that earth-ward glide,In brighter forms to reappear And shine in matchless lustre here.'With wondering eyes a while he viewed Each graceful form and attitude. One lady's head was backward thrown, Bare was her arm and loose her zone.The garland that her brow had graced Hung closely round another's waist.Here gleamed two little feet all bare Of anklets that had sparkled there,Here lay a queenly dame at rest In all her glorious garments dressed,There slept another whose small hand Had loosened every tie and band,In careless grace another lay Wide gems and jewels cast away,Like a young creeper when the tread Of the wild elephant has spread Confusion and destruction round, And cast it flowerless to the ground. Here lay a slumberer still as death,Save only that her balmy breath Raised ever and anon the lace that floated o'er her sleeping face. There, sunk in sleep, an amorous maid Her sweet head on a mirror laid,Like a fair lily bending till Her petals rest upon the rill.Another black-eyed damsel pressed Her lute upon her heaving breast,As though her loving arms were twined Round him for whom her bosom pined.Another pretty sleeper round A silver vase her arm's had wound That seemed, so fresh and fair and young A wreath of flowers that o'er it hung.In sweet disorder lay a throng Weary of dance and play and song,Where heedless girls had sunk to rest One pillowed on anothers breastHer tender cheek half seen beneath Bed roses of the falling wreath,The while her long soft hair concealed The beauties that her friend revealed.With limbs at random interlaced Bound arm and leg and throat and waist,Wreath of women lay asleep Blossoms in a careless heap.Footnotes 400: 1b Vis'vakarm is the architect of the Gods, the Hephaestos or Mulciber of the Indian heaven. 400: 2b Rvan in the resistless power which his long austerities had endowed him with, had conquered his brother Kuvera the God of Gold and taken from him his greatest treasure this enchanted car. 400: 3b Like Milton's heavenly car 'Itself instinct with spirit.'
olomon ibn gabirol ben judah | ibn gabirol solomon ben judah