Book V. Canto Xv. S'it'a

Canto Xv.: St.


Fair as Kailsa white with snow

He saw a palace flash and glow,

A crystal pavement gem-inlaid,

And coral steps and colonnade,

And glittering towers that kissed the skies,

Whose dazzling splendour charmed his eyes.

There pallid, with neglected dress,

Watched close by fiend and giantess,

Her sweet face thin with constant flow

Of tears, with fasting and with woe;

Pale as the young moon's crescent when

The first faint light returns to men:

Dim as the flame when clouds of smoke

The latent glory hide and choke;

Like Rohin the queen of stars

Oppressed by the red planet Mars;

From her dear friends and husband torn,

Amid the cruel fiends, forlorn,

Who fierce-eyed watch around her kept,

A tender woman sat and wept,

Her sobs, her sighs, her mournful mien,

Her glorious eyes, proclaimed the queen.

'This, this is she,' the Vnar cried,

'Fair as the moon and lotus-eyed,

I saw the giant Rvan bear

A captive through the fields of air.

Such was the beauty of the dame;

Her form, her lips, her eyes the same.

This peerless queen whom I behold

Is Rma's wife with limbs of gold.

Best of the sons of men is he,

And worthy of her lord is she.'

Footnotes

404:1 The poet forgets that Hanumn has reduced himself to the size of a cat.