Book Iv. Canto Lvi

Canto Lvi:


These Vnar hosts with one accord

Will quit thee for their lawful lord,

And turn again with thirsty eyes

To wife and babe and all they prize.

Thou in the lonely cavern left

Of followers and friends bereft,

Wilt be in all thy woe, alas,

Weak as a blade of trembling grass:

And Lakshman's arrows, keen and fierce

From his strong bow, thy heart will pierce.

But if in lowly reverence meek

Sugrva's court with us thou seek,

He, as thy birth demands, will share

The kingdom with the royal heir.

Thy loving kinsman, true and wise,

Looks on thee still with favouring eyes.

Firm in his promise, pure is he,

And ne'er will vex or injure thee.

He loves thy mother, lives for her

A faithful friend and worshipper.

That mother's love thou mayst not spurn:

Her only child, return, return.'