The Ramayan by Valmiki

He passed within the walls and gazed On gems and gold that round him blazed, And many a latticed window bright With turkis and with lazulite. Through porch and ante-rooms he passed Each richer, fairer than the last; And spacious halls where lances lay, And bows and shells, in fair array: A glorious house that matched in show All Paradise displayed below. Upon the polished floor were spread Fresh buds and blossoms white and red, And women shone, a lovely crowd, As lightning flashes through a cloud: A palace splendid as the sky Which moon and planets glorify: Like earth whose towering hills unfold Their zones and streaks of glittering gold; Where waving on the mountain brows The tall trees bend their laden boughs, And every bough and tender spray With a bright load of bloom is gay, And every flower the breeze has bent Fills all the region with its scent. Near the tall palace pale of hue Shone lovely lakes where lilies blew, And lotuses with flower and bud Gleamed on the bosom of the flood. There shone with gems that flashed afar The marvel of the Flower-named car, Mid wondrous dwellings still confessed Supreme and nobler than the rest. Thereon with wondrous art designed Were turkis birds of varied kind. And many a sculptured serpent rolled His twisted coil in burnished gold. And steeds were there of noblest form With flying feet as fleet as storm: And elephants with deftest skill Stood sculptured by a silver rill, Each bearing on his trunk a wreath Of lilies from the flood beneath. There Lakshmi, beauty's heavenly queen, Wrought by the artist's skill, was seen Beside a flower-clad pool to stand Holding a lotus in her hand.