The Ramayan

Kausalya saw the monarch lie With drooping frame and failing eye, And for her banished son distressed With these sad words her lord addressed: "Kaikeyi, cruel, false, and vile Has cast the venom of her guile On Rama lord of men, and she Will ravage like a snake set free; And more and more my soul alarm, Like a dire serpent bent on harm, For triumph crowns each dark intent, And Rama to the wild is sent. Ah, were he doomed but here to stray Begging his food from day to day, Or do, enslaved, Kaikeyi's will, This were a boon, a comfort still. But she, as chose her cruel hate, Has hurled him from his high estate, As Brahmans when the moon is new Cast to the ground the demons' due. The long-armed hero, like the lord Of Nagas, with his bow and sword Begins, I ween, his forest life With Lakshman and his faithful wife. Ah, how will fare the exiles now, Whom, moved by Queen Kaikeyi, thou Hast sent in forests to abide, Bred in delights, by woe untried? Far banished when their lives are young, With the fair fruit before them hung, Deprived of all their rank that suits, How will they live on grain and roots? O, that my years of woe were passed, And the glad hour were come at last When I shall see my children dear, Rama, his wife, and Lakshman here! When shall Ayodhya, wild with glee, Again those mighty heroes see, And decked with wreaths her banners wave To welcome home the true and brave? When will the beautiful city view With happy eyes the lordly two Returning, joyful as the main When the dear moon is full again? When, like some mighty bull who leads The cow exulting through the meads, Will Rama through the city ride, Strong-armed, with Sita at his side? When will ten thousand thousand meet And crowd Ayodhya's royal street, And grain in joyous welcome throw Upon my sons who tame the foe? When with delight shall youthful bands Of Brahman maidens in their hands Bear fruit and flowers in goodly show, And circling round Ayodhya go? With ripened judgment of a sage, And godlike in his blooming age, When shall my virtuous son appear, Like kindly rain, our hearts to cheer? Ah, in a former life, I ween, This hand of mine, most base and mean, Has dried the udders of the kine And left the thirsty calves to pine. Hence, as the lion robs the cow, Kaikeyi makes me childless now, Exulting from her feebler foe To rend the son she cherished so. I had but him, in Scripture skilled, With every grace his soul was filled. Now not a joy has life to give, And robbed of him I would not live: Yea, all my days are dark and drear If he, my darling, be not near, And Lakshman brave, my heart to cheer. As for my son I mourn and yearn, The quenchless flames of anguish burn And kill me with the pain, As in the summer's noontide blaze The glorious Day-God with his rays Consumes the parching plain."