THE RÁMÁYAN OF VÁLMÍKI, VOL. III - Gujarat Knowledge Centre

Canto LXIII. THE RAM^i^YjtN. 291
Have stolen or devoured their prey,
Or surely at my mournful cry
My darling to Iier lord would fly.
O Lakshman, see those troops of deer
In each sad eye there gleams a tear.
Those looks of woe too clearly say
My consort is th^ giants' prey.
noblest, fairest of the^fair,
Where art thou, best of women, where ?
This day will dark Kaikeyi find
Fresh triumph for her evil mind,
When I who with my Sitd came
Return alone, without my dame.
But ne'er cnn I return to see
Those chambers where my queen should be,
And hear the scornful people speak
Of Rama as a coward weak.
For mine will be the coward's shame
Who let- the foeman steal his dame.
How can I seek my home, or brook
Upon Videha's king to look ?
How listen, when he bids me tell.
My wanderings o'er, that all is well ?
He, when I meet his eager view.
Will mark that Sita comes not too,
And wlien he hears the mournful tale
His wildered sense will reel and fail.
' Dasaratha,' will he cry,
' Blest in thy mansion in the sky !
Ne'er to that town my steps shall bend,
That' town which Bharat's arms defend,
For e'en the blessed homes above
Would seem a waste without my love.
Leave me, my brother, here, I pray