Tales of Ind, and Other Poems — Key Ideas to Explore

nd said with folded hands and trembling lips-- "O royal master, at the gate there waits A man of noble mien from the far north Requesting audience on affairs of state." "Conduct him to our presence," said the prince. The stranger came,--upon the floor he knelt And said--"Thou mighty prince of these fair lands, I come from Arcot, and the Nabob sent His humble servant to demand of thee Thy dues which these five years thou hast not paid. Know, then, if these are not now duly paid, From thee he will these broad dominions wrest, And give them those who will his rule obey." The angry prince made answer--"Go and tell Your master that his vain threats move us not, Say we will gladly meet him on the field." So saying, from his royal seat he rose, And to his palace instantly withdrew.

As when a stone dropped in the middle of A placid pool its slumb'ring waters wakes, And the calm surface is all ruffled seen, Or at the merest touch of ruthless man Bent on the honeyed treasures of the hive Those myriad ones leave murm'ring to the foe Their hoarded wealth to which they fondly clung, So scattered to their distant native homes The bustling crowd that met on Jinji's hills, When he of Arcot came to mar their joys.

And days and months rolled on until one day To Désing came his loyal spy and said-- "My noble ruler, on the other side Of the fair stream that runs through yonder plain, There waits our foe of Arcot with his men: Prepare to go and meet him on the field." 'Twas even time--the warrior prince soon wrote To Mamood Khan, the master of his troops, To hasten to his country's duty first. What though it was that soldier's bridal hour, When he received his royal master's call! "My country's welfare first, then my fair spouse," He said, and leapt upon his faithful steed And stood, ere morn had streaked the eastern sky, Before his lord his bidding to obey.

The prince rose early on that fated day And to the temple of his God repaired, There to invoke His blessing on the field. Then to the palace hastened he to meet, Ere he went forth to fight, his youthful wife, Who day by day in beauty grew amidst A score of maidens, like the waxing moon; And, with a screen of silk between, they met. As one lured by the fragrance of the rose Stoops down gently to lift the truant stalk That to the other side of the thick hedge Shoots out alone from its own parent stem, So fondly down stooped Jinji's noble prince To kiss the jewelled arm of his fair spouse Which through the screen she offered to her lord. Prince Désing was the first who silence broke. "My dear wife! on the day when we were wed These eyes of mine had not e'en this arm seen, Although on the same bridal seat we sat. The screen which by the custom of our race Was drawn by cruel hands hid thee from view. So wondrous fair this arm looks that methinks Rare beauties must be seated on thy face. My foe hath come; fear not; I go to fight, And come with honours loaded from the field, A victor to rejoice with thee to-night At the propitious hour which, by the aid Of all his starry lore, our Brahmin sage Hath for our nuptials named,--to gaze and scan In silent joy what charms, what beauties rare The hand divine has showered upon thy face, And to recount to thee, when with thine own My arm in friendship plays, what blood it shed, What havoc in the Moslem camp it wrought. So let me now depart." To which the Queen: "I was the only daughter of my sire, And cradled in his sinewy arms I grew; And when upon his warrior breast I laid My head to sleep, my mother by his side Lulled me with songs of how in days gone by The martial women of our noble race Went with their husbands by their side to fight; And one so nursed fears not the Moslem foe. But now, alas! some evil it forebodes That thou shouldst on this day go forth to fight."