Page:The Bengali Book of English Verse.djvu/50

18 It was the refusal on the part of the monarch who celebrated the Feast of Victory, to come to the rescue of his brother king that enabled the Moslem to triumph. The besieged sovereign implores his lady to fly. She answers in the spirit of ancient Hindu chivalry:—

The funeral pyre consumes the lovers, and the tale ends with the disappointed Moslem's entry into the doomed city.

High flames the fiercely kindling pyre Like Rudra's all consuming ire; And many a spark ascends on high Like light-wing'd birds which wildly fly Or gayly sweep along the sky; The Rishi with his gods is there But weeps as swells his solemn pray'r, And all around the brightening glow Lights hueless cheek and pallid brow! And there be murmured voice of wail, Like mournful sigh of mid-night gale, And must he die so young, so brave, Is there no god above to save!'

There is a hush:— a warrior stands Fast by that pyre of blazing brands; With all a warrior's fearless pride He shrinks not from the fiery tide,