Page:The Bengali Book of English Verse.djvu/54

22  And make my noble father's name Of every song the theme; To rescue Thoda from the slave Who lives to fill a coward's grave.

And till my life-blood's purple flow Stand stagnant in my veins, That early vow to see fulfilled I'll spare nor strength nor pains: To those who join me in the war I'll be a radiant beacon star!

My hand—'tis his who foremost scales The ramparts of the foe, And to the wicked Lilla deals The dread avenging blow; Go, warriors—these alone decide The man who wins me as his bride.'

 

"Humayun fled towards Amarcot. His horse died on the way; and he desired Tirdi Beg, one of his chiefs, to let him have his horse. The request was refused, so low had royalty fallen. One Koka, dismounting his own mother, gave the king her horse, and placing the lady on a camel ran himself on foot beside her."

At midnight, o'er the desert sands The monarch fled alone, And in the light of paling stars His blood-stained armour shone. Disbanded were his glorious ranks, His bravest chieftains slain, Yet o'er his wide ancestral realm Once more he hoped to reign.

