Page:The poetical works of Matthew Arnold, 1897.djvu/114

76 And Rustum plucked it back with angry groan.

Then Sohrab with his sword smote Rustum's helm,

Nor clove its steel quite through; but all the crest

He shore away, and that proud horse-hair plume,

Never till now defiled, sank to the dust;

And Rustum bowed his head. But then the gloom

Grew blacker, thunder rumbled in the air,

And lightnings rent the cloud; and Ruksh the horse,

Who stood at hand, uttered a dreadful cry:

No horse's cry was that, most like the roar

Of some pained desert-lion, who all day

Has trailed the hunter's javelin in his side,

And comes at night to die upon the sand;

The two hosts heard that cry, and quaked for fear,

And Oxus curdled as it crossed his stream.

But Sohrab heard, and quailed not, but rushed on,

And struck again; and again Rustum bowed

His head; but this time all the blade, like glass,

Sprang in a thousand shivers on the helm,

And in the hand the hilt remained alone.

Then Rustum raised his head; his dreadful eyes

Glared, and he shook on high his menacing spear,

And shouted, Rustum! Sohrab heard that shout,

And shrank amazed: back he recoiled one step,

And scanned with blinking eyes the advancing form;

And then he stood bewildered, and he dropped

His covering shield, and the spear pierced his side.

He reeled, and staggering back sank to the ground.

And then the gloom dispersed, and the wind fell,

And the bright sun broke forth, and melted all

The cloud; and the two armies saw the pair,—

Saw Rustum standing safe upon his feet,

And Sohrab wounded on the bloody sand.

Then, with a bitter smile, Rustum began,—