Page:The poetical works of Matthew Arnold, 1897.djvu/120

82 Came back to Rustum, and he oped his eyes,

And they stood wide with horror; and he seized

In both his hands the dust which lay around,

And threw it on his head, and smirched his hair,—

His hair, and face, and beard, and glittering arms;

And strong convulsive groanings shook his breast,

And his sobs choked him; and he clutched his sword,

To draw it, and forever let life out.

But Sohrab saw his thought, and held his hands,

And with a soothing voice he spake, and said,—

"Father, forbear! for I but meet to-day

The doom which at my birth was written down

In Heaven, and thou art Heaven's unconscious hand.

Surely my heart cried out that it was thou,

When first I saw thee; and thy heart spoke too,

I know it! But fate trod those promptings down

Under its iron heel; fate, fate engaged

The strife, and hurled me on my father's spear.

But let us speak no more of this. I find

My father, let me feel that I have found!

Come, sit beside me on this sand, and take

My head betwixt thy hands, and kiss my cheeks,

And wash them with thy tears, and say, My son!

Quick, quick! for numbered are my sands of life,

And swift; for like the lightning to this field

I came, and like the wind I go away,—

Sudden, and swift, and like a passing wind;

But it was writ in Heaven that this should be."

So said he; and his voice released the heart

Of Rustum, and his tears broke forth; he cast

His arms round his son's neck, and wept aloud,

And kissed him. And awe fell on both the hosts,

When they saw Rustum's grief; and Ruksh, the horse,

With his head bowing to the ground, and mane