who rules the firmament,(555)
Shall reach thy wicked foe and like
Infuriate serpents hiss and strike.
Thou, Vanar King, this day shalt see
The foe who long has injured thee
Lie, like a shattered mountain, low,
Slain by the tempest of my bow."

Thus Rama spake: Sugriva heard,
And mighty joy his bosom stirred:
As thus his champion he addressed:
"Now by thy favour, first and best
Of heroes, shall thy friend obtain
His realm and darling wife again
Recovered from the foe.
Check thou mine elder brother's might;
That ne'er again his deadly spite
May rob me of mine ancient right,
Or vex my soul with woe."
The league was struck, a league to bring
To Sita fiends, and Vanar king(556)
Apportioned bliss and bale.
Through her left eye quick throbbings shot,(557)
Glad signs the lady doubted not,
That told their hopeful tale.
The bright left eye of Bali felt
An inauspicious throb that dealt
A deadly blow that day.
The fiery left eyes of the crew
Of demons felt the throb, and knew
The herald of dismay.

Canto VI. The Tokens.

With joy that sprang from hope restored
To Rama spake the Vanar lord:
"I know, by wise Hanuman taught,
Why thou the lonely wood hast sought.
Where with thy brother Lakshman thou
Hast sojourned, bound by hermit vow;
Have heard how Sita, Janak's child,
Was stolen in the pathless wild,
How by a roving Rakshas she
Weeping was reft from him and thee;
How, bent on death, the giant slew
The vulture king, her guardian true,
And gave thy widowed breast to know
A solitary mourner's woe.
But soon, dear Prince, thy heart shall be
From every trace of sorrow free;
For I thy darling will restore,
Lost like the prize of holy lore.(558)
Yea, though in heaven the lady dwell,
Or prisoned in the depths of hell,
My friendly care her way shall track
And bring thy ransomed darling back.
Let this my promise soothe thy care,
Nor doubt the words I truly swear.
Saints, fiends, and dwellers of the skies
Shall find thy wife a bitter prize,
Like the rash child who rues too late
The treacherous lure of poisoned cate.
No longer, Prince, thy loss deplore:
Thy darling wife will I restore.
'Twas she I saw: my heart infers
That shrinking form was doubtless hers,
Which gaint Ravan, fierce and dread,
Bore swiftly through the clouds o'erhead
Still writhing in his strict embrace
Like helpless queen of serpent race,(559)
And from her lips that sad voice came
Shrieking thine own and Laksh