solemn rite,
I circled in my rapid flight
Lord Vishnu, everlasting God,
When through the universe he trod.
But now my limbs are weak and old,
My youth is fled, its fire is cold,
And these exhausted nerves to strain
In such a task were idle pain."

Then Angad due obeisance paid,
And to the chief his answer made:
"Then I, ye noble Vanars, I
Myself the mighty leap will try:
Although perchance the power I lack
To leap from Lanka's island back."

Thus the impetuous chieftain cried,
And Jambavan the sage replied:
"Whate'er thy power and might may be,
This task, O Prince, is not for thee.
Kings go not forth themselves, but send
The servants who their best attend.
Thou art the darling and the boast,
The honoured lord of all the host.
In thee the root, O Angad, lies
Of our appointed enterprise;
And thee, on whom our hopes depend,
Our care must cherish and defend."

Then Bali's noble son replied:
"Needs must I go, whate'er betide,
For, if no chief this exploit dare,
What waits us all save blank despair,--
Upon the ground again to lie
In hopeless misery, fast, and die?
For not a hope of life I see
If we neglect our king's decree."
Then spoke the aged chief again:
"Nay our attempt shall not be vain,
For to the task will I incite
A chieftain of sufficient might."

Canto LXVI. Hanuman.

The chieftain turned his glances where
The legions sat in mute despair;
And then to Hanuman, the best
Of Vanar lords, these words addressed:
"Why still, and silent, and apart,
O hero of the dauntless heart?
Thou keepest treasured in thy mind
The laws that rule the Vanar kind,
Strong as our king Sugriva, brave
As Rama's self to slay or save.
Through every land thy praise is heard,
Famous as that illustrious bird,
Arishtanemi's son,(781) the king
Of every fowl that plies the wing.
Oft have I seen the monarch sweep
With sounding pinions o'er the deep,
And in his mighty talons bear
Huge serpents struggling through the air.
Thy arms, O hero, match in might
The ample wings he spreads for flight;
And thou with him mayest well compare
In power to do, in heart to dare.
Why, rich in wisdom, power, and skill,
O hero, art thou lingering still?
An Apsaras(782) the fairest found
Of nymphs for heavenly charms renowned,
Sweet Punjikasthala, became
A noble Vanar's wedded dame.
Her heavenly title heard no more,
Anjana was the name she bore,
When, cursed by Gods, from heaven she fell
In Vanar form on earth to dwell,