auty's toils ensnared,
A desperate deed of boldness dared;
By fortune saved ere Rama's steel
One wound, thy mortal bane, could deal.
But, Ravan, as the deed is done,
The toil of war I will not shun.
This arm, O rover of the night,
Thy foemen to the earth shall smite,
Though Indra with the Lord of Flame,
The Sun and Storms, against me came.
E'en Indra, monarch of the skies,
Would dread my club and mountain size,
Shrink from these teeth and quake to hear
The thunders of my voice of fear.
No second dart shall Rama cast:
The first he aims shall be the last.
He falls, and these dry lips shall drain
The blood of him my hand has slain;
And Sita, when her champion dies,
Shall be thine undisputed prize."

Canto XIII. Ravan's Speech.

But Mahaparsva saw the sting
Of keen reproach had galled the king;
And humbly, eager to appease
His anger, spoke in words like these:

"And breathes there one so cold and weak
The forest and the gloom to seek
Where savage beasts abound, and spare
To taste the luscious honey there?
Art thou not lord? and who is he
Shall venture to give laws to thee?
Love thy Videhan still, and tread
Upon thy prostrate foeman's head.
O'er Sita's will let thine prevail,
And strength achieve if flattery fail.
What though the lady yet be coy
And turn her from the proffered joy?
Soon shall her conquered heart relent
And yield to love and blandishment.
With us let Kumbhakarna fight,
And Indrajit of matchless might:
We need not other champions, they
Shall lead us forth to rout and slay.
Not ours to bribe or soothe or part
The foeman's force with gentle art,
Doomed, conquered by our might, to feel
The vengeance of the warrior's steel."

The Rakshas monarch heard, and moved
By flattering hopes the speech approved:

"Hear me," he cried, "great chieftain, tell
What in the olden time befell,--
A secret tale which, long suppressed,
Lies prisoned only in my breast.
One day--a day I never forget--
Fair Punjikasthala(922) I met,
When, radiant as a flame of fire,
She sought the palace of the Sire.
In passion's eager grasp I tore
From her sweet limbs the robes she wore,
And heedless of her prayers and cries
Strained to my breast the vanquised prize.
Like Nalini(923) with soil distained,
The mansion of the Sire she gained,
And weeping made the outrage known
To Brahma on his heavenly throne.
He in his wrath pronounced a curse,--
That lord who made the universe:
"If, Ravan, thou a second t