ka glowed,
And palm and Sal and many a tree
With leaf and flower were fair to see.
They looked on wood and lawn and glade,
On emerald grass and dusky shade,
Where creepers filled the air with scent,
And luscious fruit the branches bent,
Where bees inebriate loved to throng,
And each sweet bird was loud in song.
The wondering Vanars passed the bound
That circled that enchanting ground,
And as they came a sweet breeze through
The odorous alleys softly blew.
Some Vanars, at their king's behest,
Onward to bannered Lanka pressed,
While, startled by the strangers' tread,
The birds and deer before them fled.
Earth trembled at each step they took,
And Lanka at their shouting shook.
Bright rose before their wondering eyes
Trikuta's peak that kissed the skies,
And, clothed with flowers of every hue,
Afar its golden radiance threw.
Most fair to see the mountain's head
A hundred leagues in length was spread.
There Ravan's town, securely placed,
The summit of Trikuta graced.
O'er leagues of land she stretched in pride,
A hundred long and twenty wide.
They saw a lofty wall enfold
The city, built of blocks of gold,
They saw the beams of morning fall
On dome and fane within the wall,
Bright with the shine that mansion gives
Where Vishnu in his glory lives.
White-crested like the Lord of Snows
Before them Ravan's palace rose.
High on a thousand pillars raised
With gold and precious stone it blazed,
Guarded by giant warders, crown
And ornament of Lanka's town.

Canto XL. Ravan Attacked.

Still stood the son of Raghu where
Suvela's peak rose high in air,
And with Sugriva turned his eye
To scan each quarter of the sky.
There on Trikuta, nobly planned
And built by Visvakarma's hand,
He saw the lovely Lanka, dressed
In all her varied beauty, rest.
High on a tower above the gate
The tyrant stood in kingly state.
The royal canopy displayed
Above him lent its grateful shade,
And servants, from the giant band,
His cheek with jewelled chowries fanned.
Red sandal o'er his breast was spread,
His ornaments and robe were red:
Thus shows a cloud of darksome hue
With golden sunbeams flashing through.
While Rama and the chiefs intent
Upon the king their glances bent,
Up sprang Sugriva from the ground
And reached the turret at a bound.
Unterrified the Vanar stood,
And wroth, with wondrous hardihood,
The king in bitter words addressed,
And thus his scorn and hate expressed:

"King of the giant race, in me
The f