araj,
He forth was sent against his country's foes,
With his small band to fall, and ne'er return.
But oft as he was sent, as often he
Returned victorious with fresh laurels gained.
And when the bards before the king and queen
Recited in the ancient palace hall
The battles bravely won, the glories of
The war, fair Chandra's face with joy, e'en like
The lotus, beamed, and as by magic charmed,
Disclosed a thousand beauties centred there.
Though silent she, her looks to all made known
Her love for Timmaraj, the author brave
Of all his country's good. Yet still she kept
A seal upon her lips, until by chance
An incident occurred which sealed her fate.
As on the sand near by the water's edge
One thoughtless stands to watch with eager eyes
The surf that beats continuous on the shore,
And suddenly when least expected flows
A wave that reaches far beyond the rest,
So stood the king and queen of Vijiapore
In parents' place, tempting their daughter fair
To marry whom she loved not, could not love,
When Chandra suddenly her mind declared.
Down through the stillness of a narrow vale
The lovely Pampa flows, whose course is shaped
By hills that lift their summits to the sky.
On either side, her course is like the life
Inconstant of the daughters of this land,
Who lived in times of old in castles set
Amidst rich groves and cool, pellucid streams,
And woodlands broad and fair to roam at will;
But these by moats and battlements enclosed
Were made impassable that the eyes impure
Of man might not upon their beauty gaze,
And so defile their virgin purity.
For all that here delighted woman's eyes
Was freely lavished by their royal sires;
And countless guards to watch all day were there,
And maidens numberless to sport with them
And while away their tedious hours of life
With tales of youth, who, bolder than the rest,
Leapt over moats and scaled steep battlements
To have a glimpse of those more dear than life,
But who, alas! were doomed to endless woe,
And sent to pine away in dungeons dark
For tainting with their feet forbidden ground.
But soon their life was changed--the royal bride,
Before the happy bridal hour began,
Was first by all her kindred freely seen,
And straightway taken to the palace hall
To choose and then make known her future lord
From anxious suitors there, and thenceforth spend
With him her days of