old:
"Now, tyrant, tremble for thy sin:
Call up thy friends, thy kith and kin,
And let the power and might be seen
Which made thee bold to steal my queen.
To-morrow shall thy mournful eye
Behold thy bravest warriors die,
And Lanka's city, tower and wall,
Struck by my fiery shafts, will fall.
Then shall my vengeful blow descend
Its rage on thee and thine to spend,
Fierce as the fiery bolt that flew
From heaven against the Danav crew,
Mid those rebellious demons sent
By him who rules the firmament."

Thus spake Ikshvaku's son, and ceased:
The giants from their bonds released
Lauded the King with glad accord,
And hasted homeward to their lord.
Before the tyrant side by side
Suka and Saran stood and cried:
"Vibhishan seized us, King, and fain
His helpless captives would have slain.
But glorious Rama saw us; he,
Great-hearted hero, made us free.
There in one spot our eyes beheld
Four chiefs on earth unparalleled,
Who with the guardian Gods may vie
Who rule the regions of the sky.
There Rama stood, the boast and pride
Of Raghu's race, by Lakshman's side.
There stood the sage Vibhishan, there
Sugriva strong beyond compare.
These four alone can batter down
Gate, rampart, wall, and Lanka's town.
Nay, Rama matchless in his form,
A single foe, thy town would storm:
So wondrous are his weapons, he
Needs not the succour of the three.
Why speak we of the countless train
That fills the valley, hill and plain,
The millions of the Vanar breed
Whom Rama and Sugriva lead?
O King, be wise, contend no more,
And Sita to her lord restore."

Canto XXVI. The Vanar Chiefs.

"Not if the Gods in heaven who dwell,
Gandharvas, and the fiends of hell
In banded opposition rise
Against me, will I yield my prize.
Still trembling from the ungentle touch
Of Vanar hands ye fear too much,
And bid me, heedless of the shame,
Give to her lord the Maithil dame."

Thus spoke the king in stern reproof;
Then mounted to his palace roof
Aloft o'er many a story raised,
And on the lands beneath him gazed.
There by his faithful spies he stood
And looked on sea and hill and wood.
There stretched before him far away
The Vanars' numberless array:
Scarce could the meadows' tender green
Beneath their trampling feet be seen.
He looked a while with furious eye,
Then questioned thus the nearer spy:
"Bend, Saran, bend thy gaze, and show
The leaders of the Vanar foe.
Tell me their heroes' names, and teach
The valour, power and migh