With Brahma's gift my deadly bow,
And, cleaving through the foes my way,
The slayers of my son will slay."

Then, by his grief to frenzy wrought,
The captive in the grove he sought.
Swift through the shady path he sped:
Earth trembled at his furious tread.
Fierce were his eyes: his monstrous hand
Held drawn for death his glittering brand.
There weeping stood the Maithil dame:
She shuddered as the giant came.
Near drew the rover of the night
And raised his sword in act to smite;
But, by his nobler heart impelled,
One Rakshas lord his arm withheld:
"Wilt thou, great Monarch," thus he cried,
"Wilt thou, to heavenly Gods allied,
Blot for all time thy glorious fame,
The slayer of a gentle dame?
What! shall a woman's blood be spilt
To stain thee with eternal guilt,
Thee deep in all the Veda's lore?
Far be the thought for evermore.
Ah look, and let her lovely face
This fury from thy bosom chase."

He ceased: the prudent counsel pleased
The monarch, and his wrath appeased;
Then to his council hall in haste
The giant lord his steps retraced.

[I omit two Cantos in the first of which Rama with an enchanted Gandharva
weapon deals destruction among the Rakshases sent out by Ravan, and in the
second the Rakshas dames lament the slain and mourn over the madness of
Ravan.]

Canto XCVI. Ravan's Sally.

The groans and cries of dames who wailed
The ears of Lanka's lord assailed,
For from each house and home was sent
The voice of weeping and lament.
In troubled thought his head he bowed,
Then fiercely loosing on the crowd
Of nobles near his throne he broke
The silence, and in fury spoke:
"This day my deadly shafts shall fly,
And Raghu's sons shall surely die.
This day shall countless Vanars bleed
And dogs and kites and vultures feed.
Go, bid them swift my car prepare,
Bring the great bow I long to bear:
And let my host with sword and shield
And spear be ready for the field."

From street to street the captains passed
And Rakshas warriors gathered fast.
With spear and sword to pierce and strike,
And axe and club and mace and pike.

[I omit several weapons for which I cannot find distinctive names, and
among them the _Sataghni_ or _Centicide_, supposed by some to be a kind of
fire-arms or rocket, but described by a commentator on the Mahabharata as
a stone or cylindrical piece of wood studded with iron spikes.]

Then Ravan's warrior chariot(994) wrought
With gold and rich inlay was brought.
Mid