y turned and from his presence fled.
"His rage," they cried, "on us will fall,
And ruthless, he will slay us all.
Come, to Kausalya let us flee:
Our hope, our sure defence is she,
Approved by all, of virtuous mind,
Compassionate, and good, and kind."

His eyes with burning wrath aglow,
Satrughna, shatterer of the foe,
Dragged on the ground the hump-back maid
Who shrieked aloud and screamed for aid.
This way and that with no remorse
He dragged her with resistless force,
And chains and glittering trinkets burst
Lay here and there with gems dispersed,
Till like the sky of Autumn shone
The palace floor they sparkled on.
The lord of men, supremely strong,
Haled in his rage the wretch along:
Where Queen Kaikeyi dwelt he came,
And sternly then addressed the dame.
Deep in her heart Kaikeyi felt
The stabs his keen reproaches dealt,
And of Satrughna's ire afraid,
To Bharat flew and cried for aid.
He looked and saw the prince inflamed
With burning rage, and thus exclaimed:
"Forgive! thine angry arm restrain:
A woman never may be slain.
My hand Kaikeyi's blood would spill,
The sinner ever bent on ill,
But Rama, long in duty tried,
Would hate the impious matricide:
And if he knew thy vengeful blade
Had slaughtered e'en this hump-back maid,
Never again, be sure, would he
Speak friendly word to thee or me."

When Bharat's speech Satrughna heard
He calmed the rage his breast that stirred,
Releasing from her dire constraint
The trembling wretch with terror faint.
Then to Kaikeyi's feet she crept,
And prostrate in her misery wept.
Kaikeyi on the hump-back gazed,
And saw her weep and gasp.
Still quivering, with her senses dazed,
From fierce Satrughna's grasp.
With gentle words of pity she
Assuaged her wild despair,
E'en as a tender hand might free
A curlew from the snare.

Canto LXXIX. Bharat's Commands.

Now when the sun's returning ray
Had ushered in the fourteenth day,
The gathered peers of state addressed
To Bharat's ear their new request:
"Our lord to heaven has parted hence,
Long served with deepest reverence;
Rama, the eldest, far from home,
And Lakshman, in the forest roam.
O Prince, of mighty fame, be thou
Our guardian and our monarch now,
Lest secret plot or foeman's hate
Assail our unprotected state.
With longing eyes, O Lord of men,
To thee look friend and citizen,
And ready is each sacred thing
To consecrate our chosen king.
Come, Bharat, and accept thine own
Ancient her