10. Ladurlad knew him well: enraged to see The cause of all his misery, He stoop'd and lifted from the ground A stake, whose fatal point was black with blood; The same wherewith his hand had dealt the wound, When Arvalan, in hour with evil fraught, For violation seiz'd the shrieking Maid. Thus arm'd, in act again to strike he stood, And twice with inefficient wrath essay'd To smite the impassive shade. The lips of scorn their mockery-laugh renew'd, And Arvalan put forth a hand and caught The sun-beam, and condensing there its light, Upon Ladurlad turn'd the burning stream. Vain cruelty! the stake Fell in white ashes from his hold, but he Endur'd no added pain; his agony Was full, and at the height; The burning stream of radiance nothing harm'd him: A fire was in his heart and brain, And from all other flame Kehama's Curse had charm'd him. {90} 11. Anon the Spirit wav'd a second hand; Down rush'd the obedient whirlwind from the sky; Scoop'd up the sand like smoke, and from on high Shed the hot shower upon Ladurlad's head. Where'er he turns, the accursed Hand is there; East, West, and North and South, on every side The Hand accursed waves in air to guide The dizzying storm; ears, nostrils, eyes and mouth, It fills and choaks, and, clogging every pore, Taught him new torments might be yet in store. Where shall he turn to fly? behold his house In flames; uprooted lies the marriage-bower, The Goddess buried by the sandy shower. Blindly, with staggering step, he reels about, And still the accursed Hand pursued, And still the lips of scorn their mockery laugh renew'd. 12. What, Arvalan! hast thou so soon forgot The grasp of Pollear? Wilt thou still defy The righteous Powers of Heaven? or know'st thou not That there are yet superior Powers on high, {91} Son of the Wicked? . . . Lo, in rapid flight, Ereenia hastens from the etherial height; Bright is the sword celestial in his hand, Like lightning in its path athwart the sky. He comes and drives, with angel-arm, the blow. Oft have the Asuras, in the wars of Heaven, Felt that keen sword by arm angelic driven, And fled before it from the fields of light. Thrice through the vulnerable shade The Glendoveer impels the griding blade. The wicked Shade flies howling from his foe. So let that spirit foul Fly, and for impotence of anger, howl, Writhing with pain, and o'er his wounds deplore; Worse punishment hath Arvalan deserv'd, And righteous Fate hath heavier doom in store. 13. Not now the Glendoveer pursued his flight. He bade the Ship of Heaven alight, And gently there he laid The astonished Father by the happy Maid, The Maid now shedding tears of deep delight. {92} Beholding all things with incredulous eyes, Still dizzy with the sand-storm, there he lay, While sailing up the skies, the living Bark, Through air and sunshine, held its heavenly way. X. MOUNT MERU. {93}