10. I charm thy life From the weapons of strife, From stone and from wood, From fire and from flood, From the serpent's tooth, And the beasts of blood: From Sickness I charm thee, And Time shall not harm thee; But Earth, which is mine, Its fruits shall deny thee; And Water shall hear me, And know thee and fly thee; And the Winds shall not touch thee {19} When they pass by thee, And the Dews shall not wet thee, When they fall nigh thee: And thou shalt seek Death To release thee, in vain; Thou shalt live in thy pain, While Kehama shall reign, With a fire in thy heart, And a fire in thy brain; And sleep shall obey me, And visit thee never, And the Curse shall be on thee For ever and ever. 11. There where the Curse had stricken him, There stood the miserable man, There stood Ladurlad, with loose-hanging arms, And eyes of idiot wandering. Was it a dream? alas, He heard the river flow, He heard the crumbling of the pile, He heard the wind which shower'd The thin white ashes round. {20} There motionless he stood, As if he hop'd it were a dream, And fear'd to move, lest he should prove The actual misery; And still at times he met Kehama's eye, Kehama's eye that fasten'd on him still. III. THE RECOVERY. {21} 1. The Rajah turn'd toward the pile again, Loud rose the song of death from all the crowd; Their din the instruments begin, And once again join in With overwhelming sound. Ladurlad starts, . . . he looks around. What hast thou here in view, O wretched man, in this disastrous scene? The soldier train, the Bramins who renew Their ministry around the funeral pyre, The empty palankeens, The dimly-fading fire. {22} Where too is she whom most his heart held dear, His best-beloved Kailyal, where is she, The solace and the joy of many a year Of widowhood! is she then gone, And is he left all-utterly alone, To bear his blasting curse, and none To succour or deplore him? He staggers from the dreadful spot; the throng Give way in fear before him; Like one who carries pestilence about, Shuddering they shun him, where he moves along. And now he wanders on Beyond the noisy rout; He cannot fly and leave his curse behind, Yet doth he seem to find A comfort in the change of circumstance. Adown the shore he strays, Unknowing where his wretched feet may rest, But farthest from the fatal place is best. 2. By this in the orient sky appears the gleam Of day. Lo! what is yonder in the stream, Down the slow river floating slow, In distance indistinct and dimly seen? {23} The childless one with idle eye Followed its motion thoughtlessly; Idly he gaz'd, unknowing why, And half unconscious that he watch'd its way. Belike it is a tree Which some rude tempest, in its sudden sway, Tore from the rock, or from the hollow shore The undermining stream hath swept away.