Drove Ráma, Sítá, Lakshmaṇ hence,

And we to Bharat have been given

Like cattle to the shambles driven.”

While in each house the women, pained

At loss of Ráma, still complained,

Sank to his rest the Lord of Day,

And night through all the sky held sway.

The fires of worship all were cold,

No text was hummed, no tale was told,

And shades of midnight gloom came down