A Sál-tree towering upward grew.

His lips in mighty strain compressed,

He tore it up with root and crest,

With huge arms waved it o'er his head

And hurled it shouting, Thou art dead.

But Ráma, unsurpassed in might,

Stayed with his shafts its onward flight,

And furious longing seized his soul

The giant in the dust to roll.

Great drops of sweat each limb bedewed,