“Once more I fain would see,” the lady cried,

“The sacred groves that rise on Gangá's side,

Where holy grass is ever fresh and green,

And cattle feeding on the rice are seen:

There would I rest awhile, where once I strayed

Linked in sweet friendship to each hermit maid.”

And Ráma smiled upon his wife, and sware,

With many a tender oath, to grant her prayer.

It chanced, one evening, from a lofty seat

He viewed Ayodhyá stretched before his feet: