The Cummerbund
An Indian Poem
I.
She Sat Upon her Dobie,1
To watch the Evening Star,
And all the Punkahs2 as they passed
Cried, “My! how fair you are!”
Around her bower, with quivering leaves,
The tall Kamsamahs3 grew,
And Kitmutgars4 in wild festoons
Hung down from Tchokis5 blue.
II.
Below her home the river rolled
With soft meloobious sound,
Where golden-finned Chuprassies6 swam,
In myriads circling round.
Above, on tallest trees remote,
Green Ayahs perched alone,
And all night long the Mussak7 moaned
Its melancholy tone.
III.
And where the purple Nullahs8 threw
Their branches far and wide,
And silvery Goreewallahs9 flew
In silence, side by side,
The little Bheesties’10 twittering cry
Rose on the fragrant air,
And oft the angry Jampan11 howled
Deep in his hateful lair.
IV.
She sat upon her Dobie,—
She heard the Nimmak12 hum,—
When all at once a cry arose:
“The Cummerbund13 is come!”
In vain she fled;—with open jaws
The angry monster followed,
And so (before assistance came),
That Lady Fair was swallowed.
V.
They sought in vain for even a bone
Respectfully to bury;
They said, “Hers was a dreadful fate!”
(And Echo answered, “Very.”)
They nailed her Dobie to the wall,
Where last her form was seen,
And underneath they wrote these words,
In yellow, blue, and green:—
“Beware, ye Fair! Ye Fair, beware!
Nor sit out late at night,
Lest horrid Cummerbunds should come,
And swallow you outright.”
Note.—First published in the Times of India, Bombay, July, 1874.