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The Rival Warriors

Vyasa (about 400 BC), translated by Romesh Chunder Dutt · 1899

trochaic octameter · rhyming couplets · 36 lines · from The Mahabharata (condensed)

Joyful was the proud Duryodhan, gladness gleamed upon his face,And he spake to gallant Karna with a dear and fond embrace:

"Welcome, mighty armed chieftain! thou hast victor's honours won!Thine is all my wealth and kingdom, name thy wish and it is done!"

Answered Karna to Duryodhan, "Prince! thy word is good as deed,But I seek to combat Arjun and to win the victor's meed!"

"Noble is the boon thou seekest," answered Kuru's prince of fame,"Be a joy unto your comrades, let the foeman dread thy name!"

Anger flamed in Arjun's bosom, and he spake in accents rudeUnto Karna who in triumph calm and proud and fearless stood:

"Chief! who comest uninvited, pratest in thy lying boast,Thou shalt die the death of braggarts--witness be this mighty host!"

Karna answered calm and proudly, "Free this listed field to all,Warriors enter by their prowess, wait not, Arjun, for thy call!

Warlike chieftains take their places by their strength of arm and might,And their warrant is their falchion, valour sanctifies their right!

Angry word is coward's weapon, Arjun, speak with arrows keen,Till I lay thee, witness Drona, low upon the listed green!"

Drona gave the word impartial, wrathful Arjun, dread of foes,Parted from his loving brothers, with his glist'ning arms arose,

Karna clasped the Kuru's princes, parted from them one and all,With his bow and ample quiver proudly stepped the warrior tall.

Now the clouds with lurid flashes gathered darkling, thick and high,Lines of cranes like gleams of laughter sailed across the gloomy sky.

Rain-god INDRA over Arjun watched with father's partial love,Sun-god SURYA over Karna shed his light from far above,

Arjun stood in darkening shadow by the inky clouds concealed,Bold and bright in open sunshine radiant Karna stood revealed!

Proud Duryodhan and his brothers stood by Karna calm and bold,Drona stood by gallant Arjun, and brave Bhishma, warrior old,

Women too with partial glances viewed the one or other chief,But by equal love divided silent Pritha swooned in grief!

Wise Vidura, true to duty, with an anxious hurry came,Sandal-drops and sprinkled waters roused the woe-distracted dame,

And she saw her sons in combat, words of woe she uttered none,Speechless wept, for none must fathom Karna was her eldest son!

Words in this poem 15

hast: , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
wealth n.: Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
meed v. t.: To reward; to repay. Waytt.
boon n.: A prayer or petition. [OE. bone, boin, a petition, fr. Icel. b; akin to Sw. & Dan. b, AS. b, and perh. to E. ban; but influenced by F. bon good, fr. L. bonus. Ban, Bounty.]
foeman n.: An enemy in war. [AS. fhman.]
shalt: 2d per. sing. of Shall.
prowess n.: Distinguished bravery; valor; especially, military bravery and skill; gallantry; intrepidity; fearlessness. Chaucer. Sir P. Sidney. [OF. proece, proesce, F. prouesse. See Prow, a.]
falchion n.: A broad-bladed sword, slightly curved, shorter and lighter than the ordinary sword; -- used in the Middle Ages. [OE. fauchon, OF. fauchon, LL. fälcio, fr. L. falx, falcis, a sickle, cf. Gr. falcon; cf. It. falcione. Cf. Defalcation.]
angry a.: Troublesome; vexatious; rigorous. [See Anger.]
wrathful a.: Full of wrath; very angry; greatly incensed; ireful; passionate; as, a wrathful man.
lurid a.: Pale yellow; ghastly pale; wan; gloomy; dismal. [L. luridus.]
darkling a.: Becoming dark or gloomy; frowing.
sunshine n.: The light of the sun, or the place where it shines; the direct rays of the sun, the place where they fall, or the warmth and light which they give.
dame n.: A mistress of a family, who is a lady; a womam in authority; especially, a lady. [F. dame, LL. domna, fr. L. domina mistress, lady, fem. of dominus master, ruler, lord; akin to domare to tame, subdue. See Tame, and cf. Dam mother, Dan, Danger]
speechless a.: Destitute or deprived of the faculty of speech.

Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.

About this text

The Rival Warriors is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Mahabharata (condensed), Project Gutenberg ebook #19630, the Romesh Chunder Dutt translation; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.

Cite as: Vyasa, The Rival Warriors, in The Mahabharata (condensed) (1899), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #19630, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/mahabharata/the-rival-warriors.html, id L15759.

Form and metre

The Rival Warriors is 36 lines in 18 stanzas of 2 lines each. It is in rhyming couplets, 94% of the lines. The metre is trochaic octameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 92%). 100% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 15.0 syllables.

See other poems in rhyming couplets, other poems in trochaic octameter.

Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.

Rhyme words, stanza by stanza

The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.

1 AA face^A · embrace^A
2 AA won^A · done^A
3 AA deed^A · meed^A
4 AA fame^A · name^A
6 AA boast^A · host^A
7 AA all^A · call^A
8 AA might^A · right^A
9 AA keen^A · green^A
10 AA foes^A · arose^A
11 AA all^A · tall^A
12 AA high^A · sky^A
13 AA love^A · above^A
14 AA concealed^A · revealed^A
15 AA bold^A · old^A
16 AA chief^A · grief^A
17 AA came^A · dame^A
18 AA none^A · son^A

Scansion, line by line

Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against trochaic octameter. How this is done.

Line	Syl.	Stress
Joyful was the proud Duryodhan, gladness gleamed upon his face,	15	/˘······/˘·····
And he spake to gallant Karna with a dear and fond embrace:	15	····/˘·······˘/
"Welcome, mighty armed chieftain! thou hast victor's honours won!	15	/˘/˘·˘/˘··/˘/˘·
Thine is all my wealth and kingdom, name thy wish and it is done!"	15	······/˘·······
Answered Karna to Duryodhan, "Prince! thy word is good as deed,	15	/˘·············
But I seek to combat Arjun and to win the victor's meed!"	15	····/˘······/˘·
"Noble is the boon thou seekest," answered Kuru's prince of fame,	15	/˘····/˘/˘·····
"Be a joy unto your comrades, let the foeman dread thy name!"	15	······/···/˘···
Anger flamed in Arjun's bosom, and he spake in accents rude	15	/˘····/˘····/˘·
Unto Karna who in triumph calm and proud and fearless stood:	15	······/˘····/˘·
"Chief! who comest uninvited, pratest in thy lying boast,	15	·····˘/˘····/˘·
Thou shalt die the death of braggarts--witness be this mighty host!"	15	········/˘··/˘·
Karna answered calm and proudly, "Free this listed field to all,	15	··/˘··/˘··/˘···
Warriors enter by their prowess, wait not, Arjun, for thy call!	15	/˘/˘··/˘·······
Warlike chieftains take their places by their strength of arm and might,	15	/·/˘··/˘·······
And their warrant is their falchion, valour sanctifies their right!	15	··/˘··/˘/˘/˘˘··
Angry word is coward's weapon, Arjun, speak with arrows keen,	15	/˘··/˘/˘····/˘·
Till I lay thee, witness Drona, low upon the listed green!"	15	····/˘······/˘·
Drona gave the word impartial, wrathful Arjun, dread of foes,	15	·····˘/˘/˘·····
Parted from his loving brothers, with his glist'ning arms arose,	15	/˘··/˘/˘·····˘/
Karna clasped the Kuru's princes, parted from them one and all,	15	······/˘/˘·····
With his bow and ample quiver proudly stepped the warrior tall.	15	····/˘/˘/˘··/˘·
Now the clouds with lurid flashes gathered darkling, thick and high,	15	····/˘/˘/˘/˘···
Lines of cranes like gleams of laughter sailed across the gloomy sky.	15	······/˘·˘/·/˘·
Rain-god INDRA over Arjun watched with father's partial love,	15	··········/˘/˘·
Sun-god SURYA over Karna shed his light from far above,	15	···············
Arjun stood in darkening shadow by the inky clouds concealed,	15	····/˘/···/˘·˘/
Bold and bright in open sunshine radiant Karna stood revealed!	15	····/˘/·/˘···˘/
Proud Duryodhan and his brothers stood by Karna calm and bold,	15	······/˘·······
Drona stood by gallant Arjun, and brave Bhishma, warrior old,	15	····/˘······/˘·
Women too with partial glances viewed the one or other chief,	15	/˘··/˘/˘····/˘·
But by equal love divided silent Pritha swooned in grief!	15	··/˘·˘/˘/˘·····
Wise Vidura, true to duty, with an anxious hurry came,	15	······/˘··/˘/˘·
Sandal-drops and sprinkled waters roused the woe-distracted dame,	15	/˘··/˘/˘···˘/˘·
And she saw her sons in combat, words of woe she uttered none,	15	······/˘····/˘·
Speechless wept, for none must fathom Karna was her eldest son!	15	/˘····/˘····/˘·

The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.

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