Classic Poem

Destroying the land, your limitless army advances,
with its swift horses peerless in battle,
and it spreads out its shields like so many clouds,
moving forward, destroying the vanguard,
ravaging the rich fields, bathing elephants
in the waters of the reservoirs that had been guarded,
as the glare that rises up from the blazing fires
fueled by the wood of houses seems the red glow
of the sun when its rays are dwindling down!
You who win battles with no need of allies!
Your sword reeks of flesh, your chest of dried sandalpaste!
Chieftain who inspires fear! Ferocious as Murugan!
The land that had been defended you feed
to shining fire, devastating the wide and lovely fields
that know nothing of forest but sugarcane, fruiting
jacktrees, cool pakanrai vines, bindweed mingling
with blossoming waterlilies! Greatness!
In fearful well-waged combat, your elephants fought as one!