Classic Poem

Even Death must wait for his due time but you
do not wait but whenever you want you kill, my king
who triumphs in battle, destroying the finest of men
in armies dense with spears! While awake and in dreams,
men see sights that are hard to endure: shooting stars
falling in all the eight directions; long branches,
without any leaves, of great trees seized by drought;
and the sun with its blazing rays looming very near;
bird calls that are terrifying shrieks; teeth falling out
and onto the ground; pourings of oil through hair;
men riding on boars; people stripping off their clothes;
powerful weapons, the color of silver, on a table overturning;
and then, when they see you are approaching, O strength in battle!
they cannot protect their homes, and bewildered, they kiss the eyes
like flowers of their sons and they hide the pain from their wives;
and there is massive confusion among those troubled men in the country
that has incurred your anger, O Valavan
mighty in war, you who advance like fire on the wind!