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Now bright, now red, the sabers sped ...

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Now bright, now red, the sabers sped ...
by Robert E. Howard

From a letter to Tevis Clyde Smith, June 22 1923; titled with the first line in COLLECTED POETRY

1894132Now bright, now red, the sabers sped ...Robert E. Howard


Now bright, now red, the sabers sped among the racing horde,

The Afghan knife reft Hindu life and leaped the Rajput sword.

Oh, red and blue, the keen swords flew where charged the hosts in whirls,

And as in dreams rang loud the screams of ravished Hindu girls.

And through the strife, where sword and knife clashed loud on spear and shield,

With sword in hand, Yar Ali Khan rode o’er the battle-field.

From heel to head the chief was red, the blood was not his own.

In crimson tide his sword was dyed that had so brightly shone.

This work is from the United States and in the public domain because it was not legally published with the permission of the copyright holder before January 1, 2003 and the author died 89 years ago. This is a posthumous work and its copyright in certain countries and areas may depend on years since posthumous publication, rather than years since the author's death. Translations or editions published later may be copyrighted.


The longest-living author of this work died in 1936, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 88 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

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