The Tower of Victory
The starlight night was cool and dim,
Soft clouds beflecked the tranquil sky.
She climbed the hill, and reached with him,
The carven Tower of Victory.
The Tower that rears its lonely head
Above the Jungle, wild and vast,
And dreams, perchance, of warriors dead
Who held the hills in ages past.
Sweet fragrance drifted o'er the land
From Champa trees and Jasmin flowers;
The lovers wandered, hand in hand,
Through long, and all uncounted, hours.
And when the night was mid-way spent
They climbed the dark and broken stair,
Half stifled from the acrid scent
Of countless bats, that harboured there.
The topmost steps had fall'n away,
A time-worn ladder took their place,
Until she felt the night-wind play
In coolness on her upturned face.
