The Birth of Kumāra 3.71

3.71

tapaḥparāmarśavivṛddhamanyorbhrūbhaṅgaduṣprekṣyamukhasya tasya |
sphurannudarciḥ sahasā tṛtīyādakṣṇaḥ kṛśānuḥ kila niṣpapāta ||

Then was the Hermit-God to madness lashed,
Then from his eye red flames of fury flashed—
So changed the beauty of that glorious brow.
Scarce could the gaze support its terror now.
Hark! heavenly voices sighing through the air:
Be calm, great Siva, be calm and spare!—
Alas! that angry eye's resistless flashes
Have scorched the gentle King of Love to ashes!
But Reti saw not, for she swooned away,
Senseless and breathless on the earth she lay;
Sleep while thou mayst, unconscious Lady, sleep!
Soon wilt thou rise to sigh and wake to weep.
E'en as the red bolt rives the leafy bough
Did Siva blast the hinderer of his vow.
Then fled with all his train to some lone place
Far, far from Woman and her witching face.