Valmiki Ramayana 2.34.35

2.34.35

jajñe 'tha tāsāṃ saṃnādaḥ krauñcīnām iva niḥsvanaḥ
mānavendrasya bhāryāṇām evaṃ vadati rāghave

Thus for their deep affection's sake
The hero to his mother spake,
Then to the half seven hundred too.
Wives of his sire, paid reverence due.
Thus Das'aratha's son addressed
That crowd of matrons sore distressed:
'If from these lips, while here I dwelt,
One heedless taunt you e'er have felt,
Forgive me, pray. And now adieu,
I bid good-bye to all of you.'
Then straight, like curlews' cries, upwent
The voices of their wild lament,
While, as he bade farewell, the crowd
Of royal women wept aloud,
And through the ample hall's extent.
Where erst the sound of tabour, blent
With drum and shrill-toned instrument,
In joyous concert rose,
Now rang the sound of wailing high,
The lamentation and the cry,
The shriek, the choking sob, the sigh
That told the ladies' woes.