14
THE LAST SUTTEE
But ere the rush of the unseen feet
Had reached the turn to the open street,
The bars shot down, the guard-drum beat—
We held the dove-cot still.
Had reached the turn to the open street,
The bars shot down, the guard-drum beat—
We held the dove-cot still.
A face looked down in the gathering day,
And laughing spoke from the wall:
‘Ohé, they mourn here: let me by—
‘Azizun, the Lucknow nautch-girl, I?
‘When the house is rotten, the rats must fly,
‘And I seek another thrall.
And laughing spoke from the wall:
‘Ohé, they mourn here: let me by—
‘Azizun, the Lucknow nautch-girl, I?
‘When the house is rotten, the rats must fly,
‘And I seek another thrall.
‘For I ruled the King as ne’er did Queen,—
‘To-night the Queens rule me!
‘Guard them safely, but let me go,
‘Or ever they pay the debt they owe
‘In scourge and torture!’ She leaped below,
And the grim guard watched her flee.
‘To-night the Queens rule me!
‘Guard them safely, but let me go,
‘Or ever they pay the debt they owe
‘In scourge and torture!’ She leaped below,
And the grim guard watched her flee.
They knew that the King had spent his soul
On a North-bred dancing-girl:
That he prayed to a flat-nosed Lucknow god,
And kissed the ground where her feet had trod,
And doomed to death at her drunken nod
And swore by her lightest curl.
On a North-bred dancing-girl:
That he prayed to a flat-nosed Lucknow god,
And kissed the ground where her feet had trod,
And doomed to death at her drunken nod
And swore by her lightest curl.
