| |
| I WILL let loose against you the fleet-footed vines— | |
| I will call in the Jungle to stamp out your lines! | |
| The roofs shall fade before it, | |
| The house-beams shall fall, | |
| And the Karela, 1 the bitter Karela, | 5 |
| Shall cover it all! | |
| |
| In the gates of these your councils my people shall sing, | |
| In the doors of these your garners the Bat-folk shall cling; | |
| And the snake shall be your watchman, | |
| By a hearthstone unswept; | 10 |
| For the Karela, the bitter Karela, | |
| Shall fruit where ye slept! | |
| |
| Ye shall not see my strikers; ye shall hear them and guess; | |
| By night, before the moon-rise, I will send for my cess, | |
| And the wolf shall be your herdsman | 15 |
| By a landmark removed, | |
| For the Karela, the bitter Karela, | |
| Shall seed where ye loved! | |
| |
| I will reap your fields before you at the hands of a host; | |
| Ye shall glean behind my reapers for the bread that is lost; | 20 |
| And the deer shall be your oxen | |
| On a headland untilled, | |
| For the Karela, the bitter Karela, | |
| Shall leaf where ye build! | |
| |
| I have untied against you the club-footed vines— | 25 |
| I have sent in the Jungle to swamp out your lines! | |
| The trees—the trees are on you! | |
| The house-beams shall fall, | |
| And the Karela, the bitter Karela, | |
| Shall cover you all! | 30 |
