But me thou must bear hence, not send with them, 780
  But carry me with thee to Seistan,
  And place me on a bed and mourn for me,
  Thou, and the snow-hair’d Zal, and all thy friends. 
  And thou must lay me in that lovely earth,
  And heap a stately mound above my bones, 785
  And plant a far-seen pillar over all: 
  That so the passing horseman on the waste
  May see my tomb a great way off, and say—­
  Sohrab, the mighty Rustum’s son, lies there,
  Whom his great father did in ignorance kill—­ 790
  And I be not forgotten in my grave.”

  And with a mournful voice, Rustum replied:—­
  “Fear not; as thou hast said, Sohrab, my son,
  So shall it be:  for I will burn my tents,
  And quit the host, and bear thee hence with me, 795
  And carry thee away to Seistan,
  And place thee on a bed, and mourn for thee,
  With the snow-headed Zal, and all my friends. 
  And I will lay thee in that lovely earth,
  And heap a stately mound above thy bones, 800
  And plant a far-seen pillar over all;
  And men shall not forget thee in thy grave,
  And I will spare thy host:  yea, let them go: 
  Let them all cross the Oxus back in peace. 
  What should I do with slaying any more? 805
  For would that all whom I have ever slain
  Might be once more alive; my bitterest foes,
  And they who were call’d champions in their time,
  And through whose death I won that fame I have;
  And I were nothing but a common man, 810
  A poor, mean soldier, and without renown;
  So thou mightest live too, my son, my son! 
  Or rather would that I, even I myself,
  Might now be lying on this bloody sand,
  Near death, and by an ignorant stroke of thine, 815
  Not thou of mine; and I might die, not thou;
  And I, not thou, be borne to Seistan;
  And Zal might weep above my grave, not thine,
  And say—­O son, I weep thee not too sore,
  For willingly, I know, thou met’st thine end.—­ 820
  But now in blood and battles was my youth,
  And full of blood and battles is my age;
  And I shall never end this life of blood.”

  Then, at the point of death, Sohrab replied:—­
  “A life of blood indeed, thou dreadful man! 825
  But thou shall yet have peace; only not now;
  Not yet:  but thou shalt have it on that day,[47]
  When thou shalt sail in a high-masted ship,
  Thou and the other peers of Kai-Khosroo,[48]
  Returning home over the salt blue sea, 830
  From laying thy dear master in his grave.”

[Rustum is left by the body of his son.  The river Oxus flows on under the starlight into the Sea of Aral.]

  And Rustum gaz’d on Sohrab’s face, and said:—­
  “Soon be that day, my son, and deep that sea! 
  Till then, if fate so wills, let me endure.”