The Hero Of War

This was a poem that was written during Antaragni'12, the cult festival of IIT Kanpur. The theme was to be about a war inflicted state and the dilemma of a warrior between the fear for his state and the love of his life.

It was the time of war, of fierce unending battles

When no man left home without his sword, and no horses without the saddles

The streets were all but vacant, with not even the cattle herds,

No childish giggles on the swivelling fields, no trees with chirping birds

From the ashes of this raging war, rose a valiant king

Who tried to fight the winters, and bring back the time of spring,

Would choose to die for honour, rather than returning empty handed

Led right from the front, through the stormy tides, without leaving his men stranded

But no matter how much he suppressed it, how much he tried to hide

There was a constant fear that rose, with every rising tide

He skipped a beat every time he thought of his lovely maiden fair

Her sugary voice, her deep brown eyes, her long and wavy hair

All he could do, was suppress it all, with a heavy heart

For duty sees no tears, no worries, but only the victorious part

And thus he turns his back on love, gazing at the half-fought war,

For the pride of the kingdom’s all that’s left, that is worth dying for