The snake charmer playing the wooden ' been' instrument
And the cobras,
Hooded and hissing
Dancing,
Dancing and swaying to the tunes,
To the tunes melodious,
Oh, captivated and charmed
By the haunting music of the East
Swaying beautifully
And dangerously,
The beastly and brute reptiles of the woods
So much so frightening,
Dreadful and deadly
And venomous
And full of fangs.
The turbaned charmer, clad in a white dhoti and kurta,
Somewhat clumsy and soiled
And with the bamboo baskets
Hanging by the bamboo,
Balanced at endways
Through a rope,
Approaching to show
The spectacle
And the folk gathering,
Singing a song so submissively
And praying to  Naga-Devata,
Ma Manasha and Ma Shitala,
Telling of Bihula and Lakhinder
And when with the show to start,
He touching the basket,
Shaking and half-opening it
And the cobras coming out,
Creeping out,
Standing on,
Hooded and hissing
And he playing with the hand
And the cap of the basket
And playing the been,
Taking it the head of the cobras,
Blackly, brownish and whitish
And the cobras listening to
And swaying
Under the spell of the haunting music
Of the East,
Standing charmed and captivated by,
Under the spell of music.