Thomas Skinner (British Army officer, died 1843)

thumb| Thomas Skinner (c. 1800 – 1843), was a British soldier and author. He commanded the 31st Foot in the First Anglo-Afghan War in 1842 and 1843. While there he was made a C.B. and brevet lieutenant-colonel. In 1832 he had published Excursions in India and four years later Adventures during a Journey Overland to India. Quotes Excursions in India (1832) thumb|Death had gone over like a wild simoom,And marked her youthful husband for the tomb. thumb|Why rush the thousands? Why this grand displayOf pomp and pride? A widow burns today! thumb|The proud triumph of a Hindoo brideBetrothed in life, in death to be allied. The pipe, the viol, and unceasing drum,Proclaim to all, the blooming bride is come! "The Suttee", l. 5 What joy is breaking from her large dark eye—The vivid lightnings of a tropic sky!The rosy veil is archly drawn asideTo show the glances she affects to hide.’Tis all a modest maiden dare betray—The sudden sparkle of a meteor’s play. "The Suttee", l. 19 Death had gone over like a wild simoom,And marked her youthful husband for the tomb.And must he only suffer? Still the prideOf youth and beauty lives, the lovely bride.She, too, must die: some savage god, unknownTo Christian climes, demands her for his own. "The Suttee", l. 33 Why rush the thousands? Why this grand displayOf pomp and pride? A widow burns today! "The Suttee", l. 43 It is some jubilee;—it cannot be,That death is hailed with such a savage glee. "The Suttee", l. 51 Thinks, like a phoenix, ’tis her fate to risePure from her ashes, to adorn the skies. "The Suttee", l. 81 Heroes have shrunk before the torture’s wheel,And ev’n in martyrdom have stooped to feel.Yet here, each day, in agonising fires,For sinful man some gentle dame expires. "The Suttee", l. 91 A cheerful victim, lo, she mounts the pile,While the flame quickens in the fragrant oil:The thickening smoke now circles o’er her head;Her husband’s bosom forms an easy bed.Here she reclines, nor seeks a safer rest;No couch so sweet as his unconscious breast.While the fire wreathes around each quiv’ring limb,She feels it not, she slumbers upon him;—A fleeting rest: with him she wakes, to reachEternal joy, for thus the Vedahs teach.Too fatal error! Oh! that such a mindTo truth divine should still continue blind!She will not doubt: devoted to her creed,She claims the glory, and demands the meed;Courts the proud triumph of a Hindoo bride,Betrothed in life, in death to be allied. "The Suttee", l. 97 External links