How Do You Do in London, Middlesex

Fateful end amid a Hindoo cremation rites

A narrator describes a woman calmly facing death on a funeral pyre as Brahmins officiate. She walks around the pile seven times, offers money and offerings, and finally lies beside her husband as the fire is lit. A child is forced into the flames amid tears and protests from onlookers. The sun sets as the blaze engulfs the pile. The narrative notes attempts to suppress the woman’s rise or escape.