You haunt my waking like a dream, my slumber like a moon,
Pervade me like a musky scent, possess me like a tune.
Yet, when I crave of you, my sweet, one tender moment’s grace,
You cry, ‘I sit behind the veil, I cannot show my face.’
Shall any foolish veil divide my longing from my bliss?
Shall any fragile curtain hide your beauty from my kiss?
What war is this of Thee and Me? Give o’er the wanton strife,
You are the heart within my heart, the life within my life.
Dreams of delight that are gone,When swift to my side came the feet of my loverWith stars of the dusk and the dawn?I see the soft wings of the clouds on the river,And jewelled with raindrops the mango-leaves quiver,And tender boughs flower on the plain…..But what is their beauty to me, papeeha,Beauty of blossom and…
Who round your jewelled scepter bindThe lilies of a poet’s fame;Beneath whose sway concordant dwellThe peoples whom your laws embrace,In brotherhood of diverse creeds,And harmony of diverse race:The votaries of the Prophet’s faith,Of whom you are the crown and chiefAnd they, who bear on Vedic browsTheir mystic symbols of belief;And they, who worshipping the sun,Fled…
Turbans of crimson and silver,Tunics of purple brocade,Mirrors with panels of amber,Daggers with handles of jade.What do you weigh, O ye vendors?Saffron and lentil and rice.What do you grind, O ye maidens?Sandalwood, henna, and spice.What do you call , O ye pedlars?Chessmen and ivory dice.What do you make,O ye goldsmiths?Wristlet and anklet and ring,Bells for…
Where the clustering keovas guard the squirrel’s slumber,Where the deep woods glimmer with the jasmine’s bloom?I’ll feed thee, O beloved, on milk and wild red honey,I’ll bear thee in a basket of rushes, green and white,To a palace-bower where golden-vested maidensThread with mellow laughter the petals of delight.Whither dost thou loiter, by what murmuring hollows,Where…
Come, let us gather our nets from the shore and set our catamarans free,To capture the leaping wealth of the tide, for we are the kings of the sea!No longer delay, let us hasten away in the track of the sea gull’s call,The sea is our mother, the cloud is our brother, the waves are…
Alas! alas! my lord is dead!Ah, who will ease my bitter pain?He went to seek a millet-grainIn the rich farmer’s granary shed;They caught him in a baited snare,And slew my lover unaware:Alas! alas! my lord is dead.O little deer, why dost thou moan,Hid in thy forest-bower alone?Alas! alas! my lord is dead!Ah! who will quiet…
