Love
Rāi of the lily face had not yet climbed the bank
Translated by Ananda Coomaraswamy and Arun Sen (1915) · From Bangiya Padabali (trans. 1915)
Krishna:
Rāi of the lily face had not yet climbed the bank,
When she beheld brave Kān before her:
'A maid demure, with hanging head, in company of elders.
How was I to see her face?'
But matchless was the bright may's art:
Stepping before them all, she called aloud,
With half-averted face,
And broke withal her string of pearls.
Crying aloud: 'My garland's broken!'
Every person, one and all, was gathering up the beads,--
Then she gazed on Shyāma!
Her partridge-eyes beholding Krishna's moon-fair face.
Were drinking draughts of dew:
Each on the other gazing, spread abroad the taste
of bliss,--
That Vidyāpati knoweth well.
Codex Note
The First Passion of Krishna, XI
Cite this poem
MLA
Vidyapati. “Rāi of the lily face had not yet climbed the bank.” Translated by Ananda Coomaraswamy and Arun Sen. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/vidyapati/10/.
Chicago
Vidyapati. “Rāi of the lily face had not yet climbed the bank.” Translated by Ananda Coomaraswamy and Arun Sen. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/vidyapati/10/.
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