Love

I am a girl on fire, in the temple bird-alone

by Vidyapati c. 1352-1448

Translated by Ananda Coomaraswamy and Arun Sen (1915) · From Bangiya Padabali (trans. 1915)

Love

Rādhā:
I am a girl on fire, in the temple bird-alone,
No friend is here with me:
The rain comes on, my love is gone abroad,
And cruel Love is hostile.

This is my day of dissolution,
Fresh clouds are driving in every quarter,
My life is flying from the sight.

Again the thunder roars, my life is shaken as I listen,
My heart is pounding:
The cruel peewit, calling 'Piu, piu,'
Reminds me of his lap.

And since it rains incessantly, I know my life will end,
As though in flames of fire.
Vidyāpati says: Hearken, fair lady,
The worthy lover shall be yours.

✦ ✦ ✦

Reproaches, Lack and Longing, CIII

MLA

Vidyapati. “I am a girl on fire, in the temple bird-alone.” Translated by Ananda Coomaraswamy and Arun Sen. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/vidyapati/102/.

Chicago

Vidyapati. “I am a girl on fire, in the temple bird-alone.” Translated by Ananda Coomaraswamy and Arun Sen. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/vidyapati/102/.

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