Love

Mādhava, lo, I have seen your lovely Rāi,

by Vidyapati c. 1352-1448

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

Love

Dūtikā:
Mādhava, lo, I have seen your lovely Rāi,--
Her gaze is fixed like a painted puppet's,
Friends surround her on every side,
Exceeding faint is the breath of her nostrils.

Exceeding thin is her corse, like a streak of gold,
(None that beholds it believes it hers),
Bracelets and bangles fall from either wrist,
Her hair untressed, her head unhidden.

I cannot solve these sentiments and swoons,--
Fiercely the fever of longing scorches her relentlessly.
Vidyāpati says: Her loveless body
Has abandoned now all love on earth.

✦ ✦ ✦

Reproaches, Lack and Longing, CXXI

MLA

Vidyapati. “Mādhava, lo, I have seen your lovely Rāi.” Translated by Ananda Coomaraswamy and Arun Sen. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/vidyapati/120/.

Chicago

Vidyapati. “Mādhava, lo, I have seen your lovely Rāi.” Translated by Ananda Coomaraswamy and Arun Sen. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/vidyapati/120/.

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