Love

She turns her face away from looking on the moon.

by Vidyapati c. 1352-1448

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

Love

Dūtika:
She turns her face away from looking on the moon.
She stands and gazes piteously down the road;
With eye-collyrium she makes a painted Rāhu
And speaks with him in wrath.

Mādhava, unyielding heart, delaying abroad,
Her that you dallied with I have beheld all birdalone,
I pray you turn again to home.

How can the tender child support the southern zephyr?
For Love is doing her hurt:
Her breath has ceased, which hope sustained,--
With every finger she draws a snake.

Vidyāpati says: O Lord Shrvasimha,
This is the cure for sundering's sorrow--
Avoiding the koil, and taking sweets in hand,
Loudly to summon the crows.

✦ ✦ ✦

Reproaches, Lack and Longing, CXXIII

MLA

Vidyapati. “She turns her face away from looking on the moon.” Translated by Ananda Coomaraswamy and Arun Sen. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/vidyapati/122/.

Chicago

Vidyapati. “She turns her face away from looking on the moon.” Translated by Ananda Coomaraswamy and Arun Sen. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/vidyapati/122/.

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