Love

Leave me, dear maid, I pray you,

by Vidyapati c. 1352-1448

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

Love

Rādhā:
Leave me, dear maid, I pray you,--
I will not go whereas he is:
Nought do I know the skill of words,
Or art of signs, nor how to pretend offense.

All of my friends arraying me at once,--
I cannot even bind my own hair!
I never have heard what dalliance means,
How may I mix with Mādhava?

He is learned in love, a passionate swain,
And I a weak girl of scanty wisdom.
Says Vidyāpati: What counsel do I give?
'Tis that there should be union.

✦ ✦ ✦

The Counsel of Girl-friends (Sakhīs), XXXII

MLA

Vidyapati. “Leave me, dear maid, I pray you.” Translated by Ananda Coomaraswamy and Arun Sen. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/vidyapati/31/.

Chicago

Vidyapati. “Leave me, dear maid, I pray you.” Translated by Ananda Coomaraswamy and Arun Sen. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/vidyapati/31/.

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