Love

Fair-face, red brow-spot, there-behind the heavy

by Vidyapati c. 1352-1448

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

Love

Krishna:
Fair-face, red brow-spot, there-behind the heavy
jet-black hair--
As if the sun and moon together rising left the night behind.

Ah damsel fair! with what and what devoted care,
Has Nature given to you the utmost beauty of the moon.

A grass green bodice binds your breasts, a glimpse is
only seen;
So jealously you cover them,--but never snow may hide
the hills!

Dark sūrm decks your curving restless eyes.
As if the bees would rest their weight upon some
wind-bent lotus.

Hearken, young thing, says Vidyāpati; these charms,
you know them all,--
Witness be Rājā Shivasimha Rūpanārāyana
and Lakshmī Devī.

✦ ✦ ✦

The First Passion of Krishna, V

MLA

Vidyapati. “Fair-face, red brow-spot, there-behind the heavy.” Translated by Ananda Coomaraswamy and Arun Sen. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/vidyapati/4/.

Chicago

Vidyapati. “Fair-face, red brow-spot, there-behind the heavy.” Translated by Ananda Coomaraswamy and Arun Sen. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/vidyapati/4/.

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