Love
How to direct the flying arrows of her restless eyes
Translated by Ananda Coomaraswamy and Arun Sen (1915) · From Bangiya Padabali (trans. 1915)
Sakhī:
How to direct the flying arrows of her restless eyes
The Archer-guru teaches her the unfamiliar lesson
(And who would practise uninformed?)
'Oh do not take my life by force!
Toy not with me, O Kānu,--release my skirt;
I am so faint, I fear love's war.
How can my early youth content your will at all?
A little riches cannot satisfy a beggar.
The unblown jasmine of the early spring
Cannot appease the hunger of the lusty bees:
There cannot be a happy ending of a sinful deed--
Be not so rash, when you ought rather hesitate.'
Says Vidyāpati: Oh amorous Kānu!
The maddened elephant heeds not the goad.
Codex Note
First Meetings, XLIX
Cite this poem
MLA
Vidyapati. “How to direct the flying arrows of her restless eyes.” Translated by Ananda Coomaraswamy and Arun Sen. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/vidyapati/48/.
Chicago
Vidyapati. “How to direct the flying arrows of her restless eyes.” Translated by Ananda Coomaraswamy and Arun Sen. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/vidyapati/48/.
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