Love

There bloomed a flower of golden shene

by Vidyapati c. 1352-1448

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

Love

Rādhā:
There bloomed a flower of golden shene,
My hope was high the fruit would be a gem,
I fed its roots with streams of milk;
I saw no fruit, and all was vanity!

I am the simple daughter of a cowherd,
And this unworthy love is worse than death;
What woe, Alas, has Fate afflicted me,--
For hope of gain, I lost my all!

This is Vidyāpati' s conclusion:
You cannot make a dogs tail straight.

✦ ✦ ✦

Wilfulness, LXXI

MLA

Vidyapati. “There bloomed a flower of golden shene.” Translated by Ananda Coomaraswamy and Arun Sen. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/vidyapati/70/.

Chicago

Vidyapati. “There bloomed a flower of golden shene.” Translated by Ananda Coomaraswamy and Arun Sen. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/vidyapati/70/.

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