Love

My frolicsome friend, what shall I say?

by Vidyapati c. 1352-1448

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

Love

Rādhā:
My frolicsome friend, what shall I say?
There was another prank, unspeakable:
Naked of any weed, I sat alone at home,
When he of the lotus-eyes appeared unseen!

To hide my body on either side revealed the other,
(O open wide and let me sink into the earth!)
Seeking to cover my breasts with my hands, I could not,--
Just as the snow may not conceal the southern hills.

Out on you, fie! my life, my youth, my honour,
The Lord of Braj gazed on my limbs to-day!
O amorous Rai, Vidyāpati says,
Could you outwit such wit as his?

✦ ✦ ✦

Reunion after Wilfulness, LXXXIV

MLA

Vidyapati. “My frolicsome friend, what shall I say?” Translated by Ananda Coomaraswamy and Arun Sen. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/vidyapati/83/.

Chicago

Vidyapati. “My frolicsome friend, what shall I say?” Translated by Ananda Coomaraswamy and Arun Sen. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/vidyapati/83/.

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