THE GARDEN OF KAMA: KAMA THE INDIAN EROS
translated into English by: Laurence Hope (1865-1904)
- HE daylight is dying,
- The Flying fox flying,
- Amber and amethyst burn in the sky,
- See, the sun throws a late,
- Lingering, roseate
- Kiss to the landscape to bid it good-bye.
- The time of our Trysting!
- Oh, come, unresisting,
- Lovely, expectant, on tentative feet.
- Shadow shall cover us,
- Roses bend over us,
- Making a bride chamber, sacred and sweet.
- We know not Life's reason,
- The length of its season,
- Know not if they know, the great Ones above.
- We none of us sought it,
- And few could support it,
- Were it not gilt with the glamour of love.
- But much is forgiven
- To Gods who have given,
- If but for an hour, the Rapture of Youth.
- You do not yet know it,
- But Kama shall show it,
- Changing your dreams to his Exquisite Truth.
- The Fireflies shall light you,
- And naught shall affright you,
- Nothing shall trouble the Flight of the Hours.
- Come, for I wait for you,
- Night is too late for you,
- Come, while the twilight is closing the flowers.
- Every breeze still is,
- And, scented with lilies,
- Cooled by the twilight, refreshed by the dew,
- The garden lies breathless,
- Where Kama, the Deathless,
- In the hushed starlight, is waiting for you.
"The Garden of Kama: Kama the Indian Eros" is reprinted from India's Love Lyrics. Trans. Laurence Hope. New York: John Lane Co., 1906. |
MORE
POEMS BY LAURENCE HOPE
|
|