A String of Poems

A String of Poems

BY SRIMATI NILIMA DEVI

I bring thee a chain, strung with pearls–

They are my tears;

A beauteous garment woven with the threads

Of my sweetest dreams;

A chaplet to adorn thy wond'rous hair,

Shining with the gems of my thought;

Last –a lute–which is my heart,

For thee to play as thou wilt.

Thou answered not the call of my lonely heart, O Love!

The blossoms of my sweetest thoughts wilted at thy feet;

My heart-strings I tuned–they ache, –so rusty, they break–

Yet thou played not thy music, and pale dawn finds me weary

Waiting for thee all night–still thou cometh not!

III

My heart is bleak and lonesome as a winter day,

Touch it with thy magic wand, O Love!

Make it bloom with a thousand flowers–

Make it fragrant with thy memories;

My heart-strings are rusty–

Tune them to thy divine music:

If they break, no matter–

I'll remember thou didst play.