Krishna to Radha
THE DELUGE NIGHT
BY VEDURUMUDI KRISHNA RAO, B.A.
Translated, from his own TELUGU song
My gem of soul-absorbing beauty!
Unknown, ah dear, where hast thou hid thee?
Come! Come! My chum! The night is long!
Come! Come! My gem! O come along!
In the paradise of thy bosom hold me,
And let all the world our Brindavan be!
Come! Come! My chum! The night is long!
Come! Come! My gem! O come along!
I
Hearken! Our dear old villa's calling
In notes of anguish that are galling,
Our villa once by Gods envied,
But now, alas, by all pitied!
A tragic shadow of our past,
That shrouds the Heavens in darkness fast.
Come! Come! My chum! The night is long!
II
The wafts of thy sweet breath, that give
The rose its scent and make it live,
O these are not! These winds that blow
From some infernal depths as though,
Are blasting all the blossoms, O love!
We two have toiled to rear in our grove.
Come! Come! My chum! The night is long!
Come! Come! My gem! O come along!
III
O these are not the shades of neem
And tamal trees of our love-dream
On the Jumna's velvety sand-beds!
Ah! this darkness Death himself now sheds
Like an evil spell that blinds all eyes,
And the lucent stars of yonder skies!
Come! Come! My chum! The night is long!
Come! Come! My gem! O come along!
IV
Are these the zephyrs whose embrace
Oft held us fast in angelic grace,
Right through our self-forgetting dance?
My swan! Ah! Know ye not, perchance,
These are fierce storm-gales that lift and hurl out
Our giant peepul trees like dolls all about?
Come! Come! My chum! The night is long!
Come! Come! My gem! O come along!
V
Lo! These are not our spotless friends,
The sarat-clouds, that like god-sends
In our Love's wild orgy had come oft
To screen off the gazing moon aloft!
Ah! These clouds, destruction's monster-hounds,
Rend the very heavens with hellish sounds!
Come! Come! My chum! The night is long!
Come! Come! My gem! O come along!
VI
Dear! This is not the Jumna's surge
Where once we sported at Love's urge-
Ah! Not her waters resonant still
With our one song of life and one thrill!
O this vicious down-pour swells to drown me
And all our flower-bowers in endless mis'ry!
Come! Come! My chum! The night is long!
Come! Come! My gem! O come along!
VII
O 'tis not the pan thy lips gave me,
With a kiss that showered love's ecstacy,
To seal our hearts' eternal tie,
That time might never dare defy!
Ah! My Dear! This is the blood that flows
From my poor life-channels in death-throes!
Come! Come! My chum! The night is long!
Come! Come! My gem! O come along!
VIII
Ah ! Where are my hopes to break this night,
Thy enchanting looks, my soul's delight,
That will give the earth the golden glory
Of a thousand rising suns, a dearie!
They are my life, my light, my all!
Hast thou forgotten thy poor Gopal!
Come! Come! My chum! The night is long!
Come! Come! My gem! O come along!
IX
My gem of soul-absorbing beauty!
Unknown, ah dear, where hast thou hid thee ?
Come! Come! My chum! The night is long!
Come! Come! My gem! O come along!
In the Paradise of thy bosom hold me,
And let all the world our Brindavan be!
Come! Come! My chum! The night is long!
Come! Come! My gem! O come along!
