The Goddess of Peace

BY VEDULA SATYANARAYANA SASTRI

What wild ecstasy pervades this vast limitless universe!

All that lives doth sing in frenzied joy;

Alas! for me alone gush forth the silent tears

Out of the lingering memories of sweet sorrows.

With my tear-stifled voice, how could I sing Thy glory?

So shall I fill my heart with the nectar of Thy beauty,

Or, failing even of this, I shall blossom unto myself

And drop away like the frail flower from its stem.

But to him that is a beggar for Thy grace,

This vision of peace is joy enough.

For, with the vermilion of Thy feet

I shall paint the petals of my love-laden heart.

Translated from an unpublished TELUGU poem