ON THE SHORE
KUSUMAGRAJ
(Translated from the
Marathi Kinaryavar by M. R. SHIRWADKAR)
We are on the shore
Before us the mighty sea
rolls and gleams
From heaven the crescent
moon
heaps on earth her
silvery beams.
The earth looks like a
picture mute
To faint lights the
darkness clings
The deep silence shivers
a little
When a nightbird flaps
its wings!
And through the darkness
twinkle
The lights in the city
far away,
–the earthly sorrows
keep awake and burn
Though this night
devours the day!
On the horizon a
glimmering ship
Westwards cuts its
watery run
A legion of flames as
though is out
In search of the sunken
sun!
The sparkling waves
dance and surge
And finally on sand
battered lie
Like lifeful dreams of
the human world
That flash, bloom, break
and die!
In oneness dissolve our
lives today
On this sea’s watered
brim
And this life too is
like the sea
not wholly beautiful nor
wholly grim!