TELL
ME MOTHER WHAT SHALL I SEE NOW?
MAHADEVI VARMA
Translated from Hindi by
P. ADESWARA RAO
Tell me mother! what
shall I see now
Shall I see the
blossoming buds
Or the thirsty dried
lips,
Shall I see your
youthful beauty eternal
Or the tortured life’s
agony?
Shall I see the merry
dew-diamonds
On
the tossing
blue lotuses,
Or the piteous tears
that run
From the faded eyelids?
Shall I see the flowing
breeze
That drank fragrance to
the brim,
Or them that drink
draughts of sorrow
And them that breathe cold
despair?
Shall I play beneath
your spring’s shade
With sweet fragrance be
scattered round,
Or shall see the decay
of life
Enhanced by wrinkles of
sorrow?
Shall I search for the
bee-fairies
That dance on petals by
honey bedewed,
Or shall see the life’s
parrot in heart’s cage
Yearning for a handful
of grains?
Shall I see the creepers
Hidden in the cluster of
buds,
Or
shall see
piteous modesty
In the outrageous hands
of evil days?
Shall I lull your
bee-babes
In the cradles of new-born
leaves,
Or
shall see
the delicate child
Struggling for life amidst
the stones?
Shall
I see the twinkling row of lights
Of
your far-stretched portico,
Or
shall see
the fading lamp
In this lonely dark corner?
Shall
I hear the sweet notes of birds
Diffused in the music of stream-waters,
Or shall see the scattered minds
Like strings of a broken
lyre?
Shall I see the tender
silver beams
Tangled in the drowsy wings
of sleep,
Or shall see the dance of gloom
In the ever-open eyelids?
There is pious laughter
on your lips
And
ever-flowing
tears are here,
Shall
I see your
pomp and splendour
Or the cries and moans
of life?
21st December, 1973