Full moon would be her face
Jasmine would be her fragrance
Lightning would be her eyes
Silence would be her language
Dew drops of winter would be voice
Deer calf of the fragrant forests would be her walks
I saw her one day and
asked for her heart as boon
She did give but immediately took it back and went away!
She is indeed the island of the sea, untouched hitherto,
In its fragrant sands, I wished to be a floral shrub..
She is indeed the melody, unforgettable after hearing,
Even after understanding the stanzas, I stood in silence..
She being one shore, and me being the other shore,
In between gushes the river of solitude..
Is it possible for the hands to fish in the waters of mirage?
The time stands testament to the happenings of the present..
She comes along with peace,
And I grasped her fingers..
The journey continued while witnessing the many rainbows along the path..
As sleep caressed my head, I rested under a tree..
When I woke up, she wasn’t there and the minute turned bitter..
She was by my side, in that minute,
She appeared afar, in the next minute..
She runs like the false-deer that eludes the vision..
Between me and her, a screen stood opposing,
When mask is worn, would the faces be visible?
This is my translation of a song from the movie Jodhaa Akbar, released in 2008. The details about the song is available over here along with the tamil verse.
This song caught my attention with its music, for it is so soothing and pleasant to hear. This song is always in the top 5 of my most played track list. The reason it is there is just not for the music or the voice. But the lyrics.
The hero gets besotted by the beauty of his new wife. She is near yet so far in heart. He yearns for her. And this song is what transcribes his emotions.
The reason the lyrics stands close to me is the closeness of this song to the John Keats’ song “La Belle Dame sans Merci“
Below is the complete song:
O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
So haggard and so woe-begone?
The squirrel’s granary is full,
And the harvest’s done.I see a lily on thy brow,
With anguish moist and fever-dew,
And on thy cheeks a fading rose
Fast withereth too.I met a lady in the meads,
Full beautiful, a fairy’s child;
Her hair was long, her foot was light,
And her eyes were wild.I made a garland for her head,
And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;
She looked at me as she did love,
And made sweet moanI set her on my pacing steed,
And nothing else saw all day long,
For sidelong would she bend, and sing
A faery’s song.She found me roots of relish sweet,
And honey wild, and manna-dew,
And sure in language strange she said—
‘I love thee true’.She took me to her Elfin grot,
And there she wept and sighed full sore,
And there I shut her wild, wild eyes
With kisses four.And there she lullèd me asleep,
And there I dreamed—Ah! woe betide!—
The latest dream I ever dreamt
On the cold hill side.I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried—‘La Belle Dame sans Merci
Hath thee in thrall!’I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
With horrid warning gapèd wide,
And I awoke and found me here,
On the cold hill’s side.And this is why I sojourn here,
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.
Both are very beautiful songs as stand alone. They both are in different genres, yet they both have some common elements and that’s what I link and like between them.
The mysterious girl;
Her beautiful features,
Her love for him,
Him, wanting to serve her,
The feeling of elation in being with her,
She lulling him to sleep,
Him waking into harsh reality,
From the dream of the dreamy girl,
His lament to reach her..
Now all I wonder about the first song is whether it is an inspired imagination or just imagination by two individuals in the same way!
Ripples 