English

Attempting Something upon the Successful and Matchless March of the Lord General George Monck from Scotland to London in the Winter, 1659

1.

The day is broke! Melpomene, begone;
Hag of my fancy, let me now alone;
Nightmare my soul no more; go take thy flight
Where traitors' ghosts keep an eternal night;
Flee to Mount Caucasus and bear thy part
With the black fowl that tears Prometheus' heart
For his bold sacrilege; go fetch the groans
Of defunct tyrants, with them croak thy tones.

Kalittokai 94

Hunchback woman,
the way you move is gentle
and crooked as a reflection
in the water,
what good deeds
did you do that I should want you so?

O mother! (she swore to herself) Some
auspicious moment made you dwarf,
so tiny you're almost invisible,
you whelp born to a man-faced owl,
how dare you stop us to say
you want us? Would such midgets
ever get to touch such as us!

Lovely one,
curvaceous,
convex

Kalittokai 65

My well-dressed friend,
listen to what happened.
It has set the whole village laughing.

It's the dead of night, very dark,
no sign of life,
and I'm waiting
all dressed up, lovely shawl,
best jewels,
for our soft broad-chested man,

when that old cripple, that brahman
turns up,

Kalittokai 101

With the first rains

white clusters of the wild jasmine
backed by fresh thorn
are budding
on nodes once dry
in the cool rain lands.

The bud of the glory lily
looks like a ladle first,
then becomes a fire
when the red petals open
gathering the embers,
and it sways like a drunk.

The bilberry, flowering,
gives nothing but blue gems.

Weaving such blossom
in their wreaths,
cowherds vie with all they have,
enter the stalls

Kalittokai 115

" Friend,
like someone who gets drunk secretly
on hard liquor
till his body begins to ooze with it,
and goes on to brag shamelessly
till listeners shiver,
and then gets caught
with the stolen liquor in his hand,

I too got caught
with my secret in my hands:

my goatherd lover's
string of jasmine
that I'd twined in my hair
fell before my foster-mother
as she loosened my hair
to smear it with butter,

and embarrassed her

Kalittokai 54

O you, you wear flowers of gold,
their colors made in fire,
complete with pollen,
while the flowers on creeper and branch
are parched, waterless.
Your lovely forearm stacked
with jeweled bracelets,
shoulders soft as a bed of down,

is it right not to let me
live at your feet?
he said.

And didn't let go at that,
but stayed on to grab
all my hair
scented with lemon grass,
my hair-knot held together
by the gold shark's-mouth,

Kalittokai 55

" O your hair, " he said,
" it's like rainclouds
moving between
branches of lightning.
It parts five ways
between gold ornaments,
braided with a length of flowers
and the fragrant screwpine.

" O your smiles, your glistening teeth,
words sheer honey,
mouth red as coral,
O fair brow,
I want to tell you
something,
listen, stop and listen, "

he said, and stopped me.

Came close,
to look closer
at my brow, my hands, my eyes,

Kuruntokai 17

When love is ripe beyond bearing
and goes to seed,
men will ride even palmyra stems
as if they were horses;

will wear on their heads
the reeking cones of the erukkam bud
as if they were flowers;

will drow to themselves
the laughter of the streets;

and will do worse.

Purananuru 389

" When, in summer,
the fruit of the palm dries
and becomes stone,

when the fruit of the forest neem
shrivels,

when watering places crack their beds,
and unadapting fish, white as silver,
swim south and leave behind
a fish famine,

dear young warrior,

put me among those you remember
on such days, "

said my lord once,
and gave me gifts,
my lord of lasting glory.

He's now where no one can reach him.

Purananuru 356

The jungle spreads.
Cactuses grow.
Owls hoot even by day.
And haunted by she-demons
gaping in the light of crematory fires,
this ancient smouldering cremation ground
looks fearful.
Lovers' tears
wept from the heart
quench the burning white
ash and bones.

This ground,
it is the end
of everyone in the world,
looks upon the backs of all men,
and hasn't seen anyone yet
who will look upon its back.