Classic Poem

Auspiciously came
Ushā, the blooming lotus-eyed dame,
in her heart cherishing keenly
thirst for a vision
of the virtuous Jā nakī
Bearing dew-pearls as presentation
in her hands of leafage,
standing forward
in the outer courtyard
of Sī tā ’s cottage,
in cuckoo’s tone spake she:
“O Chaste Lady!
Deign to give your sight;
Dawned the night.”

The saffron costume
of auroral shine,
flowers’ smiling bloom
and tranquil mien
make a room
in the mind to presume:
Some goddess of Yoga reaching the place,
by sweet words giving solace
calls to render relief
from pangs of grief.
From heaven on earth as if
has descended to bestow a new life.

Musical tune Zephyr sang swinging,
Black Bee played on lute charming.
By Ushā ’s bidding, in dance
rapt remained Fragrance.
Kumbhā tuā bird as a royal bard
began to eulogize forward.
As the panegyrist premier
Kalinga bird appeared there
and spake in voice gracefully sweet:
“Wake please,
O Queen of the empire of chaste ladies!
Dawned the night.”
* *
(Tapasvini, Canto-IV / 1-3)
*
(Translated from Gangadhara Meher’s Oriya epic-poem ‘Tapasvini’)