Canto 18Radha’s Appeal
Book 1. Part One - England and Baroda 1883 – 1898
(Imitated from the Bengali of Chundidas)
O love, what more shall I, shall Radha speak,
Since mortal words are weak?
In life, in death,
5In being and in breath
No other lord but thee can Radha seek.
Songs to Myrtilla
About thy feet the mighty net is wound
Wherein my soul they bound;
10Myself resigned
To servitude my mind;
My heart than thine no sweeter slavery found.
I, Radha, thought; through the three worlds my gaze
I sent in wild amaze;
15I was alone.
None called me “Radha!”, none;
I saw no hand to clasp, no friendly face.
I sought my father’s house; my father’s sight
Was empty of delight;
20No tender friend
Her loving voice would lend;
My cry came back unanswered from the night.
Therefore to this sweet sanctuary I brought
My chilled and shuddering thought.
25Ah, suffer, sweet,
To thy most faultless feet
That I should cling unchid; ah, spurn me not!
Spurn me not, dear, from thy beloved breast,
A woman weak, unblest.
30Thus let me cling,
Thus, thus about my king
And thus remain caressing and caressed.
I, Radha, thought; without my life’s sweet lord,
— Strike now thy mightiest chord —
35I had no power
To live one simple hour;
His absence slew my soul as with a sword.
If one brief moment steal thee from mine eyes,
My heart within me dies.
40As girls who keep
The treasures of the deep,
I string thee round my neck and on my bosom prize.