Reverie Zahir U Din
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Alone, I wait, till her twilight gate The Night slips quietly through, With shadow and gloom, and purple bloom, Flung over the Zenith blue. Her stars that tremble, would fain dissemble Light over lovers thrown,– Her hush and mystery know […]
Reverie Ofmahomed Akram At The Tamarind Tank
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) The Desert is parched in the burning sun And the grass is scorched and white. But the sand is passed, and the march is done, We are camping here to-night. I sit in the shade of the Temple walls, While […]
Reverie Of Ormuz The Persian
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Softly the feathery Palm-trees fade in the violet Distance, Faintly the lingering light touches the edge of the sea, Sadly the Music of Waves, drifts, faint as an Anthem’s insistence, Heard in the aisles of a dream, over the sandhills, […]
Reverie Of Mahomed Akram At The Tamarind Tank
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) The Desert is parched in the burning sun And the grass is scorched and white. But the sand is passed, and the march is done, We are camping here to-night. I sit in the shade of the Temple walls, While […]
Request
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) Give me your self one hour; I do not crave For any love, or even thought, of me. Come, as a Sultan may caress a slave And then forget for ever, utterly. Come! as west winds, that passing, cool and […]
Reminiscence Of Mahomed Akram
A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904) I shall never forget you, never. Never escape Your memory woven about the beautiful things of life. The sudden Thought of your Face is like a Wound When it comes unsought On some scent of Jasmin, Lilies, or pale Tuberose. […]
Protest By Zahir U Din
Alas! alas! this wasted Night With all its Jasmin-scented air, Its thousand stars, serenely bright! I lie alone, and long for you, Long for your Champa-scented hair, Your tranquil eyes of twilight hue; Long for the close-curved, delicate lips –Their sinuous sweetness laid on mine– Here, where the slender fountain drips, Here, where the […]
Prayer
You are all that is lovely and light, Aziza whom I adore, And, waking, after the night, I am weary with dreams of you. Every nerve in my heart is tense and sore As I rise to another morning apart from you. I dream of your luminous eyes, Aziza whom I adore! Of the […]
Palm Trees By The Sea
Love, let me thank you for this! Now we have drifted apart, Wandered away from the sea,– For the fresh touch of your kiss, For the young warmth of your heart, For your youth given to me. Thanks: for the curls of your hair, Softer than silk to the hand, For the clear gaze […]
On The City Wall
Upon the City Ramparts, lit up by sunset gleam, The Blue eyes that conquer, meet the Darker eyes that dream. The Dark eyes, so Eastern, and the Blue eyes from the West, The last alight with action, the first so full of rest. Brown, that seem to hold the Past; its magic mystery, Blue, […]
On Pilgrimage
Oh, youthful bearer of my palanquin, Thy glossy hair lies loosened on thy neck, The “tears of labour” gem thy velvet skin, Whose even texture knows no other fleck. Thy slender shoulder strains beneath my weight; Too fair thou art for work, sweet slave of mine. Would that this idle breast, reversing fate, A […]
Ojira To Her Lover
I am waiting in the desert, looking out towards the sunset, And counting every moment till we meet. I am waiting by the marshes and I tremble and I listen Till the soft sands thrill beneath your coming feet. Till I see you, tall and slender, standing clear against the skyline A graceful shade […]
Oh Unforgotten And Only Lover
Oh, unforgotten and only lover, Many years have swept us apart, But none of the long dividing seasons Slay your memory in my heart. In the clash and clamour of things unlovely My thoughts drift back to the times that were, When I, possessing thy pale perfection, Kissed the eyes and caressed the hair. […]
Oh Masters
Oh, Masters, you who rule the world, Will you not wait with me awhile, When swords are sheathed and sails are furled, And all the fields with harvest smile? I would not waste your time for long, I ask you but, when you are tired, To read how by the weak, the strong Are […]
Oh Life I Have Taken You For My Lover
Oh, Life, I have taken you for my Lover, I rent your veils and I found you fair ; If a fault or failing my eyes discover, I will not see it; it is not there ! I know, if I knew, I should hold you dearer, Should understand, if I understood, For I […]
No Rival Like The Past
As those who eat a Luscious Fruit, sunbaked, Full of sweet juice, with zest, until they find It finished, and their appetite unslaked, And so return and eat the pared-off rind;– We, who in Youth, set white and careless teeth In the Ripe Fruits of Pleasure while they last, Later, creep back to gnaw […]
Nay Not To Night
Nay, not to-night;–the slow, sad rain is falling Sorrowful tears, beneath a grieving sky, Far off a famished jackal, faintly calling, Renders the dusk more lonely with its cry. The mighty river rushes, sobbing, seawards, The shadows shelter faint mysterious fears, I turn mine eyes for consolation theewards, And find thy lashes tremulous with […]
My Paramour Was Loneliness
My paramour was loneliness And lying by the sea, Soft songs of sorrow and distress He did beget in me. Later another lover came More meet for my desire, “Radiant Beauty” was his name; His sons had wings of fire! Poetry Monster – Home A few random poems: […]
My Desire
Fate has given me many a gift To which men most aspire, Lovely, precious and costly things, But not my heart’s desire. Many a man has a secret dream Of where his soul would be, Mine is a low verandah’d house In a tope beside the sea. Over the roof tall palms should wave, […]
Middle Age
The sins of Youth are hardly sins, So frank they are and free. ‘T is but when Middle-age begins We need morality. Ah, pause and weigh this bitter truth: That Middle-age, grown cold, No comprehension has of Youth, No pity for the Old. Youth, with his half-divine mistakes, She never can forgive, So much […]
Memory
How I loved you in your sleep, With the starlight on your hair! The touch of your lips was sweet, Aziza whom I adore, As I lay at your slender feet, And against their soft palms pressed, I fitted my face to rest. As winds blow over the sea From Citron gardens ashore, Came, […]
Marriage Thoughts By Morsellin Khan
_Bridegroom_ I give you my house and my lands, all golden with harvest; My sword, my shield, and my jewels, the spoils of my strife, My strength and my dreams, and aught I have gathered of glory, And to-night–to-night, I shall give you my very life. _Bride_ I may not raise my eyes, O […]
Malay Song
The Stars await, serene and white, The unarisen moon; Oh, come and stay with me to-night, Beside the salt Lagoon! My hut is small, but as you lie, You see the lighted shore, And hear the rippling water sigh Beneath the pile-raised floor. No gift have I of jewels or flowers, My room is […]
Malaria
He lurks among the reeds, beside the marsh, Red oleanders twisted in His hair, His eyes are haggard and His lips are harsh, Upon His breast the bones show gaunt and bare. The green and stagnant waters lick His feet, And from their filmy, iridescent scum Clouds of mosquitoes, gauzy in the heat, Rise […]
Mahomed Akrams Appeal To The Stars
Oh, Silver Stars that shine on what I love, Touch the soft hair and sparkle in the eyes,– Send, from your calm serenity above, Sleep to whom, sleepless, here, despairing lies. Broken, forlorn, upon the Desert sand That sucks these tears, and utterly abased, Looking across the lonely, level land, With thoughts more desolate […]
Love Lightly
There were Roses in the hedges, and Sunshine in the sky, Red Lilies in the sedges, where the water rippled by, A thousand Bulbuls singing, oh, how jubilant they were, And a thousand flowers flinging their sweetness on the air. But you, who sat beside me, had a shadow in your eyes, Their sadness […]
Lost Delight
After the Hazara War I lie alone beneath the Almond blossoms, Where we two lay together in the spring, And now, as then, the mountain snows are melting, This year, as last, the water-courses sing. That was another spring, and other flowers, Hung, pink and fragile, on the leafless tree, The land rejoiced in […]
Listen Beloved
Listen, Beloved, the Casurinas quiver, Each tassel prays the wind to set it free, Hark to the frantic sobbing of the river, Wild to attain extinction in the sea. All Nature blindly struggles to dissolve In other forms and forces, thus to solve The painful riddle of identity. Ah, that my soul might lose […]
Lines By Taj Mahomed
This passion is but an ember Of a Sun, of a Fire, long set; I could not live and remember, And so I love and forget. You say, and the tone is fretful, That my mourning days were few, You call me over forgetful– My God, if you only knew! Poetry Monster […]
Less Than The Dust
Less than the dust, beneath thy Chariot wheel, Less than the rust, that never stained thy Sword, Less than the trust thou hast in me, O Lord, Even less than these! Less than the weed, that grows beside thy door, Less than the speed of hours spent far from thee, Less than the need […]
Lallji My Desire
“This is no time for saying ‘no’” Were thy last words to me, And yet my lips refused the kiss They might have given thee. How could I know That thou wouldst go To sleep so far from me? They took thee to the Burning-Ghat, Oh, Lallji, my desire, And now a faint and […]
Lalila To The Ferengi Lover
Why above others was I so blessed And honoured? to be chosen one To hold you, sleeping, against my breast, As now I may hold your only son. Twelve months ago; that wonderful night! You gave your life to me in a kiss; Have I done well, for that past delight, In return, to […]
Kotri By The River
At Kotri, by the river, when the evening’s sun is low, The waving palm trees quiver, the golden waters glow, The shining ripples shiver, descending to the sea; At Kotri, by the river, she used to wait for me. So young, she was, and slender, so pale with wistful eyes As luminous and tender […]
Khristna And His Flute
Be still, my heart, and listen, For sweet and yet acute I hear the wistful music Of Khristna and his flute. Across the cool, blue evenings, Throughout the burning days, Persuasive and beguiling, He plays and plays and plays. Ah, none may hear such music Resistant to its charms, The household work grows weary, […]
Khan Zadas Song On The Hillside
The fires that burn on all the hills Light up the landscape grey, The arid desert land distills The fervours of the day. The clear white moon sails through the skies And silvers all the night, I see the brilliance of your eyes And need no other light. The death sighs of a thousand […]
Kashmiri Song
Pale hands I love beside the Shalimar, Where are you now? Who lies beneath your spell? Whom do you lead on Rapture’s roadway, far, Before you agonise them in farewell? Oh, pale dispensers of my Joys and Pains, Holding the doors of Heaven and of Hell, How the hot blood rushed wildly through the […]
Kashmiri Song By Juma
You never loved me, and yet to save me, One unforgetable night you gave me Such chill embraces as the snow-covered heights Receive from clouds, in northern, Auroral nights. Such keen communion as the frozen mere Has with immaculate moonlight, cold and clear. And all desire, Like failing fire, Died slowly, faded surely, and […]
In The Early Pearly Morning
Song by Valgovind The fields are full of Poppies, and the skies are very blue, By the Temple in the coppice, I wait, Beloved, for you. The level land is sunny, and the errant air is gay, With scent of rose and honey; will you come to me to-day? From carven walls above me, […]
Illusion
Thinking you had a heart that love could break, A lovely gentle soul that might awake, I held you tenderly for either’s sake, And showed you nothing but love’s ecstasy. Now, though you have no heart to melt or burn, No soul to wonder, meditate or yearn, Your beauty is a fact; lie still […]
I Shall Forget
Although my life, which thou hast scarred and shaken, Retains awhile some influence of thee, As shells, by faithless waves long since forsaken, Still murmur with the music of the Sea, I shall forget. Not thine the haunting beauty, Which, once beheld, for ever holds the heart, Or, if resigned from stress of Fate […]