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 lonely flame

Uprises from the pyre.

The thin grey smoke in spirals drifts

Across the opal sky.

Would that I were a wife of thine,

And thus with thee could die!

How could I know

That thou wouldst go,

Oh, Lallji, my desire?

The lips I missed

The flames have kissed

Upon the Sandal pyre.

If one should meet me with a knife

And cut my heart in twain,

Then would he see the smoke arise

From every severed vein.

Such is the burning, inward fire,

The anguish of my pain,

For my Beloved, whose dying lips

Implored a kiss–in vain!

How could I know

That thou wouldst go,

Oh, Lallji, my desire?

Too young thou art

To lay thy heart

Upon the Sandal pyre.

Thy wife awaits her coming child;

What were a child to me,

If I might take thee in these arms

And face the flames with thee?

The priests are chanting round the pyre,

At dusk they will depart

And leave to thee thy lonely rest,

To me my lonelier heart.

How could I know

Thou lovedst me so?

Upon the Sandal pyre

He lies forsaken.

The flames have taken

My Lallji, my desire!

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Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus

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Poems in English 

• The Incurious Bencher by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Hip by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Happy Lunatic by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Frog’s Choice by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Dog and the Bear by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Devil Outwitted by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Coquette by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Captive Trumpeter by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Busy Indolent by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Bowling-Green by William Somervile by William Somerville
• The Bald-Pated Welshman and the Fly by William Somervile by William Somerville
• Song by William Somervile by William Somerville
• On Presenting to a Lady a White Rose and a Red on the Tenth of June by William Somervile by William Somerville
• On Miranda’s Leaving the Country by William Somervile by William Somerville
• Mahomet Ali Beg; Or, the Faithful Minister of State by William Somervile by William Somerville
• Liberty, and Love; or, the Two Sparrows by William Somervile by William Somerville
• Hunting Song by William Somervile by William Somerville
• Hudibras and Milton Reconciled by William Somervile by William Somerville
• Hobbinol; or The Rural Games by William Somervile by William Somerville
• Hobbinol; or The Rural Games – Canto 3 by William Somervile by William Somerville

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

Dealing Monster

Doska or the Board – write anything

Search engines:

Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)

Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.

Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees

Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.

Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.

 

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