Story Of Udaipore Told By Lalla Ji The Priest

A poem by Violet Nicolson, Lawrence Hope, Adela Florence Cory Nicolson (1865 – 1904)

“And when the Summer Heat is great,

And every hour intense,

The Moghra, with its subtle flowers,

Intoxicates the sense.”

The Coco palms stood tall and slim, against the golden-glow,

And all their grey and graceful plumes were waving to and fro.

She lay forgetful in the boat, and watched the dying Sun

Sink slowly lakewards, while the stars replaced him, one by one.

She saw the marble Temple walls long white reflections make,

The echoes of their silvery bells were blown across the lake.

The evening air was very sweet; from off the island bowers

Came scents of Moghra trees in bloom, and Oleander flowers.

“The Moghra flowers that smell so sweet

When love’s young fancies play;

The acrid Moghra flowers, still sweet

Though love be burnt away.”

The boat went drifting, ucontrolled, the rower rowed no more,

But deftly turned the slender prow towards the further shore.

The dying sunset touched with gold the Jasmin in his hair;

His eyes were darkly luminous: she looked and found him fair.

And so persuasively he spoke, she could not say him nay,

And when his young hands took her own, she smiled and let them stay.

And all the youth awake in him, all love of Love in her,

All scents of white and subtle flowers that filled the twilight air

Combined together with the night in kind conspiracy

To do Love service, while the boat went drifting onwards, free.

“The Moghra flowers, the Moghra flowers,

While Youth’s quick pulses play

They are so sweet, they still are sweet,

Though passion burns away.”

Low in the boat the lovers lay, and from his sable curls

The Jasmin flowers slipped away to rest among the girl’s.

Oh, silver lake and silver night and tender silver sky!

Where as the hours passed, the moon rose white and cold on high.

“The Moghra flowers, the Moghra flowers,

So dear to Youth at play;

The small and subtle Moghra flowers

That only last a day.”

Suddenly, frightened, she awoke, and waking vaguely saw

The boat had stranded in the sedge that fringed the further shore.

The breeze grown chilly, swayed the palms; she heard, still half awake,

A prowling jackal’s hungry cry blown faintly o’er the lake.

She shivered, but she turned to kiss his soft, remembered face,

Lit by the pallid light he lay, in Youth’s abandoned grace.

But as her lips met his she paused, in terror and dismay,

The white moon showed her by her side asleep a Leper lay.

“Ah, Moghra flowers, white Moghra flowers,

All love is blind, they say;

The Moghra flowers, so sweet, so sweet,

Though love be burnt away!”

Poetry Monster – Home

A few random poems:

External links

Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus

Talking Writing Monster’s Page –

Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh

Poems in English 

• The Eagle That is Forgotten by Vachel Lindsay by Nicholas Vachel Lindsay
• The Drunkards in the Street by Vachel Lindsay by Nicholas Vachel Lindsay
• The Dandelion by Vachel Lindsay by Nicholas Vachel Lindsay
• The Cornfields by Vachel Lindsay by Nicholas Vachel Lindsay
• The Congo: A Study of the Negro Race by Vachel Lindsay by Nicholas Vachel Lindsay
• The City That Will Not Repent by Vachel Lindsay by Nicholas Vachel Lindsay
• The Chinese Nightingale by Vachel Lindsay by Nicholas Vachel Lindsay
• The Broncho That Would Not Be Broken by Vachel Lindsay by Nicholas Vachel Lindsay
• The Booker Washington Trilogy by Vachel Lindsay by Nicholas Vachel Lindsay
• The Beggar’s Valentine by Vachel Lindsay by Nicholas Vachel Lindsay
• The Bankrupt Peace-Maker by Vachel Lindsay by Nicholas Vachel Lindsay
• The Amaranth by Vachel Lindsay by Nicholas Vachel Lindsay
• The Alchemist’s Petition by Vachel Lindsay by Nicholas Vachel Lindsay
• Sweethearts of the Year by Vachel Lindsay by Nicholas Vachel Lindsay
• Sweet Briars of the Stairways by Vachel Lindsay by Nicholas Vachel Lindsay
• Sunshine by Vachel Lindsay by Nicholas Vachel Lindsay
• Star of My Heart by Vachel Lindsay by Nicholas Vachel Lindsay
• St. Francis of Assisi by Vachel Lindsay by Nicholas Vachel Lindsay
• Springfield Magical by Vachel Lindsay by Nicholas Vachel Lindsay
• Shakespeare by Vachel Lindsay by Nicholas Vachel Lindsay

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.

 

Parallel Translations of Poetry

Poems by Author and Category

The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works