podalangai
30th November 2006, 02:41 AM
I recently found two songs of Arunagirinathar translated by Bharatiyar. The English translations are beautiful, but I can't recognise either of them. Does anybody know what the words (or at least the first lines) of the original Tamil poems are?
1. So be my songs
Like a child unto the barren womb,
Like a mine of new-found treasure,
Like a floor of diamonds, so be my songs.
Like the wilful embrace of Love's soft bosom,
Like a string of the purest gems,
Like a garden of fragrant blossoms,
Like the River that descends from Heaven,
Even so be my songs.
Like the daughter of the Ocean,
Like eyes unto poets,
Like a stream full to the brim, easy to drink of,
Like the taste of the nectar of Thy beauty,
So be my wondrous songs of Love,
By Thy Grace, O Lord.
2. When wilt thou deign
To chase out the Iron Age,
To smite and banish Disease,
To still the fire of care devouring my heart,
To change my bitterness into sweetness,
To wipe all foulness from my life,
And to bathe me in the river of Thy mercy,
When wilt Thou deign?
That I may gather in my roving mind and hold it fast,
And dispel its darkness by placing there the lamp of thy Beauty,
And keeping it ever alit,
May mass my vision
And sing for ever Thine immortal traits;
When wilt Thou grant Thine utter grace?
1. So be my songs
Like a child unto the barren womb,
Like a mine of new-found treasure,
Like a floor of diamonds, so be my songs.
Like the wilful embrace of Love's soft bosom,
Like a string of the purest gems,
Like a garden of fragrant blossoms,
Like the River that descends from Heaven,
Even so be my songs.
Like the daughter of the Ocean,
Like eyes unto poets,
Like a stream full to the brim, easy to drink of,
Like the taste of the nectar of Thy beauty,
So be my wondrous songs of Love,
By Thy Grace, O Lord.
2. When wilt thou deign
To chase out the Iron Age,
To smite and banish Disease,
To still the fire of care devouring my heart,
To change my bitterness into sweetness,
To wipe all foulness from my life,
And to bathe me in the river of Thy mercy,
When wilt Thou deign?
That I may gather in my roving mind and hold it fast,
And dispel its darkness by placing there the lamp of thy Beauty,
And keeping it ever alit,
May mass my vision
And sing for ever Thine immortal traits;
When wilt Thou grant Thine utter grace?