WILT THOU LEAVE ME?

94. Mingling in grace with me, O rider of the bull, Thou mad'st me Thine.
But wilt Thou leave me? Thou whose form in the fierce tiger's skin is clad,
Uttarakosamangai old has Thee for king. O lord of mine
With matted hair, hold Thou me up; for I am weary grown and sad.

95. Set in the marge of flowing stream that eats its banks away, the tree
Shakes to its fall; and thus am I, my sense bewitch'd by maids' dark eyes.
Uttarakosamangai's king, spouse of gem-vested Parvati,
Who dwell'st in Arur holy, O protector, for my help arise.

96. In ignorance I spurned thy grace. Dost Thou, my gem, now me despise,
And wilt thou leave me? O destroy my sum of deeds and make me thine.
Uttarakosamangai's king, 'tis surely true, the great and wise,
When only little curs play false, to mercy ever will incline.

97. With none to cheer me from my fear, far have I wandered wearily,
O Lightning-like, and wilt Thou leave me? If I truly thee compare,
Uttarakosamangai's king, I find naught else resembling Thee;
But a true father, mother dear art Thou to me, my treasure rare.

98. Whether I praise or curse Thee, still I'm stained with sin and sorrowing.
Yet, wilt Thou leave me? Splendour shining like the red-hued coral mount,
Master, thou drankest poison black, the humbler beings pitying,
That I, Thy meanest one, might find no poison, but a nectar fount.

Our poet made songs which maidens might sing in their rhythmical games, or as they sat at the grinding-stone. In India the boatman sings as he rows, the ryot sings as he draws from the well, the sepoy sings on his march. A feature of such songs is the refrain, which is usually a mere collection of euphonic syllables, though it may have a meaning. Here are specimens of a few songs intended for women. The refrain of the first, "Elorembavay" probably means "Receive and ponder what I say, O lady." The Grinding song, strangely enough, is used at funerals, as also is the 'Antiphony.' The song of 'The Three Castles' Destruction' is supposed to accompany play with a ball or a kind of shuttle called 'undi.' For the legend of the Three Castles, see page <page 7>. 'The Shoulder-Play' is for some ancient game in which women grasped each other's shoulders.