Song of the Hindustanee Minstrel
Song of the Hindustanee Minstrel
Original Text
Henry Louis Vivian Derozio, Poems (London: Oxford University Press, 1923);
also The Golden Treasury of Indo-Anglian Poetry 1828-1965, ed. Vinayak Krishna Gokak
(New Delphi: Sahitya Akademi, 1970): 3-5. PR 1174 G6 1970 Robarts Library
2 'Twill sparkle like a star;
3With roses dress each raven tress,
5Dildar! There's many a valued pearl
8 O! none can rival thee.
10 Which many a maid may seek,
11But who shall find a flower which blows
12 Like that upon thy cheek?
13In verdant realms, 'neath sunny skies,
14 With witching minstrelsy,
15We'll favour find in all young eyes,
16 And all shall welcome thee.
17Around us now there's but the night,
18 The heaven alone above;
19But soon we'll dwell in cities bright,
20 Then cheer thee, cheer thee, love!
21The heart eternally is blest
22 Where hope eternal springs;
23Then hush thy sorrows all to rest,
24 We'll treat the courts of kings.
25In palace halls our strains we'll raise,
26 There all our songs shall flow;
27Come cheer thee, sweet! for better days
28 Shall dawn upon our woe.
29Nay weep not, love! thou shouldst not weep,
30 The world is all our home;
31Life's watch together we shall keep,
32 We'll love where'er we roam.
33Like birds from land to land we'll range,
35Our hearts the same, though worlds may change,
36 We'll live, and love, Dildar!
Notes
1] surmah: eye-liner, a fashionable cosmetic in the far east. Back to Line
4] Dildar: a Muslim proper name meaning "beloved." Back to Line
6] Oman: a modern-day sultanate on the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, and bordering on Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yeman. Back to Line
7] Cashmerian: from Kashmir, a mountainous region in northern India, now a disputed region. Back to Line
9] Busrah: now Al Basrah, Iraq. Back to Line
34] sitar: "A long-necked, guitar-like, Indian musical instrument, having from three to seven strings which the player plucks" (OED). Back to Line
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2001
Rhyme