Stars of the Desert. Adela Florence Cory Nicolson
Stars of Tangier
The Guru's Tale: The Enchanted Night
The City: Song of Mahomed Akrara
To Aziz: Song of Mahomed Akram
Your beauty puts a barb into my soul,
Strive as I will it never lets me go.
My love has passed the frontiers of control,
You are so fair and I desire you so.
Others may come and go, they are to me
But changing mirage, transient, untrue,
My faithlessness is but fidelity
Since I am never faithful, but to you.
You are not kind to me, but many are
And all their kindness does not make them dear;
It may be you deceive me when afar
Even as always you torment me near.
Yet is your beauty so divine a thing,
So irreplaceable, so haunting sweet
Against all reason, I am fain to fling
My life, my youth, myself, beneath your feet.
Surf Song
My little one, come and listen
To the calling of the sea,
And watch how the wet sands glisten
Where the surf has left them free.
As thou and the wind together
Shall frolic along the strand;
Thy feet as light as a feather
Will hardly dent the sand.
Unwind the veils that enfold thee,
Thou never wast shy with me;
The sea will rejoice to hold thee,
The stars will delight to see.
The beauty thou shalt discover
Oh, Morning Star of my heart,
Will dazzle even thy lover
Who knows how fair thou art!
Oh, Life, I have taken you for My Lover!
(To Arthur E. J. Legge, who suggested this idea)
Oh, Life, I have taken you for my Lover,
I rent your veils and I found you fair;
If a fault or failing my eyes discover,
I will not see it; it is not there!
I know, if I knew, I should hold you dearer, Should understand, if I understood, For I worship more, as you draw me nearer, Your reckless Evil, your perfect Good. In the Jungle gloom, we have watched and waited, For stealthy Panthers, that prowl by night, At the end of some weary march, belated, We heard strange tales by the camp-fire light. We have lain on the starlit sands, untented, While low-hung planets rose white and fair, And in moonlit gardens, silver and scented, Oh, Life, my Lover, how sweet you were!
Forbidden and barbarous rites were shown us,
In rock-hewn Temples and jungle caves,
And the smoke-wreathed home of the dead has known us—
The burning-ghat by the Ganges waves
Ah, the long, lone ride through the starlit hours,
The long, lone watch on the starlit sea,
And the flame and flush of the morning flowers
When Life, my Lover, was kind to me!
Betimes we were out on the Sea, together;
The vessel raced down the great green slope
Of mountainous waves, in desperate weather;
The hearts of men were adrift from hope.
As over the deck, in exultant fashion,
The violent water crashed and fell,
1 knew, through the joy of your reckless passion,
Agonised fear of the last farewell.
But I follow you always, unresisting,
To lowest depth; to uttermost brink,
From a thirst like mine there is no desisting
Though given poison for wine to drink.
You may do your utmost, you will not shake me,
Your faith may falter; my faith is true.
Oh, Life, you may shatter and rend and break me,
All Pain is Pleasure, that springs from you!
In the height and heat of your wildest passion,
You had your uttermost will of me,
And when have I asked for the least compassion?
A lover loved is a lover free!
Though, with never a word of farewell spoken
In lonely wilds of some Desert place,
You have flung me from you, adrift and broken
To wait the child of your last embrace.
And never my faith nor my fervour faltered,
Until you turned