- 04 Mar 2015 04:12
#14532336
August 8th, 2019
Kalidasa was a (roughly) 5th century Indian dramatist. There are some great translations of his work that are even available free in English on THE INTERNET.
I took the opportunity to read a little bit, and I was struck about how lovely his poetic musings are.
Take for instance this scene very early on when the King, while out hunting, finds himself incidentally at a hermitage where he comes across a young maiden who is wearing only a bark dress -- and, gentlemen, it's TIGHT!:
And take this example, shortly after:
This stuff is good.
Some of it seems a bit... interjected and contrived, but I am really digging this 5th century Indian love story.
I hope to eventually read all of this famous piece and have a better appreciation for Bollywood.
http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/kalid ... ther-works
I took the opportunity to read a little bit, and I was struck about how lovely his poetic musings are.
Take for instance this scene very early on when the King, while out hunting, finds himself incidentally at a hermitage where he comes across a young maiden who is wearing only a bark dress -- and, gentlemen, it's TIGHT!:
Shakuntala: Oh, Anusuya! Priyamvada has fastened this bark dress so tight that it hurts. Please loosen it. (Anusuya does so.)
Priyamvada: (laughing). You had better blame your own budding charms for that.
King: She is quite right.
Beneath the barken dress
Upon the shoulder tied,
In maiden loveliness
Her young breast seems to hide,
As when a flower amid
The leaves by autumn tossed—
Pale, withered leaves—lies hid,
And half its grace is lost.
Yet in truth the bark dress is not an enemy to her beauty. It serves as an added ornament. For
The meanest vesture glows
On beauty that enchants:
The lotus lovelier shows
Amid dull water-plants;
The moon in added splendour
Shines for its spot of dark;
Yet more the maiden slender
Charms in her dress of bark.
And take this example, shortly after:
Shakuntala: (excitedly).Oh, oh! A bee has left the jasmine-vine and is flying into my face. (She shows herself annoyed by the bee.)
King : (ardently).As the bee about her flies,
Swiftly her bewitching eyes
Turn to watch his flight.
She is practising to-day
Coquetry and glances’ play
Not from love, but fright.
(Jealously.)
Eager bee, you lightly skim
O’er the eyelid’s trembling rim
Toward the cheek aquiver.
Gently buzzing round her cheek,
Whispering in her ear, you seek
Secrets to deliver.
While her hands that way and this
Strike at you, you steal a kiss,
Love’s all, honeymaker.
I know nothing but her name,
Not her caste, nor whence she came—
You, my rival, take her.
This stuff is good.
Some of it seems a bit... interjected and contrived, but I am really digging this 5th century Indian love story.
I hope to eventually read all of this famous piece and have a better appreciation for Bollywood.
http://oll.libertyfund.org/titles/kalid ... ther-works
August 8th, 2019