The Silken Tassel/Radhika’s Perplexity
Radhika's Perplexity
I know not what Kahn[1] has seen in me,
How often he looks at my face!
His eyes are quicken’d to steal my heart,
I stand like a statue to see him depart,
And glance at his charming grace;
I call to the birds in the mango grove,
And turn for their sweet reply:
"Radhika Radhika ! here are the birds!"
I hear there someone cry;
I turn again and he looks in my face
And laughs and passes by!
How often he looks at my face!
His eyes are quicken’d to steal my heart,
I stand like a statue to see him depart,
And glance at his charming grace;
I call to the birds in the mango grove,
And turn for their sweet reply:
"Radhika Radhika ! here are the birds!"
I hear there someone cry;
I turn again and he looks in my face
And laughs and passes by!
I carry my pots to the village-well,
When the dawn has lifted her veil;
Slowly and slyly he comes behind
Like a chittah,[2] and suddenly there I find
His shadow before me trail;
I fill my water-pots on the well,
When stealthily he comes nigh,
He lays them on my head uncall’d,
"Oh Radhika! ’tis too high!"
I turn my face, but he looks in my eyes
And laughs and passes by!
When the dawn has lifted her veil;
Slowly and slyly he comes behind
Like a chittah,[2] and suddenly there I find
His shadow before me trail;
I fill my water-pots on the well,
When stealthily he comes nigh,
He lays them on my head uncall’d,
"Oh Radhika! ’tis too high!"
I turn my face, but he looks in my eyes
And laughs and passes by!
I take to Gokul[3] my sweetest curds,
When the herd is on the field;
He blocks my way with a wayward spring,
And asks of me there many a thing,
But I do not care to yield;
I walk away with a gentle push,
As the sun is high in the sky,
I hear my name through some magical flute
And I turn behind to spy:
My curds fall down and he looks in my face
And laughs and passes by!
When the herd is on the field;
He blocks my way with a wayward spring,
And asks of me there many a thing,
But I do not care to yield;
I walk away with a gentle push,
As the sun is high in the sky,
I hear my name through some magical flute
And I turn behind to spy:
My curds fall down and he looks in my face
And laughs and passes by!