A Rajput Love Song
[Parvati at her lattice]
O Love! were you a basil-wreath to twine among my tresses,A jewelled clasp of shining gold to bind around my sleeve,O Love! were you the keora's soul that haunts my silken raiment,A bright, vermilion tassel in the girdles that I weave;
O Love! were you the scented fan that lies upon my pillow,A sandal lute, or silver lamp that burns before my shrine,Why should I fear the jealous dawn that spreads with cruel laughter,Sad veils of separation between your face and mine?
Haste, O wild-bee hours to the gardens of the sunset!Fly, wild-parrot day to the orchards of the west!Come, O tender night, with your sweet, consoling darkness,And bring me my Beloved to the shelter of my breast!
[Amar Singh in the saddle]
O Love! were you the hooded hawk upon my hand that flutters,Its collar-band of gleaming bells atinkle as I ride,O Love! were you a turban-spray or floating heron-feather,The radiant, swift, unconquered sword that swingeth at my side;
O Love! were you a shield against the arrows of my foemen,An amulet of jade against the perils of the way,How should the drum-beats of the dawn divide me from your bosom,Or the union of the midnight be ended with the day?
Haste, O wild-deer hours, to the meadows of the sunset!Fly, wild stallion day, to the pastures of the west!Come O tranquil night, with your soft, consenting darkness,And bear me to the fragrance of my Beloved's breast!
Words in this poem
- consoling a.
- Adapted to console or comfort; cheering; as, this is consoling news.
- stallion n.
- A male horse not castrated; a male horse kept for breeding. [OE. stalon, OF. estalon, F. étalon, fr. OHG. stal a stable. See Stall, n.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
A Rajput Love Song is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Bird of Time: Songs of Life, Death & the Spring (London: William Heinemann; New York: John Lane Company, 1912), Wikisource; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Sarojini Naidu, A Rajput Love Song, in The Bird of Time: Songs of Life, Death & the Spring (1912), text of Wikisource, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/naidu-bird-of-time/a-rajput-love-song.html, id L27524.
Form and metre
A Rajput Love Song is 26 lines in 8 stanzas. The metre is iambic heptameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 83%).
See other poems in iambic heptameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 2 -A-A tresses · sleeveA · raiment · weaveA
- 3 -A-A pillow · shrineA · laughter · mineA
- 4 -A-A sunset · westA · darkness · breastA
- 6 -A-A flutters · rideA · feather · sideA
- 7 -A-A foemen · wayA · bosom · dayA
- 8 -A-A sunset · westA · darkness · breastA
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic heptameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| [Parvati at her lattice] | 7 | ·····/˘ |
| O Love! were you a basil-wreath to twine among my tresses, | 15 | ·····/˘······/˘ |
| A jewelled clasp of shining gold to bind around my sleeve, | 14 | ·/˘··/˘······· |
| O Love! were you the keora's soul that haunts my silken raiment, | 15 | ···········/˘/˘ |
| A bright, vermilion tassel in the girdles that I weave; | 14 | ··˘/˘/˘··/˘··· |
| O Love! were you the scented fan that lies upon my pillow, | 15 | ·····/˘······/˘ |
| A sandal lute, or silver lamp that burns before my shrine, | 14 | ·/˘··/˘······· |
| Why should I fear the jealous dawn that spreads with cruel laughter, | 14 | ·····/˘····//˘ |
| Sad veils of separation between your face and mine? | 13 | ····˘/˘······ |
| Haste, O wild-bee hours to the gardens of the sunset! | 13 | ····/··/˘··/· |
| Fly, wild-parrot day to the orchards of the west! | 12 | ··/˘···/˘··· |
| Come, O tender night, with your sweet, consoling darkness, | 13 | ··/˘····˘/˘/˘ |
| And bring me my Beloved to the shelter of my breast! | 13 | ····˘/··/˘··· |
| [Amar Singh in the saddle] | 7 | ˘/···/˘ |
| O Love! were you the hooded hawk upon my hand that flutters, | 15 | ·····/˘······/˘ |
| Its collar-band of gleaming bells atinkle as I ride, | 14 | ·/˘··/˘······· |
| O Love! were you a turban-spray or floating heron-feather, | 15 | ·····/˘··/˘/˘/˘ |
| The radiant, swift, unconquered sword that swingeth at my side; | 14 | ·/˘······/˘··· |
| O Love! were you a shield against the arrows of my foemen, | 15 | ·········/˘···· |
| An amulet of jade against the perils of the way, | 13 | ·/˘·····/˘··· |
| How should the drum-beats of the dawn divide me from your bosom, | 15 | ········˘/···/˘ |
| Or the union of the midnight be ended with the day? | 14 | ··/˘··/··/˘··· |
| Haste, O wild-deer hours, to the meadows of the sunset! | 13 | ····/··/···/· |
| Fly, wild stallion day, to the pastures of the west! | 12 | ··/˘···/˘··· |
| Come O tranquil night, with your soft, consenting darkness, | 13 | ··/˘····˘/˘/˘ |
| And bear me to the fragrance of my Beloved's breast! | 12 | ·····/˘··˘/· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.