THE SNAKE-CHARMER
by: Sarojini Naidu (1879-1949)
- HITHER dost
thou hide from the magic of my flute-call?
In what moonlight-tangled meshes of perfume,
Where the clustering keovas guard the squirrel's slumber,
Where the deep woods glimmer with the jasmine's bloom?
-
- I'll feed thee, O beloved, on milk and wild red honey,
I'll bear thee in a basket of rushes, green and white,
To a palace-bower where golden-vested maidens
Thread with mellow laughter the petals of delight.
-
- Whither dost thou loiter, by what murmuring hollows,
Where oleanders scatter their ambrosial fire?
Come, thou subtle bride of my mellifluous wooing,
Come, thou silver-breasted moonbeam of desire!
"The Snake-Charmer" is
reprinted from The Golden Threshold. Sarojini Naidu. New
York: John Lane Company, 1916. |
MORE
POEMS BY SAROJINI NAIDU |
|