17. Carousals

279

She, who was cross
with her faithless lover
and would not relent
when he fell at her feet,
is now, with wine,
no more fastidious,
and satisfies him
as she did before.      2014

NAGNAJITA

280

The moon could not compete
with the glow on this beauty’s face
and, ashamed, it’s gone
to swim within her wine-filled glass
and gain a purer form.      2015

BHĀRAVI

281

Though she drank much wine,
she did not get drunk
out of concern her lover
may turn to another woman.
Inebriation requires
the mind to be relaxed.      2010

282

On the pretext of drinking wine,
the young couple, their mouths together,
are pouring out, in fact, the juice
of love into one another’s heart.      2016

JAYAMĀDHAVA

283

How can a half-drunk glass of wine
glitter so? Well, that young woman
kissed it with her pretty red
lips and filled it with their glow.      2017

JAYAMĀDHAVA

284

‘In this pleasure bower there
is a jasmine vine whose lovely
flowers none have plucked so far’:
saying this, and softly taking
the innocent maid by hand, a rogue
led her to that lonely spot.      1866

JAYAMĀDHAVA

285

The bees forsake the vine whose blooms
have already been gathered, and
go to girls who wear them in garlands:
the wicked think only of themselves.      1863

286

The girl beheld a drop of water
roll upon a lotus leaf
and, as if it were a pearl,
stretched out her hand to get it.      1875

VALLABHADEVA

287

Wet skirts now cling to women’s hips,
the girdle strings so soaked in water
that their bells have fallen silent,
like stars turned pale in the moonlight.      1873