The Souls Prayer
In childhood's pride I said to Thee: "O Thou, who mad'st me of Thy breath, Speak,
Master, and reveal to me Thine inmost laws of life and death. "Give me to drink each joy and pain Which Thine eternal hand can mete, For my insatiate soul can drain Earth's utmost bitter, utmost sweet. "Spare me no bliss, no pang of strife, Withhold no gift or grief I crave, The intricate lore of love and life And mystic knowledge of the grave." Lord,
Thou didst answer stern and low: "Child,
I will hearken to thy prayer, And thy unconquered soul shall know All passionate rapture and despair. "Thou shalt drink deep of joy and fame, And love shall burn thee like a fire, And pain shall cleanse thee like a flame, To purge the dross from thy desire. "So shall thy chastened spirit yearn To seek from its blind prayer release, And spent and pardoned, sue to learn The simple secret of My peace. I, bending from my sevenfold height, Will teach thee of My quickening grace, Life is a prism of My light, And Death the shadow of My face."
Sarojini Naidu
Other author posts
Humayun To Zobeida From the Urdu
You flaunt your beauty in the rose, your glory in the dawn, Your sweetness in the nightingale, your white- ness in the swan You haunt my waking like a dream, my slumber like a moon, Pervade me like a musky scent, possess me like a tune
Street Cries
EN dawn's first cymbals beat upon the sky, Rousing the world to labour's various cry, To tend the flock, to bind the mellowing grain, From ardent toil to forge a little gain,
The Song Of Princess Zeb-Un-Nissa In Praise Of Her Own Beauty
EN from my cheek I lift my veil, The roses turn with envy pale, And from their pierced hearts, rich with pain, Send forth their fragrance like a wail
Corn Grinders
O little mouse, why dost thou cry While merry stars laugh in the sky Alas alas my lord is dead
