Why Mira Can't Come Back to Her Old House

Mirabai 1498 (Kudki, Pali district, Jodhpur State) – 1556 (Dwaraka)



The colors of the Dark One have penetrated Mira's body; all the other colors washed out.
Making love with the Dark One and eating little, those are my pearls and my carnelians.
Meditation beads and the forehead streak, those are my scarves and my rings.
That's enough feminine wiles for me. My teacher taught me this.
Approve me or disapprove me: I praise the Mountain Energy night and day.
I take the path that ecstatic human beings have taken for centuries.
I don't steal money, I don't hit anyone. What will you charge me with?
I have felt the swaying of the elephant's shoulders;
 and now you want me to climb on a jackass?
Try to be serious

[Translated by Robert Bly]

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on March 05, 2023

38 sec read
124

Quick analysis:

Scheme XAAAXAXAAA X
Closest metre Iambic octameter
Characters 671
Words 124
Stanzas 2
Stanza Lengths 10, 1

Mirabai

Mirabai was a 16th-century Hindu mystic poet and devotee of Lord Krishna. more…

All Mirabai poems | Mirabai Books

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