The Fish and the Crocodile
When Nand's son with his dark face appeared to me,
I forgot about the world and its duties. I went out of
my mind.
A crown of peacock feathers opened on his forehead,
And I saw the spot of saffron which made my eyes
glad.
Light caught on his earring; his hair curls fell over his
cheek,
Like fish who crawl out of a pond to meet a crocodile.
My Lord has entered the play, and the world is
amazed.
Mira says: I dedicate myself to every arm and leg of
this Lord.
Source of the text - Mirabai: Ecstatic Poems. Versions by Robert Bly and Jane Hirshfield. Boston: Beacon Press, 2004, p. 8. This poem was translated by Robert Bly.
TJB: Extraordinary blazon-metaphor: a cheek like earth, lock of hair like fish crawling on land, the lover’s mouth perhaps like the crocodile.
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