The Bengali Book of English Verse/Morning Serenade (Toru Dutt)

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Morning Serenade.[1]

From Victor Hugo.

Still barred thy doors!—The far east glows,
The morning wind blows fresh and free,
Should not the hour that wakes the rose
Awaken also thee?

No longer sleep,
Oh, listen now!
I wait and weep,
But where art thou?

All look for thee, Love, Light and Song;
Light, in the sky deep red above,
Song, in the lark of pinion strong,
And in my heart, true Love.
No longer sleep,
Oh, listen now!
I wait and weep,
But where art thou?

Apart we miss our nature's goal,
Why strive to cheat our destinies?
Was not my love made for thy soul?
Thy beauty for mine eyes?
No longer sleep,
Oh, listen now!
I wait and weep,
But where art thou?

  1. This poem, quoted in the preface of "Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan" as the work of Toru Dutt, has been assigned rightly to her elder sister, Aru Dutt, some of whose translations appear in "A Sheaf Gleaned in French Fields."