ABOUT THE POEM:
The poem CLANDESTINE LOVE is a translated version of a poem from Tamil Literature. Amidst a marshy setting, an egret resembling a rain-soaked water lily is on the hunt for prey. Spotting the egret, a crab feels fear and escapes into its hiding place beneath the roots of a screw pine. The poem draws a parallel between the crab's flight and an ox breaking free from a tether. The girl's friend advises the lover from the coastal region to halt their secret visits. However, the lover shouldn't worry, as bangle sellers offer smaller sizes too. In the poem, the girl's friend advises the lover not to be concerned, since the bangle sellers have smaller sizes available implying that the girl might lose weight due to her longing and separation from her lover. The smaller bangles suggest the physical effect of the emotional turmoil she is experiencing.
CLANDESTINE LOVE
In wetlands' grace, an egret's form,
Resembled lily, rain adorned,
Questing prey, its purpose true,
Amidst the marsh, a scene in view.
A crab, with eyes so keenly wide,
Beheld this hunter in the tide,
With panic's surge, it took its flight,
A scene of nature's ancient fight.
As ox untethers from the hand,
Breaking free, a wild demand,
The crab sought refuge, safe and deep,
Beneath screw pine's roots, its secrets keep.
Beloved, hails from coastal zone,
Love's hidden path, a tale well-known,
Time whispers cease, these visits veiled,
Yet fear not now, for hope's unveiled.
The bangle vendors, they possess,
Not just the large, but small, no less,
Worries dissolve, as fate aligns,
In bangles' circle, fate entwines.
(what the friend told the girl, assuaging her feelings of alienation from her lover)
NOTE:
pandanus, (genus Pandanus), also called screw pine, is any of some 600 tropical species of Old World trees and shrubs of the screw pine family (Pandanaceae). They grow along seacoasts and in marshy places and forests of tropical and subtropical regions, especially in Asia, Africa, and Oceania.
