Gurram Jashuva's Graveyard Poem Lines in English
The
Graveyard (An Elegy)
- Gurram Joshuva(1895-1971)
Years have rolled on but not a soul
That
slept in this cemetery rise up, alas!
How
long is this sleep absorbed in stillness?
How many
a mother have bitterly wept!
Stones
have melted in this place with tears.
Gloomy
clouds have swallowed the sky,
Owls
with devils have begun to sport,
Raven
do scream, my heart does shudder,
But
not a leaf in this graveyard moves;
How
pleasantly peace in this place pervades!
Is
this the place where the mellifluous pen
Of
some renowned poet has perished in embers?
Is
this the place where the royal scepter
Of
some mighty king has been burnt in fire?
Is
this the place where the chain of black beads
Of
some newly-wed woman has been ruined in cinders?
Is
this the place where the skilful brush
Of
some famous painter has been destroyed in flames?
This
is verily the stage on which ,
With
his host of devils, the Destroyer dances;
This
is the throne of ashes from which
Death
fiercely reigns the earth.
On
this new grave plunged in darkness dense,
The
lamp of that flickers like a hovering glowworm.
Though
oil exhausted, refuses to be put out;
Shall
we call it a lamp? It must be the heart
Of
some bereaved mother, that lingers there.
My heart would break at those little tombs
In
which some pretty cheeks have perished,
In
which some beloved is laid to rest,
Some
mother’s heart has its agony unquenched,
Arts
yet to flourish have been nipped in the bud!
The
corpse that is flung by the marble tomb
Of
a very rich man, and rolls in dust,
Must
be of some wretch who has cried and died
Of
hunger, and no one mourns for him,
Nor
the cemetery has mercy to cover his corpse.
Distinctions
of caste have no place here!
Death
does level distinctions on earth:
Equality
and justice that prevail in this place,
Lull
the ferocious tiger and the goat
To
commune together and lie in peace.
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The End ---------------
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