The most exquisite poem I have ever read is... (article) by Sara L Russell on AuthorsDen

Black Marigolds, also known as the Chaurapanchasika: The Fifty Stanzas of Chauras. Translated from the Sanskrit by E. Powys Mathers, with great skill and sensitivity, for us all to enjoy. To me it is the most beautiful love poem of all time. I want to write a brief artible about this amazing, haunting love poem, which I feel is probably the best love poem ever written. It was written many centuries ago, by a young poet who knew he was going to die, for having loved the king's daughter. His love lament survived, and was translated by E. Powys Mathers, and quoted in the novel Cannery Row by John Steinbeck. It is a poem which has been one of my biggest influences. At the bottom of this article you will find a link to a page which gives the history of the poem. Here is one of my favourite stanzas: Even now I bring her back to me in her quick shame, Hiding her bright face at the point of day: Making her grave eyes move in watered stars, For love's great sleeplessness wandering all night, Seeming to sail gently, as that pink bird, Down the water of love in a harvest of lotus. In fact, you can dip into this poem (all 50 stanzas of it) anywhere and find something to delight and amaze: Even now By a cool noise of waters in the spring The Asoka with young flowers that feign her fingers And bud in red; and in the green vest pearls kissing As it were rose leaves in the gardens of God; the shining at night Of white cheeks in the dark; smiles from light thoughts within, And her walking as of a swan: these trouble me. One thing that gives this poem such enduring beauty is the references to gorgeous, exotic Asian flora and fauna: Even now If my girl with lotus eyes came to me again Weary with the dear weight of young love, Again I would give her to these starved twins of arms And from her mouth drink down the heavy wine, As a reeling pirate bee in fluttered ease Steals up the honey from the nenuphar. ....I love the imagery of the "reeling pirate bee", and until reading this poem, had never heard of the nenuphar flower. The poem opens up a whole world of colour, light, spice and passion to me, flooding my senses and emotions, which is exactly what a poem should do. Many people all over the world have fallen in love with this poem. I hope that anyone reading this will treat themselves, and click the link below. I promise that the last few stanzas will give you tears of awe, sadness and wonder. And you too will see that the poet Chauras did not die in vain; the magical splendour of his verse will live forever. See bottom of page for web link to the poem. Additional information (added November 2004) from the copyright owners of this work: Authorized text published in 2004 by Anvil Press Poetry, London in E. Powys Mathers: BLACK MARIGOLDS AND COLOURED STARS. Copyright � renewed 2004 Margaret Gibson and Lucy L. Painter for the Estate of E. Powys Mathers. All enquiries to anvila.anvilpresspoetry.com This stunning work by E. Powys Mathers: BLACK MARIGOLDS and Coloured Stars, has a preface by Tony Harrison: "E. Powys Mathers (1892-1939) is the not-quite-forgotten man of modern English poetry. Despite his appearance in Yeats' famous Oxford Book of Modern Verse - he died the same year as Yeats - he is best known for his translation of the Thousand Nights and One Night, and as his alter ego, Torquemada of the Observer - a name to conjure with in the history of the cryptic crossword puzzle. But his poetry, especially Black Marigolds, has long been admired by poets, and for many of them his translations from Asian and Oriental poetry are unparalleled. Black Marigolds, from the Sanskrit Chaurapanchasika, has appeared in several anthologies and circulates on the internet. Together with the slightly earlier Coloured Stars (versions of fifty Asiatic love poems), his first book, it constitutes the best of Mathers' remarkable poetry, which even now reads with undated freshness. Tony Harrison is a confirmed Mathers fan and his preface brilliantly and entertainingly describes the puzzles of Mathers' life and the fascination and originality of his poetry. As he concludes: "And Mathers, erotic aesthete, cocktail-shaking Chinese-American, honorary Arab nomad, bhang-chewer, Turkish bisexual, tormenting puzzle-setter, was a true if minor poet whose assimilation of Eastern modes should rank with Arthur Waley or Ezra Pound, and whose name and achievement should be much better known than they are. And the Black Marigolds of Edward Powys Mathers is a masterpiece that still affects me in the same way even now after almost fifty years." Purchasing information: ISBN 0 85646 372 8 112pp paperback Published October 2004 �7.95 Anvil Press Poetry Neptune House 70 Royal Hill Greenwich London SE10 8RF
Web Site	Black Marigolds: Full version with intro...
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