Bilhana
Kavi Bilhana was an 11th-century Kashmiri poet. He is known for his love poem, the Caurapañcāśikā.
According to legend, the Brahman Bilhana fell in love with the daughter of King Madanabhirama, Princess Yaminipurnatilaka, and had a secretive love affair. They were discovered, and Bilhana was thrown into prison. While awaiting judgement, he wrote the Caurapâñcâśikâ, a fifty-stanza love poem, not knowing whether he would be sent into exile or die on the gallows. It is unknown what fate Bilhana encountered. Nevertheless, his poem was transmitted orally around India. There are several versions, including ones from South India which had a happy ending; the Kashmiri version does not specify what the outcome was. The Caurapâñcâśikâ was first translated into a European language, French, in 1848. Subsequently it was translated several other times. Notable translations are those of Sir Edwin Arnold (London 1896) and Edward Powys Mathers (Oxford 1919) titled Black Marigolds. This latter version was quoted extensively by John Steinbeck in Cannery Row.
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Olive-Eyed
by: PollenI'm counting up the tolls
That I have paid for living my life
I'm patchin up the holes
Being gouged by this mass condemnation
But I won't be responsible for the things they've said and done
And I won't be responsible for any battles lost or won
Every person in this world can drop dead except for you
Every person in this world is on their side but you
And wherever you may go
I will go
I've come in from the cold
And I'm so glad that I've found my home
I'm keepin all I hold
It's not often that you get the things you've asked for
But you can't be responsible for the things they'll take away
I won't be opposable
Don't want to fight for every day
The questions you ask me have answers
Plain and clear
I will go and leave forever on the day
They find the boy who loves you half as much as I do
And until that day I will remain and never go away
But I can't be responsible for all the things they've done to you
They won't be held accountable and there's nothing you can do
They depend on the truth
Every person in this world can drop dead except for you
Every person in this world is on their side but you
And wherever you may go