Wax before an unspent fire

He grabbed me
       lest I go astray.

Wax before an unspent fire,
       mind melted,
       body trembled.

I bowed, I wept,
       danced. And cried aloud,
       I sang. And I praised him.

Unyielding, as they say,
       as an elephant’s jaw
       or a woman’s grasp,
       was love’s unrelenting
       seizure.

Love pierced me
       like a nail
              driven into a green tree.

Overflowing, I tossed
       like a sea,

heart growing tender,
body shivering,

while the world called me Demon!
and laughed at me,

I left shame behind,

took as an ornament
       the mockery of local folk.
Unswerving, I lost my cleverness
       in the bewilderment of ecstasy.
 

Manikkavacakar (9th century)
Trans. A.K. Ramanujan

 

Céir Os Comhair Gríosaí

Rug sé orm
       ar eagla go raghainn amú.

Im’ chéir os comhair gríosaí,
       leáigh an aigne,
       colainn ar crith.

D’umhlaíos, ghoileas,
       dhamhsaíos, bhéiceas os ard,
       chanas, agus mholas é.

Chomh neamhghéilliúil, mar a deir siad
       le giall eilifinte
       nó greim docht mná
       a bhí síorghabháil
       an ghrá.

Tholl an grá mé
       mar thairne
       a thiomáinfí i gcrann glas.

Mé ag cur thar maoil, ag luascadh
       Ar nós farraige.

an croí ag éirí tláith,
an cholainn ar crith,

agus Deamhan a tugadh orm!
gach éinne ag gáirí fúm,

D’fhágas an náire im’ dhiaidh,

Ghlacas magadh mhuintir na háite
Mar ornáid.
Diongbháilte, chailleas an chlisteacht
       faoi iontas na heacstaise.

 Manikkavacakar