The Birth of Kumāra 1.43

1.43

candraṃ gatā padmaguṇānna bhuṅkte padmāśritā cāndramasīmabhikhyām |
umāmukhaṃ tu pratipadya lolā dvisaṃśrayāṃ prītimavāpa lakṣmīḥ ||

And if her loosened zone e'er slipped below,
All was so bright beneath the mantle's flow.
So dazzling bright, as if the maid had braced
A band of gems to sparkle round her waist;
While the dear dimples of her downy skin
Seemed fitting couch for Love to revel in.
Her arms were softer than the flowery dart,
Young Káma's arrow, that subdues the heart;
For vain his strife with Siva, till at last
He chose those chains to bind his conqueror fast.
E'en the new Moon poured down a paler beam
When her long fingers flashed their rosy gleam,
And brighter than Asoka's rich leaves threw
A glory round, like summer's evening hue.
The strings of pearl across her bosom thrown
Increased its beauty, and enhanced their own,—
Her breast, her jewels seeming to agree,
The adorner now, and now the adorned to be.
When Beauty gazes on the fair full Moon,
No Lotus charms her, for it blooms at noon:
If on that flower she feed her raptured eye,
No Moon is shining from the mid-day sky;
She looked on Uma's face, more heavenly fair,
And found their glories both united there.
The loveliest flower that ever opened yet
Laid in the fairest branch—a pearl that's set
In richest coral—with her smile might vie
Flashing through lips bright with their rosy dye.
And when she spoke—upon the maiden's tongue
Distilling nectar, such rare accents hung,
The sweetest note that e'er the Koil poured
Seemed harsh and tuneless as a jarring chord.
The melting glance of that soft Hquid eye,