Friday, August 19, 2011

Aane Wala Pal, Jane Wala Hai...

Flower of the Moon
~ Harriet Monroe


IMG_1463_Bud_with_Bokeh_Crop

FLOWER of the moon!
Still white is her brow whom we worshiped on earth long ago;
Yea, purer than pearls in deep seas, and more virgin than snow.
The dull years veil their eyes from her shining, and vanish afraid,
Nor profane her with age—the immortal, nor dim her with shade.




Deep_inside_Night_Blooming_Flower_Crop

It is we are unworthy, we worldlings, to dwell in her ways;
We have broken her altars and silenced her voices of praise.
She hath hearkened to singing more silvern, seen raptures more bright;
To some planet more pure she hath fled on the wings of the night,—
Flower of the moon!



Brahma_Kamal_on_window_Crop

Yet she loveth the world that forsook her, for, lo! once a year
She, Diana, translucent, pale, scintillant, down from her sphere
Floateth earthward like star-laden music, to bloom in a flower,
And our hearts feel the spell of the goddess once more for an hour.




29_07_20114344000928_Brahma Kamal Macro_Crop


See! she sitteth in splendor nor knoweth desire nor decay,
And the night is a glory around her more bright than the day,
And her breath hath the sweetness of worlds where no sorrow is known;
And we long as we worship to follow her back to her own,—
Flower of the moon!




29_07_20114340000924_Night Queen

1 comment:

Ashok Maheshwari said...

Very nice pictures, Ashish. Reminded me of a time in our Yeshwant Nagar home when almost 27 or 28 brahma kamals had bloomed all in the same night on a single plant. For a very long time, we had been mistakenly calling it the star of Bethlehem (some times we still do). The botanical name is Epiphyllum Oxypetalum (also called Dutchman's Pipe).