Sunday 22 May 2016

Agyeya: Snake



Snake, you were never civilized,
And you never learned
How to live in the city.
I’d like to ask – hoping you’ll answer –
Then how did you learn to bite,
Where did you get the poison?



Sachchidananda Vatsyayan (1911-1987), known as ‘Agyeya’ or its Sanskrit version ‘Ajneya’, was a leading figure in modernising Hindi literature. He translated some of his poems into English – I think this is his own translation, but I can't confirm that. A universal epigram.

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