The Dance of The Eunuchs by Kamala Das (Poem)

The Dance of The Eunuchs

by Kamala Das

(Poem)

 

Summary

The Dance of The Eunuchs

It was hot, so hot, before the eunuchs came

To dance, wide skirts going round and round, cymbals

Richly clashing, and anklets jingling, jingling

Jingling... Beneath the fiery Gulmohar, with

Long braids flying, dark eyes flashing, they danced and

They danced, oh, they danced till they bled... There were green

Tattoos on their cheeks, jasmines in their hair, some

Were dark and some were almost fair. Their voices

Were harsh, their songs melancholy; they sang of

Lovers dying and of children left unborn....

Some beat their drums; others beat their sorry breasts

And wailed, and writhed in vacant ecstasy. They

Were thin in limbs and dry; like half-burnt logs from

Funeral pyres, a drought and a rottenness

Were in each of them. Even the crows were so

Silent on trees, and the children wide-eyed, still;

All were watching these poor creatures' convulsions

The sky crackled then, thunder came, and lightning

And rain, a meagre rain that smelt of dust in

Attics and the urine of lizards and mice. 

Summary