Gypsy Songs

I always carry  with me a note book. Whatever interests me, a line of a poem or something interesting I have read from a book or an event I come across I note down. But I am not a well organised person. Many of my note books have been lost or misplaced. When I take note I hope I would read it later, but that  rarely happens. Recently I came across one such note book I had maintained in 1993-94 and started reading. During that period I had read two books on Gypsies and had noted down some facts about Gypsy life. One, Gypsies: Indians in Exile by D. P. Singhal and the other, Raggle-Taggle by Walter Starkie. What interest me about gypsies are their life style and their songs. One of the traits of gypsies is their love for music and love songs. It is also said that Beethoven was influenced by Gypsy music. There is a proverb that says you can make a peasant drunk on a glass of water and a Gypsy fiddler. Here are some stanzas of Gypsy songs:

(1)

“Why dost thou wander?” they ask

That I myself do not know

Let wandering birds answer that

Let roaming stars tell that

(2)

The moon soft moving over the heaven

My darling, seems like thee

And other folks are but clouds

Those hide thy face from me

(3)

In jails they could not hold me

With chains or bolted door

But now I am bound for ever

To her to whom I adore

(4)

No matter what may be our plight

We will never be apart

For fate may take you from my sight

But never from my heart

(5)

Like a ghoulish moth that flies

Towards the flame, for you I yearn

In the fire that lights your eyes

There is something I discern

It is death! The strange surprise!

Yet the fires that light your eyes

Gladly would I burn!

(6)

If only I had loved the Lord

With love as deep and pure

With love as true as I loved you

I’d go to heaven sure

(7)

Enjoy your youth, my darling

And do not play with fate

Old age is coming sometime

Then death…. It will be too late

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