Asmaradana

Ia dengar kepak sayap kelelawar dan guyur sisa hujan dari daun, karena angin pada kemuning. [he heard the flapping of bat's wings and droplets of rain on the leaves, caused by the wind that blowed through kemuning leaves]
Ia dengar resah kuda serta langkah pedati ketika langit bersih kembali menampakkan bimasakti, yang jauh. [he heard the neigh of horse and the sound of carriage when the clear sky showed the far away milky way]
Tapi di antara mereka berdua, tidak ada yang berkata-kata. [but between the two of them, none said a word]

Lalu ia ucapkan perpisahan itu, kematian itu. [then he uttered that farewell, that death]
Ia melihat peta, nasib, perjalanan dan sebuah peperangan yang tak semuanya disebutkan. [he saw plot, destiny, journey and a war that he did not mention completely]
asmaradana - goenawan mohamad

the pic is inspired from an indonesia poem of the same title...
sorry for the messy translation... it's far better in its original words...
the poem tells about the story of damar wulan and his wife anjasmara ... more about them >> [link]
damar wulan was going to battle the evil king menak jingga and left his wife under the command of queen kencana wungu...
this left anjasmara in dilemma, coz if he left and lost, he'd die...
but if he left and won, he had to take queen kencana wungu as his wife, leaving anjasmara behind...
the poem showed their departures...

i really, really addicted to this poem and never get tired from reading it...
both damar wulan's and anjasmara's feelings are depicted beautifully in it...
and i love how the end explained how anjasmara accepted her husband's departure without tears and regrets, coz she knew the day would come...
it took so much strength and courage to be like her...

how the story exactly ends, i don't really know...
some stories said that damar wulan was actually killed in the end... some said he won and took the queen and other two girls that helped him in his war as his wives...
some said he won and still remembered his first wife, anjasmara, and took her to the palace to live with him... though he also married the queen and the two girls...

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Lalu ia tahu perempuan itu tak akan menangis. [then he knew the girl would not weep]
Sebab bila esok pagi pada rumput halaman ada tapak yang menjauh ke utara, ia tak akan mencatat yang telah lewat dan yang akan tiba, karena ia tak berani lagi. [because if there were footprints on the grass leading to the north tomorrow morning, she would not look back on things that had past and would come, because she never dared anymore]

Anjasmara, adikku, tinggalah, seperti dulu. [anjasmara, my wife, please live, as you used to do]
Bulan pun lamban dalam angin, abai dalam waktu. [the moon was slow in the wind, abandoned in time]
Lewat remang dan kunang-kunang, kaulupakan wajahku, [through shadows and fireflies, you'll forget my face,]
kulupakan wajahmu. [i'll forget yours]
asmaradana - goenawan mohamad