S
Soniya मोनिका
Guest
Do you know the past of Socotra Island?
To Denise
Long ago, the merchants, fearless traders,
Were traveling on foot, on boats, camels, horses
Avoiding pirates, greedy cut-throats, and robbers.
Loading and unloading material overseas,
They delivered the goods for the pleasure of all:
Silk, wool, muslin, cotton, pearls, oils, precious metal.
They brought spices, perfumes, incense, nard, roots, wood, skins,
They carried herbs, fine stones, remedies, and resins.
To Socotra island, the Indian merchants
Brought along their stories, glorious legends and chants.
They told the fight between two brothers, two gods,
Elephant and Dragon, in conflict against all odds.
Greek authors, and Latin, related the story
Of the cinnabar, or, to them, ‘kinnabari’.
Socotra is found near by its owner, Yemen,
In the Arabian Sea, and in the Gulf of Aden.
Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the Arabian Sea
Were for the Ancient Greeks the Erythraean Sea.
A Greek speaking trader of the first century
Wrote a navigators’ guide, a useful treasury.
It’s ‘The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea’,
Full of details and distances as it could be.
International trade involved India,
Greece, Persia, Africa, China, and Socotra,
Among others. We learn what merchants bought and sold,
How they carried incense, perfumes, silver, and gold.
Translator of the text, Huntingford has given
The meaning of ‘Socotra’, as coming from India:
Truthful and faithful to this amazing haven,
Sanskrit ‘Dvipa Sukhadara’, ‘island of bliss’.
Before I go, to you, reader, I blow a kiss.
mlc
To Denise
Long ago, the merchants, fearless traders,
Were traveling on foot, on boats, camels, horses
Avoiding pirates, greedy cut-throats, and robbers.
Loading and unloading material overseas,
They delivered the goods for the pleasure of all:
Silk, wool, muslin, cotton, pearls, oils, precious metal.
They brought spices, perfumes, incense, nard, roots, wood, skins,
They carried herbs, fine stones, remedies, and resins.
To Socotra island, the Indian merchants
Brought along their stories, glorious legends and chants.
They told the fight between two brothers, two gods,
Elephant and Dragon, in conflict against all odds.
Greek authors, and Latin, related the story
Of the cinnabar, or, to them, ‘kinnabari’.
Socotra is found near by its owner, Yemen,
In the Arabian Sea, and in the Gulf of Aden.
Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, and the Arabian Sea
Were for the Ancient Greeks the Erythraean Sea.
A Greek speaking trader of the first century
Wrote a navigators’ guide, a useful treasury.
It’s ‘The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea’,
Full of details and distances as it could be.
International trade involved India,
Greece, Persia, Africa, China, and Socotra,
Among others. We learn what merchants bought and sold,
How they carried incense, perfumes, silver, and gold.
Translator of the text, Huntingford has given
The meaning of ‘Socotra’, as coming from India:
Truthful and faithful to this amazing haven,
Sanskrit ‘Dvipa Sukhadara’, ‘island of bliss’.
Before I go, to you, reader, I blow a kiss.
mlc