Swetha Rathriya Lyrics by Kasun Kalhara

On this amorous white night,
the field of dew a cold ocean,
thoughts rising in the field of the heart,
the warm kiss you gave me..

That desire brimming over in your eyes,
the love-smile blossoming on your lips,
even the moonlight, grown shy,
went and hid behind the clouds..

Wrapped in a gust of wind,
silk robes brushing at the feet,
hidden beneath the starlight,
the golden swan, its heart enchanted..

The love-poem that once made poems for poets
rests upon my bed today,
creating all the love-sweetness of the world,
my beloved, today you have become mine..

This is a lush, sensual love song from Kasun Kalhara about a single enchanted night. He calls it a swetha rathriya, a white night, moonlit and dreamlike, with a field of dew spread out cold as an ocean around them. Into that stillness comes warmth: thoughts stirring in the field of his heart, and the memory of the warm kiss she gave him.

The middle is all beauty and shyness. Desire brims in her eyes, a love-smile blossoms on her lips, and in one lovely conceit even the moonlight grows shy of her and slips behind the clouds, as if her beauty outshines it. He wraps her in wind and silk, hides her under the starlight, and calls her a ranathisara, a golden swan, the classic image of grace, its own heart intoxicated with love.

The close turns her into poetry itself. She is the love-poem that once made poems for poets, and tonight that poem rests on his bed. Making all the love-sweetness of the world, he says, my beloved, today you have become mine. It is a song that treats a night of love as something rarefied and beautiful, drenched in moonlight, silk, and the imagery of classical Sinhala romance.