Athsana

Not staying even a moment apart,
whispering words of love from the heart until the auspicious hour comes,
there were such evenings, for many lovers too,
even on the wedding day of signing and parting

At the end of a wedding-drum’s beat
comes the leaving, and the coming back again,
the slowly unfolding meaning of a soft smile,
the showing of a love that never fades,
love is the perilous interlude
within a most dangerous melody

Once it has been lost, the throne of love,
what you inherit is only the pretence of smiles,
and before the covenant the heart blesses
lies the taking on of so much, owned and unowned,
love is the perilous interlude
within a most dangerous melody

A thoughtful, bittersweet song that treats love the way you would treat a signature on a marriage register, the athsana of the title, a mark that seals a union and, in the same stroke, sets up a parting. Lovers stay inseparable, it says, whispering from the heart until the auspicious wedding hour, and yet even that day of signing carries the shadow of separation; there were such wistful evenings, it notes, for many lovers too.

The middle turns on a piece of wordplay the translation can only approximate. In Sinhala, antara means both the bridge or interlude of a melody and danger, so the refrain, love is the antara of a most dangerous tune, calls love at once the sweetest passage of the song and its most perilous part. Around it sit images of a wedding-drum whose beat ends in leaving and returning, a soft smile whose meaning slowly unfolds, and the promise of a love that never fades.

The last verse looks past the vow to what remains after loss. Once love’s throne is gone, the singer says, what you inherit is only the pretence of smiles, and standing before the covenant the heart blesses is really the acceptance of so much that is both owned and unowned, all the uncertainty a commitment carries. Sung by Nadeera HelaSri, composed by Tharindu Damsara to words by the Ven. Ruhunuketha Dhammadewa Thero, it is a quietly wise song about love as the loveliest and most dangerous note in the music of a life.