निमेषभासुराकारमालोलघनगर्जितम् । विद्युत्प्रकाशमशिवं यौवनं मे न रोचते ॥ ८ ॥
nimēṣabhāsurākāramālōlaghanagarjitam | vidyutprakāśamaśivaṁ yauvanaṁ mē na rōcatē || 8 ||
Translation
Shining for a moment, with the thunder of restless clouds, gleaming like lightning, inauspicious: youth does not please me.
Word by word
- nimēṣa
- for a moment
- bhāsura
- shining
- ākāram
- in form
- ālōla
- of restless
- ghana
- clouds
- garjitam
- with the thunder
- vidyut
- like lightning
- prakāśam
- gleaming
- aśivaṁ
- inauspicious
- yauvanaṁ
- youth
- mē
- me
- na
- not
- rōcatē
- does please
Meaning
From here to verse 13 each verse ends with the refrain yauvanaṃ me na rocate, "youth does not please me". The first image is a monsoon night: a flash of lightning lights everything for an instant, then darkness; and thunder rolls, the commentary says, as the young boast loudly in their pride. The brightness of youth is real, but it is the brightness of lightning. The reader may remember the flashes of youth and how short they were.