Names Poem by Daniel Trevelyn Joseph

Reading Silvia in Book VII of the Aeneid
I am reminded of my sister,
Her name being Seline, something
To do with the moon-goddess,
And thought of my mother and father of course,
Who chose that name for her, and
For me, Trevelyn, for another brother,
Melvellyn and one more took
The name of Franklyn with a ‘y’.
I had ‘a’ cut out of from G M Trevelyan
Whom Dad was reading when I was born,
As he felt that surname cannot be borrowed!

Lest you think they were simply
Imitating the English – I dont remember
Parents referring to the ‘British’! You should know
Seline’s other name is Damayanthi
From the old Indian story
Of Nala and Damayanthi
Where Nala says to the children,
“You look mine, whose are you? ”
And gets ticked off by his own son
Who cant recognize his changed Dad.

Franklyn was also baptized ‘Rajiv’
This was in 1953 when Mom must
Have read about Indira’s son.
While the younger two got baptized
With one Indian name, the elder two of us
Were purely English, with a Daniel thrown in
From both the Bible and my Periappa
Meaning father’s elder brother
And Temple being my younger brother,
From Sir William Temple: my father
Though he never entered a college
Knew more of English Literature
Than many an Englishman.

Our only child - daughter - is named and spelt
Joti, the product of Joseph and Tilaka,
First syllables combined!