Do you surrender to juvenescence?

এবার তো যৌবনের কাছে
Ebar to jouboner kachhe menechho haar (audio)

'Do you finally surrender to juvenescence!
'We do'
'Feel the vigorous crispness of Being?'
'That too'

'Remember how you were fazed by figments --
Have you unearthed your true presence?'
'Assuredly'

'So now do you bow to life supreme?
See death as the chalice of immortality?'
'We so do!'

'There is a demon, a fog, fighting
To mask from you
Your divine kingdom.
Did you vanquish it?'
'We did too'

We shall overcome

হবে জয়, হবে জয়

Hobe joy, hobe joy (audio: Pankaj Mullick)

We shall overcome,
We shall overcome.
Courageous Warrior.

Triumphant is the heart.
Triumphant is the song.

Love can shine.
Good can shine.
Triumphant is the light.
Courageous Warrior.

The dark will melt,
melt away.
Courageous Warrior.

Rise up, shine now.
Do not give in.
Let sunshine fill the mind.
Make it shine, make it shine.
Courageous warrior.

We seek out playmates

আমরা খুঁজি খেলার সাথি

Amra khunji khelar shathi

We seek out playmates
In an endless match

Up at the strike of dawn 

To astonish drowsy eyes.

We lilt like the birds

We dance with the boughs.

Our charms befuddle

With invisible entrapment.

Death does not hold us;

We are up to redeem

Plundered treasures, taken by Time.

We have penetrated your heart

You are ours now.

Even as you walk 

To greet a strange darkness

The gloom will glimmer with stars

Impassioned by us.

Whom have you left behind

তুই ফেলে এসেছিস কারে
Tui phele eshechhish kaarey (audio)

Whom have you left behind?
My heart! O heart of mine
Passes by a lifetime
Yet peace you do not find
My heart! O heart of mine

The path you took to veer away
You have now forgotten its way
How will you return to her door?
My heart! O heart of mine

I lend my ear to the flow of rivers
A rustle of leaves has me all astir

My heart says I will find the way
If I can know what flowers say
The trail that seeks the evening star
And then goes on further beyond
My heart! O heart of mine

As is our play so is our work

মোদের যেমন খেলা তেমনি যে কাজ
moder jemon khela

As is our play so is our work
So fear we not our chores, no way!

A battle is for us but play
Game it is to survive each day
Nothing there is, no place on earth
Filled not with this joyful play

Flowers bloom in playful delight
Fruits ripen in delightful play
Throughout this world, on land and seas
Ripples and rolls this joyful play

The weak and worn burn to cinders
When flares a flame so furious  
Leaping about in joyful play

I thrill to his entrance

যদি তারে নাই চিনি গো
 Jodi tare nai chini go
Audio: Sahana Devi

I thrill to his entrance.
I wonder though, if I will notice
When he arrives at last.
Will he recognize me
This dewy day of spring?

I wonder, if he will whisper
A hum to arouse my young buds,
I wonder, if he will enamor them
This ecstatic day of spring

I wonder, if he will embellish my flowers
With his very own tinge
I wonder if he will stir my heart
From deep within

As I sense his imminence,
Will my drape of tender leaves,
Sway with surprise,
Will he guess my little secret
This brand-new day of spring?

Amidst the flowers of Phalgun

এই কথাটাই ছিলেম ভুলে
Ei kothatai chhilem bhule

It is this I had forgotten
Again will I unite with one and all
Amidst the flowers of Phalgun

My heart will replenish itself
In new leaves of the Ashok trees
My delight will ripple in waves
On the banks of evergreen youth
Amidst the flowers of Phalgun

My flute will sound with tunes anew
Filled with the words of a new dawn
Awake in melody rising from skies
In brilliant gold strings of light

My heart will sparkle in each nook
With radiance of the azure
Tides of tears and laughter will swell
Amidst the flowers of Phalgun

We aren't the most agreeable sort

ভালো মানুষ নই রে মোরা
Bhalo manush noi re mora

We aren't the most agreeable sort,
Certainly we are not.
When it comes to virtue, grace or plus,
This is what we got.

In places we have gone by far
Infamous we have been,
Wherever we have stepped a course
Dangers kept us keen.
Books we never agree with
Always the converse
Among any grace we have,
This is all a plus.

Ungodly times that we were born
All things fell apart,
The pious planets had to flee
Blasphemy had the start.

Whenever we have set afloat
Misfortune takes the show,
We have no hopes of reaping fruit,
Can only hope to flow.

the mystery that sets us wild

আমাদের খেপিয়ে বেড়ায় যে   
Amader khepiye beray je (Sasha Ghoshal and chorus)

Something spurs us on
with divine wildness

does anyone know 
where the mystery is concealed?

the spring breeze raves 
with affine madness,
a tornado 
spinning the sun and stars

have you felt the free rhythm 
that simmers the mad sea?
a flow which creates dance
and makes us dancers?

let us toss burdens 
and go places
why sweat the pathway?
as we tread, so is it paved
below our feet.

Never will we gray

আমাদের পাকবে না চুল গো
Amader pakbe na chul go (audio)

Never will we gray,
Wither we will never,
We wont stumble at ends,
Our paths wont cease to be.

Blunders, we will make,
Lost in contemplation
We will never shut our eyes,
Nor look around for knowledge 
In the nooks of our minds.

We will cruise along with currents
From mountain-peak to sea,
But never reach the shore,
This is how we will be.

What fear have we of anyone?

আমাদের ভয় কাহারে
Amader bhoy kahare

What fear have we of anyone?
Decrepit, old pirates, thieves,
What harm can they come?

Our pathway moves forward,
No alleys do we seek,
We have no pouch to carry,
Accounts, we do not keep.

They may rob us of everything,
But our madness will not leave.

We do not look for comfort,
It isn't rest we plead,
Results, we do not pursue,
Nor fame we wish to meet.

In our tide and ebb
We dance alike,
We play the same
In loss or gain.

We are harbingers of fresh life

আমরা নূতন প্রাণের চর    
Amra nuton praaner chor (audio)

We are harbingers of fresh life!
Tramps of the road, that we are --
We have no home!
Did you think Winter would abscond
With his band of wilted leaves?
We will rob and disperse them
Across the southern breeze.
You, we will secure with youthful blossoms
Of our wreathe, in this house of Spring.
Did you wish to leave in secret
In guise of the Old decrepit?
Your raiment may be shrouded,
But how could you hide it!

Do you sense him coming near

তোরা শুনিস নি কি শুনিস নি  
Tora shunish ni ki shunish ni (audio link: Suchitra Mitra)
(Tagore's own translation)

Do you sense him coming near
footsteps only a heartbeat away.
His vibes seem clear
with each passing moment
every day, night and moment.

In my joyful, frenzied songs
I have passed on the news 
that he is coming home.

In Spring his arrival opens up
forest trails
In monsoon he soars ahead
with the clouds.
His vibes seem clear
with each passing moment.

He pauses in my heart
through all my hurt
and makes it joy
with his magic touch.
His vibes seem clear
with each passing moment.

Follow the cosmic caveat

সব দিবি কে সব দিবি পায়
Shob dibi ke shob dibi paay (audio: Bikram Singh)

Follow the cosmic caveat
To offer up your treasure,
Every richness you have

There is a vibrant sign 
Of an approach
As august as a king,
Golden, mysterious,
Meant to transform wintry paths.

It is a wake-up call for your heart
To make vigil, like the hungry winter,
With light in your eyes

The spring-tide game will end in a flash,
There will be a swift goodbye
There will be aches of separation

If you are late to rise,
Your noblest wealth will go in vain.
Could you bear the weight
Of that profound loss?

I will not depart just so

আমি যাব না গো
Ami jabo na go omni chole

I will not depart just so,
Before I offer you this garland of my heart
In my moments of joy and sorrow
I have labored in mastering your message
Before I leave in Phalgoon,
My own missives I will have rendered
Tasks some, I completed, 
Much I did not,
Wont you forgive me for that
The song arrived, but the tune is yet to come
I never got a chance to sing my lyric,
Its melody hidden by my tears

*Phalgoon, the first month of spring in Bengal

I gazed at the path and waited

এত দিন যে বসেছিলেম
Ato din je boshechhilem

I gazed at the path and waited, counting moments,
Now you arrive in Phalgoon.
Like a young hero you conquered the earth,
What a wonder
Charmed, I hear you sing in your youthful voice
Your robe swells like breeze enchanted with fragrance,
Your ear adorned with blossoms of Krishnochoora
Yet beneath your juvenile smile I perceive a fire,
What a wonder
With what sheath do you hide your sword
As you arrive in Phalgoon


* Phalgoon - The first month of Spring in Bengal
** Krishnochoora - A crimson flower that blossoms in Spring in Bengal

The skies have filled me with radiance

আকাশ আমায় ভরল আলোয়

akash aamaay bhorlo aaloy (audio)

The skies have filled me with radiance
I will fill the skies with my songs
Invade the breeze with hues of song
The breeze pervading hues of dance
Oh Palash my dear Palash
With the flame of crimson colour
Set afire the ten directions
The sweet melodies in my heart
Flushed are they with colourful tunes
In southern breeze stays aflutter
The bossom of woodland flowers
In golden light of the blue skies
Young leaves ring out their anklet bells
Oh Shirish flower, Oh Shirish
Hiding behind a gentle smile
Suffuse the ether in fragrance
Your scent tugging at my heart to find voice

* Palash - a red flower that blooms in spring
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butea_monosperma

I lose you ever so often

তোমায় নতুন করে পাব বলে
tomay notun kore pabo bole (audio: Bikram Singh)

I lose you ever so often
only to re-discover you, my precious.
You disappear to let me seek
and see you again.

You are not a stranger, my dear.
You have always been there.
Your eclipse is a fleeting whim
of your passing game.

When I am bent on my quest
My mind quivers with fear

And my love is swayed adrift.

Is it because you are endless
that you pass of as empty
and refresh my smile
with tears of longing!


Another version by Rumela Sengupta:

To discover you anew
I lose you now and again
O my love most precious

You become out of sight
To let me seek you out
O my love most precious

Screened you are not from me
Mine you have been for ages
In this play of hide-n-seek
You are lost but for a moment

When I seek you far and near
Aquiver my heart in fear
Billows my love in waves

Endless you are
In nothingness therefore
you let yourself perish
That smile of yours is lost on me
As tears well up in my eyes
With this harsh separation
O my love most precious

Go on, go on, go forward do I

চলি গো চলি গো
Choli go choli go (audio: Sasha Ghoshal)

What a way to venture on,
Beneath the gaze of starry shine
Playing the tunes of the path, 
Flaunting the smile of the trail,
Running up against the world,

Brandishing every hue we can!

The earth, an endless voyager
Loves the soul of the dreaming tramp

And so, she spurs us on our way

With a quaint, queer, compulsive song.

As we shimmer on and on,
The road unfolds, seasons launch
In grandiose glory and tenderness.
Each footfall, becomes a win
A godly dare to Death, as if,
A challenge met, at every breath.



(Another version by Rumela Sengupta)

Go on, go on, go forward do I
A beacon gleams at the horizon
I go playing the reeds of the road
Sprinkling the gaiety of wayfaring
Waving my colourful scarf on land and water alike

The wandering earth loves wanderers
And so she beckons with a sweet song

Seasons summon with great affection
Leading me to roads yet to be travelled
Every footstep defies death, in every moment

My eyes once shed light

চোখের আলোয় দেখেছিলেম

chokher aloy dekhechilem
audio: Debabrata Biswas

My eyes once shed light
on the world outside.
As darkness arrives
I turn to my heart.

Sometimes I longed for you
looked up high heaven
and you kept me at bay.
Even then, you found my heart.
But now, I see you inside
clear in your own sunshine.

Sometimes, we just played,
now the playthings are broken
by winds that turned the world.

We had enough of play.
It's time to feel the warmth.
My broken strum is lost,
my heart sings the song.

(Another version by Rumela Sengupta:)

With the sight of my eye
I looked for you outside of me
Inside of me I'll see
When light there is no more

When you elude my embrace
My heart you permeate
Aglow in your own refulgence
Now I gaze at you

You and me, we played in my little playroom
Wrecked by storms, the doll-house is now in ruins

Let it be then, this mere play
Unleash the spirit within
The source of all life-force
Broken be my Veena
I will play on
Strumming on my heartstrings