The hope I came with is not to be

মনে যে আশা লয়ে এসেছি
mone je asha loye eshechhi

The hope I came with is not to be
I gaze at that face and look away
My tears stay hidden
My ache remains within
How do you keep smiling
Why do I roam in tears
Why does my heart quiver so
Why don’t you see and go away

What my heart wants to tell remains untold within

মনে রয়ে গেল মনের কথা
mone roye gelo moner kotha

What my heart wants to tell remains untold within
What comes forth are my tears, my ache
I think of saying a few words
Why do I look at you and withdraw
I fear your gaze would make me faint
Why do my eyelids lower so
He walks away crestfallen
Do call him back, my friend
He could not fathom, he left in pain
My heart-creeper lies drooping in the dust

Why hide your smile in bashfulness

হাসিরে কি লুকাবি লাজে
hashire ki lukabi laaje

Why hide your smile in bashfulness
Capricious she is and she can’t be reined.
Your lips try to hold her in but
She escapes your mere sight.

Flowers there are none in the gardens

পুষ্পবনে পুষ্প নাহি, আছে অন্তরে
pushpobone pushpo nahi aachhe ontore

Flowers there are none in the gardens
They flower in my heart
Spring has come into my being
Bare branches have begun to sprout
Silent birds have taken to song
Joy washes over deserted wilderness
I have no fear of sorrow
I have built my home in the sadness of separation
Yet is my heart abuzz with the sound of bees
Yet does happiness nest in my heart
Eternal hope resides in my being
Love I have ensnared in my heart-cage

I will quell your pain with more pain

দুঃখ দিয়ে মেটাব দুঃখ তোমার
dukkho diye metabo dukkho tomaar

I will quell your pain with more pain
I will bathe you in the deep waters of enduring ache
I will burn to ashes my home and hearth
Purify the ash and grit of worldly attachment

I will offer at your feet the ultimate pain of annihilation

I know he.. comes forth..

সে যে বাহির হল আমি জানি
(shey .. jey .. bahir .. holo)

I know he.. comes forth..
I hear.. the voice.. in my heart..

The sky.. is.. abuzz with whispers
The when.. and where.. of their sojourns..
At the seashore.. in the forest.. yonder..

Too.. bad.. I’ve set up home.. so.. far away
How.. long.. a path.. they’ll have to take
I splay my heart.. all over the trail..
May.. their footsteps.. tread.. my pain..

I got your message, my friend

হে সখা বারতা পেয়েছি মনে মনে
hey shokha barota peyechhi

I got your message, my friend
In the caress of your breath
Within my heart
You’ve come, my unseen friend
With the southern breeze

Why do you deceive me
Why do you bind me
In a bondage invisible
Do let me see you
To my heart’s content
In the bowers of my heart

Do let me see you
In flowers crimson, white and gold
Why do you go far away
Putting a spell on me with your flute
In this celebration of youth
Do let yourself be seen
For my eyes to behold

The whole day comes to naught

হেলাফেলা সারা বেলা
helaphela shara bela

The whole day comes to naught
What is this game I play with myself
Whose face do I recall
In the flower scented breeze
Who knows whose smile
Flutters across my sight
Leaving behind a teardrop
In the corner of my eyes

Who is it in stoic indifference
Plays a languorous tune
Beneath which yonder shade
Wails as if an aching heart
In the song of the flute
All day long I string my song
For whom sings my heart
Like a shadow I sit
Beneath a tree in the garden

One day he will recognise her

একদিন চিনে নেবে তারে
Ek din chine nebe tare

One day he will recognise her
She who uncared for is diffident and shy

The radiance of the youthful sun will dispel the dark shroud
The dark fog of illusion will not conceal her anymore
Recognise her, he will

Let her wreathe a garland today
A garland of her tears from sorrowful nights
He will come one day, lift her garland to his bosom
She who remains ever unknown
Let her light her lamp for that moment of revelation
Recognise her, he will

You sit alone, lost in thought

একলা ব'সে একে একে অন্যমনে
Ekla boshe eka eka onnomone

You sit alone, lost in thought
You let float the lotus flowers
One by one into the water
For no rhyme or reason
You seem to have forgotten
It was me who had plucked the flowers in the morn
And left them at your feet for no reason
Unmindfully, you picked them up when you left

One after another my days in this way
Will be plucked and torn at your hands
They will scatter and get lost
And when they will all be gone
As you keep at your play, languid and heedless
Maybe then a tinge of pain will cloud the evening for no reason
A drop of tear will film the eyes, unmindfully

I have come away

তোমার শেষের গানের রেশ নিয়ে
Tomar shesher gaaner resh niye (audio link)

I have come away relishing
Your ultimate song.
Will anyone notice my abandonment?

You articulated your heart with music,
While I kept gazing at your eyes.
That is how I whispered my prolific secret;
Will anyone notice my vibes?

The others were not drunken at that moment,
The wine-glass was yet to drain.
There was a rumpus of bustle
With fresh faces, new company.

And I relentlessly dashed
My last hope of return;
Will anyone notice my absence?

Shadowy clouds, moist winds

মেঘছায়ে সজল বায়ে মন আমার
Megho chhaaye shojolo baaye (audio link)

Shadowy clouds, moist winds,
My wistfulness, besotted with
An invisible smile, an unconscious heartache.

The Medlar buds you braided for me as love's gift,
Have since wilted, but the fragrance lingers in my heart.

I know you will never return, ever
I know how distant your path is from mine

Yet your parting does not deplete my world, entirely
You picked up my flute on your way
Leaving a cascade of your songs to live by.

I am at a loss.. for words..

বাণী মোর নাহি
(bani mor nahi)

I am at a loss.. for words..
Splaying my dazed.. heart..
All I can do is gaze..

Adorned in shadow.. and light..
I am the night.. of new moon..
Laying out an infinitude.. of stars..
I hope sans expectations..
Gazing.. at the endless.. road..

When you play.. the flute..
A drift of melody.. glides
Afloat a bewildered.. breeze..
Across the slumber.. seas..
Into the depths.. of stillness..

I echo back your melody..
Who knows if it alights..
At the shore.. of your dreams..
Plying... the immense.. darkness..

How could he forget all the love and hope

ওগো এত প্রেম-আশা
ogo ato prem asha

How could he forget all the love and hope
The deepest yearning of the heart
Doesn’t the moon there smile at night
Doesn’t the flute there play it’s tune

Here the breeze plunders the gardens
Doesn’t the wind there blow at all
It speaks of him to me ever so often
Doesn’t it ever speak to him of me

If he is to forget me today, my friend
Why did his love make me forget myself
To make me weep all my life
Is that what he wanted!

Many a pleasant night we spent on a carpet of flowers
Gazing into each other’s eyes
Did he know then that this pang of separation
Would be my friend for life

If he does not remember me
If he finds a life of peace
Do go and see him, my friends
This thirst of my eyes
This hope of my heart
Do offer at his feet
And take with you a part of my pain
How do I hide it anymore
And bring with you if you can steal
One teardrop of his

No, no, my friend
If he can forget all this love
Don’t entreat him anymore
I won’t say a word
I will bear my woe
Quietly in my heart
All of this is in vain, my friend
In vain is this love
In vain is this yearning
The days of bliss are gone
Never to return again

O listen! Who plays the flute

ওগো শোনো কে বাজায়
Ogo shono ke bajay

O listen! Who plays the flute
The fragrance of wild flowers fused in it’s melody
Touching his lips, the flute captures his smile
My sweetheart’s smile drifts across to me
Seizing my heart with so sweet a song

The buzz of bees in the bowers echo in it’s tune
So eager the Bakul buds bloom to it’s song

The lapping of the Yamuna reaches my ear
My heart cries out with longing
Who does the moon gaze at with a smile

Who goes by playing a flute

ওগো কে যায় বাঁশরি বাজায়ে
ogo ke jaay bashori bajaye

Who goes by playing a flute
Passing by my door
I sit alone, lonesome
Evoked into thoughts
Of the one I yearn for

The flute gives voice to
His impassioned heart
His song of separation
How do I voice my feelings
My heart cries out in despair

I could not wreath the flowers
They wither and fall to the dust
Night gives way to the dawn
The moon hides its lacklustre face

Who do I worship through the night
Offering the springtime of my life
He carries off my heart
With the melody of his flute
Why do I remain behind

She.. takes her limits.. lightly..

ও যে মানে না মানা
(o je mane na mana)

She.. takes her limits.. lightly..
If I avert.. my gaze.. “No, no, no” she says..
The more.. I urge.. “the night.. ends.. the lamp.. dims..”
She looks.. at my face.. saying.. “No, no, no..”

Bewildered.. overwhelmed.. with the crazed.. winds..
Spring.. runs amok.. in forests.. bursting.. with flowers..

The more.. I urge.. “Now I should go..”
She stands.. at the door.. saying.. “No, no, no..”

Till now my eyes have seen him not

এখনো তারে চোখে দেখি নি
akhono taarey chokhey dekhini

Till now my eyes have seen him not
Till now I have just heard his flute
My heart and soul, whatever I had
I have surrendered unto him

I have heard of his dark appearance
That I should refrain from seeing him
Tell me friend if I should still
Venture out to the Yamuna

He came only in my dreams
A smile touched the corner of his eyes
Since then do I tingle in fear
I fear to look up and see

They walk around the forest as they please
They gaze at the Kadam tree as they please
Tell me friend if I should still
Look up and gaze at someone

Do tell me what troubles your heart

তোমার মনের একটি কথা আমায় বলো বলো
tomar moner ekti kotha amay bolo bolo

Do tell me what troubles your heart
Do tell me why your eyes brim over

The pitter patter of raindrops in the forests,
the chirp of crickets beneath the Kadamba trees,
the gurgle of rivulets through vistas of Sal trees
resonate through this evening

The horizons vanish
The azure evanesces in the drizzling downpour
Shadows flit across your face
Shadows cloud around your mind
Your heart heaves with the torpid tearladen winds

I love you night and day

আমি নিশিদিন তোমায় ভালোবাসি
aami nishidin tomaay bhalobashi

I love you night and day
Do so at your leisure
I sit here night and day
Do come when you remember
I stay awake through the night
Enduring the ache of separation
Do come in the morn
Even if for a moment
Grace me with your smile

Do walk the way you  please
Through sweetly wafting winds
Through everlasting blooms
Buoyant on the waves of your own joys
If I happen to come by
I too will float along
If I fall behind, no harm in that
Efface my memories from your thoughts