I am the flame of the evening lamp

আমি সন্ধ্যাদীপের শিখা
aami shondhyadeeper shikha

I am the flame of the evening lamp
The forehead of darkness I anoint with a holy mark
The touch of my radiance ignites a secret thrill in it’s dreams
In it’s heart is etched my first love letter
My celebration is in silence beneath a sky bereft of birdsong
When the young sun steps out
When the world is awakened at dawn
I fade away like a fleeting mirage

We till the land with pleasure

আমরা চাষ করি আনন্দে
amra chaash kori anonde

We till the land with pleasure
Hours go by in the fields from dawn to dusk
The sun blazes, the rain pours down
Leaves rustle in the nearby woods
The wind wears the scent of ploughed land
Lyrics of the fertile soil emerge within the furrows
A new poet thrills anew stringing them to rhythm
Slender leaves of paddy fields cheer a race of riotous joy
In the golden sunlight of Agrahayana*, the earth laughs in glee

The bright flame of fire glows in the stars

আজ তারায় তারায় দীপ্ত শিখার অগ্নি জ্বলে
aaj taray taray deepto shikhar ogni jwole

The bright flame of fire glows in the stars
Resplendent is the assembly of heavenly light
Aeons ago was I summoned to that regal space
My heart said “No”, it could not feel at home
Thus I sailed across the ocean of time
I came to this place beneath the sleep bereft skies
Here the air is filled with sweet whisperings
On this verdant earth, in the waters so blue
Here the grass is embellished with floral hues
Light and shade locked in embrace on forest trails
My heart says “Yes”, this feels like home
So my days go by here absorbed in this play
On this verdant earth, beneath the sleep bereft skies

A drum roll rings out in the ocean waves

ওই সাগরের ঢেউয়ে ঢেউয়ে বাজল ভেরী
oi shagorer dheue dheue bajlo bheri

A drum roll rings out in the ocean waves
Won’t be long before my doors are flung open
Your play is bound not by four walls
Confined not to a corner of the room
You range across the world
In fierce forms and terrifying tints
Death is the raft to your shore
Tears the wind in it’s sail
Your Veena sings to me
Of setting out, of losing way
That which crumbles, falls apart
Let it perish, turn to dust
That which brims, that which teems
See that abundance my friend
Grace the skies, fill the breeze

O my heart jumps for joy

ওরে ওরে ওরে, আমার মন মেতেছে
orey orey orey aamaar mon metechhey

O my heart jumps for joy
Who can stop her today!
She stretches her hand to the sky
Who can pull her down!
O my heart jumps for joy
Who can stop me today!
O dance my friend dance
Rejoice in your freedom
Dispel your fear and shame
Who can stop you today!

In that Srabon sky (2)

আমি শ্রাবণ-আকাশে ওই দিয়েছি পাতি
aami srobono akashe oi diyechhi paati

In that Srabon* sky
I have placed in the clouds
My eyes brimming with tears
The bamboo forests sigh with my ache
Across the horizon of separation
The whole night awake sans a wink
Across the horizon of separation
My eyes yearn for the bliss of union

One who is out of sight
For that one is this gaze
He left me teary eyed
As he went beyond my sight

His locks caress my dreams
Blowing in the eastern breeze.
I feel the caress of his locks
In the eastern breeze

In Tamal* tree forests
On the path that he left,
In that dusk of separation
Amidst the dust of cows homeward bound,
The grass is wrapped in agony
The sorrow of words unsaid
Punctuates each step
That gazing back time and again
Remains woven in the shadows
A tremor in every breath

The dust of this marketplace overwhelms me

হাটের ধুলা সয় না যে আর, কাতর করে প্রাণ
haater dhula shoy na je aar

The dust of this marketplace overwhelms me
I cannot bear it, my heart feels stifled
Let the river of your melody wash over me
Let it’s drumbeat pulse through my veins
Let it wash away from my body all dishonour
Let it’s gurgling flow drown all commotion

O Beautiful One
I had wreathed a garland of your flowers
Remind me of that today, let me forget all pain
Invite me to the lotus garden of your song
Let me partake of it’s honeyed sweetness
Let my face be smeared with it’s pollen

It is time to go now

ওরে, যেতে হবে, আর দেরি নাই
orey jete hobe aar deri noy

It is time to go now
The sun is about to set
Your friends have all gone ahead

Finish your play on this stage of life
Darkness draws near
Who do you turn back and look for?

New actors appear on this stage with a new play
Come away from there, lest they throw brickbats

Set down the load you’ve been holding close to your heart
Move on to a new land, build there a nest anew
Start afresh with a new play

The sky has kept your space

আকাশে তোর তেমনি আছে ছুটি
akashe tor temni aachhey chhuti

The sky has kept your space
Let your wings no more laze

O little bird,
Beneath the dense foliage
Your nest entices and entraps
The night makes a false claim
Of never loosening it’s grip

Do you not know in which hope
You sing out in the daze of sleep
In the heart of dawn’s darkness
The hope of light plays a deep melody
The hope of light cannot stay hidden
It unfastens the fetters of the cinched bud

O my Oarsman

ওরে মাঝি, ওরে আমার মানবজন্মতরীর মাঝি
orey majhi

O my Oarsman
You who row the raft of my mortal being
Do you hear the flute that plays
Afar somewhere on the shore

Will your raft find a pier
At the end of day
Will I sight a row of lamps
In the darkness of dusk

In this achingly sweet breeze
My heart feels as if
A laughter from across the shore
Comes creeping along the darkness

I brought along a few flowers
That I plucked before I came
With the ones that are still fresh
Fashion a bouquet at the soonest

Who wants to go to the other shore

ওগো, তোরা কে যাবি পারে
ogo tora ke jaabi pare

Who wants to go to the other shore
I sit at the riverbank ready with my boat
In the gardens on the other side
So many people, so much frolic
On this side a dreary desert
Thirsting for a drop of rain

The day has not gone by yet
Come, those who wish to go
Why waste time in deliberation
The sun will soon go down
This fortuitous wind will let up
The pier will close down in the gathering dusk

I planted illusive dreams

আমি  কেবলই স্বপন করেছি বপন বাতাসে
Ami keboli shwopono korechi bopono (audio: Kanika Bandyopadhyay)

I planted illusive dreams
Wielding castles in the air,
Harvesting dashed hopes

My world, a relic,
My hopes, unnavigated,
The deity of my dreams
A fantastic, float-some image

Nothing actualized
From my deluge of desire,
Couldn't cast a soul
With my far aspirations.

In my solitude
I have been playing with flames,
Left with cinders, in the end

Perhaps I will never find my paradise

আমার নাইবা হল পারে যাওয়া

Amar nai ba holo pare jaoa (audio link: Kanika Bandyopadhyay)

Perhaps, I will never find my paradise
But I hear my heart caper carelessly
In the breeze that nudges me on 
To the endless sea, 
Like it has always done.

Perhaps my destiny eludes me
But I see myself at peace 
As I pause at passing ports.

My hopes have all sunk in the deep
But what of it? 
I am content to see others
Keep their dreams afloat

I count my blessings nearby
Little things that lend me delight
Should I sigh for untouched glories
Of my promised land?

Perhaps I have my flaws
Which I will complement
With the breath in my body.
Whatever remains of my disgruntled demands 
Will whet my poet's imagination

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.

My lightless lamp faces lustrous stars

আমার অন্ধপ্রদীপ শূন্য-পানে চেয়ে Amar ondho prodeep My lightless lamp faces the lustrous stars In defeated silence Seeking missives of radiance, A spark to ignite it's soul with success. Asking to be indebted forever  To the blazing hearts of the sky, In their endless quest of love lost. To be united in the one truth of light Within the same inky darkness; To seize that serendipitous moment of  gloom.

Vein of lightning

দেখা না-দেখায় মেশা হে বিদ্যুৎলতা

Dekha na-dekhay mesha he (audio: Suchitra Mitra)

Vein of lightning,
A sudden sight,

An image lost and found,
You charge the storm with a reeling presence 

You induce an ambling agony.

Struck with anonymous passion

The storm becomes a seeker,

Drifting, delving, near and far.

You flash, content to watch it rove
With silent laughter.

The sky deepens, the river wedges

Waves in a vehement quest

With nameless desires,
Dreams, unrealized.

The arbors press against the sky

Embracing despair,

Tears of suffering 
Hovering in the horizon.

A lilting sweetness resonates within

Modhuro modhuro dhoni baje

 মধুর মধুর ধ্বনি বাজে

 A lilting sweetness resonates in the lotus pond

 Within my own heart

 My secret muse, my diva, sits quietly playing her lute

Her music moulds missives with eternity,

An image bathed in golden aura

Somewhere beyond my core.

In a perennial cycle of spring, of holy succulence,
In every breath, a cuckoo submerges me with her songs,
My being inhales the divine aroma like a honey bee
And drunkenly surrenders at her feet.
Come my goddess, 
For me to gaze at you with my eyes in pure light,
For you to be expressed beyond my soul,
To be felt as a tangible presence beyond
This enchanting, somber allusion.

In the dark hollows of my heart

ছিল যে পরানের অন্ধকারে
Chhilo je poraner ondhokare (Audio: Ritu Guha)  

In the dark hollows of my heart
I held a hidden soul,
Revealed now to my eyes
Through a shaft of sunshine

Once fettered by my dreams,
He has splintered his shell
And surged out in the open
And how I behold him
With my unbelieving gaze

I had once welded my tears
Into a string of aching desires
Restraining him by my hurt

Yet, though I treasured him,
Guarded him with solitude,
A tearful silence, I realize
Through eternity, he is the breath,
The passion the world lauds and loves

Who shall free Beauty

সুন্দরের বন্ধন নিষ্ঠুরের হাতে
Shundorero bondhon

Who shall free Beauty,
Fettered at the hands of the heartless?
Who shall wipe the hapless tears
Of the crushed?
The earth aches with
The cries of the fearful,
Nailed, harrowed,
By venomous spears of injustice.
Who shall safeguard the weak
From the plague of the powerful?
Who has the tenderness to embrace
The smothered soul?

As it has always been

জীবন আমার চলছে যেমন তেমনি ভাবে
Jeebon amar cholchhe jemon (audio)

My life will be as it has always been
Demanding, or gliding free,
Dancing it's feet to uneven beats.

Here, I shall meet with fellow men
Whom I shall yearn to hold and hug,
As much as they will ache for me.

Out and on my life will flow
Tracing time with its skipping toes
Tinged by the glaze of gloom and glee.

And on my way, that special Soul
Who engages all in this splashy fest,
I shall yearn to hug Him close
As much as He will ache for me


-1914