Rabindranath Tagore Translation: I Cannot Remember My Mother

I Cannot Remember My Mother by Rabindranath Tagore loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch I cannot remember my mother, yet sometimes in the middle of my playing a melody seemed to hover over my playthings: some forgotten tune she loved to sing while rocking my cradle. I cannot remember my mother, yet sometimes on an early autumn morning the smell of the shiuli flowers fills my room as the scent of the temple’s morning service wafts over me like my mother’s perfume. I cannot remember my mother, yet sometimes still, from my bedroom window, when I lift my eyes to the heavens’ vast blue canopy and sense on my face her serene gaze, I feel her grace has encompassed the sky. Keywords/Tags: Bengali, Urdu, Tagore, translation, mother, mother son, childhood, lullaby, cannot, remember, cradle, temple, sky, gaze, face, play, playing, playthings, toys, melody, song, tune, lullaby, singing, rocking, autumn, flowers, fragrance, odor, perfume, incense, blue, heaven, heavens