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Snehendu Kar Poem
COMING AND GOING
(ASHAJAWA)
Rabindranath Tagore
(Translated by Snehendu Kar)
Love came in such quiet steps
she seemed like a dream.
I failed to welcome her.
As she left,
startled by the sound
of my door
I rushed to beg her return.
By then my dream was without a form,
vanished into the darkness of the night,
leaving only a trace of her lamp-flame,
like a golden mirage
that reached into the far horizon
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© Translated by Snehendu Kar
Collected Works of Tagore: Vol. 24.p.70
Geetabitaan: p..910
Copyright © Snehendu Kar | Year Posted 2017
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Snehendu Kar Poem
The Ungrateful Sorrow
by Rabindranath Tagore
Translated by Snehendu Bikash Kar
At dawn, shey(1) left
My mind consoled me:
" Everything is Maya(2)".
Angrily I replied:
"How can you say that?
Here's this sewing box on the table,
that flower-pot on the terrace,
this monogrammed fan on the bed.
Are all these things unreal? Maya ?
My mind said: " Think again."
I retorted: " You better stop.
Look at this storybook,
with a hairpin among its pages,
signaling the rest is unread;
Are all these things unreal?
If not, why should "shey"
be unreal? or Maya?"
My mind remains silent.
A friend arrived and says:
"That which is good is real,
it is never non-existent;
The world cherishes it in her chest
like precious jewels in a necklace."
In anger, I replied: "How do you know?
Is a human body not good?
Then why did that body perish?
Where did that body go ?"
Like a small boy in rage
hits his mother,
I began to strike at everything
that gave me shelter.
And I screamed:
" This world is treacherous."
Suddenly, I was startled.
It seemed like someone admonished me:
" You- ungrateful! "
I peered outside my window
at the crescent moon
hidden behind the banyan tree,
Its foliage dancing in gentle wind
As if my dear departed is smiling
and playing hide-and-seek.
From the depth of night
punctuated by scattered stars
came a rebuke:
"When I let you grasp me
you call it a Maya- a deception,
and yet when I remain concealed,
you hold on to me with such conviction?"
(1): Tagore uses the word "shey" which in Bengali can be either she or he
(2): "Maya" is an illusion.
"The Ungrateful Sorrow" by Rabindranath Tagore,
Collected Works, Vol-26, p. 105. )
Copyright © Snehendu Kar | Year Posted 2017
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Snehendu Kar Poem
Unfinished Prayers
(Jiboner Jato Puja Holo Na Saara)
By Rabindranath Tagore
The prayers in my life
That remains undone,
I know within,
That they were not in vain.
The flowers that have fallen
Before they could bloom,
The rivers that have lost
Their streams in the desert sand
I know, yes I do,
They were not in vain.
The things I had begun,
But still remain undone,
I know, yes I do,
They were not in vain.
My boons that are yet to come,
The blessings that I deeply yearn,
Let them all bloom
In harmony with the tune
Of your divine veena.
That what remains undone,
I know within
They were not in vain.
Copyright © Snehendu Kar | Year Posted 2017
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Snehendu Kar Poem
Jakhon Eshechiley (When you came)
By Rabindranath Tagore
(Translated by Snehendu Kar)
When you came,
It was a dim twilight.
The moon had not yet arisen
Across the ocean shore.
Dear forever unknown,
I recognized you at once
With my sixth sense.
Your lingering song
Filled my longing soul
And we became one.
When you left, alone,
In the darkness of night,
The moon had climbed
On the bosom of the sky.
Your fragrant garland
Was lying on the wayside.
I could surmise, for whom
You left this adoring boon.
Prem (Love): Geetabitaan, Song 275, p. 381,
Kolkata: Visva- Bharati
Copyright © Snehendu Kar | Year Posted 2017
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Snehendu Kar Poem
She Roamed Through My Life
(Amar praner pore chole gelo kay)
By Rabindranath Tagore
Translated by Snehendu Kar
She has roamed through my life
Like a fragrant breeze of spring.
She stooped and touched my soul
And made hundreds of blossoms bloom.
She then left without saying anything,
nor where to; never to return.
Oh, where did she go?
With glances from the corners of her eyes
She left a message without saying a word.
When she was leaving, it seemed
She was searching something or someone
While humming a song unknown.
Now in a meadow in full bloom,
Lost in deep thoughts, I sit alone.
She sailed away like rolling waves
On an ocean lit by moonlight
Living behind a glow of her smiles.
It seemed, with her silent glance
She was calling me to come.
Now I sit alone and wonder
Where may I find her?
She caressed the moon to a slumber,
And filled the soul of the world
With the colors and songs of spring.
I wonder what secret she shared
With the meadows that the fragrant
Flowers left with her.
My heart is listless,
My eyelids come to close,
I wonder where may I find her.
She has roamed through my life.
Like a fragrant breeze in spring.
Copyright © Snehendu Kar | Year Posted 2017
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