The Cycle of Spring
Song বিদায় নিয়ে গিয়েছিলেম
SONG OF RETURNING YOUTH
AGAIN and again we say "Good-bye,"
To come back again and again.
Oh, who are you?
I am the flower vakul.
And who are you?
I am the flower parul.
And who are these?
We are mango blossoms landed on the shore of light.
We laugh and take leave when the time beckons us.
We rush into the arms of the ever-returning.
But who are you?
I am the flower shimul.
And who are you?
I am the kamini bunch.
And who are these?
We are the jostling crowd of new leaves.
Song ওরে আয় রে তবে, মাত্ রে সবে আনন্দে
AGAIN and again we say "Good-bye,"
To come back again and again.
Oh, who are you?
I am the flower vakul.
And who are you?
I am the flower parul.
And who are these?
We are mango blossoms landed on the shore of light.
We laugh and take leave when the time beckons us.
We rush into the arms of the ever-returning.
But who are you?
I am the flower shimul.
And who are you?
I am the kamini bunch.
And who are these?
We are the jostling crowd of new leaves.
Song ওরে আয় রে তবে, মাত্ রে সবে আনন্দে
FESTIVAL OF SPRING SONG
COME and rejoice,
for April is awake.
Fling yourselves into the flood of being.
bursting the bondage of the past.
April is awake.
Life's shoreless sea
is heaving in the sun before you.
All the losses are lost,
and death is drowned in its waves.
Plunge into the deep without fear.
with the gladness of April in your heart.
Song তুই ফেলে এসেছিস কারে
COME and rejoice,
for April is awake.
Fling yourselves into the flood of being.
bursting the bondage of the past.
April is awake.
Life's shoreless sea
is heaving in the sun before you.
All the losses are lost,
and death is drowned in its waves.
Plunge into the deep without fear.
with the gladness of April in your heart.
Song তুই ফেলে এসেছিস কারে
BAND OF YOUTH
DID you leave behind you your love, my heart,
and miss peace through all your days?
And is the path you followed lost and forgotten,
making your return hopeless?
I go roaming listening to brooks' babble,
to the rustle of leaves.
And it seems to me that I shall find the way,
that reaches the land of lost love
beyond the evening stars.
Song এবার তো যৌবনের কাছে
DID you leave behind you your love, my heart,
and miss peace through all your days?
And is the path you followed lost and forgotten,
making your return hopeless?
I go roaming listening to brooks' babble,
to the rustle of leaves.
And it seems to me that I shall find the way,
that reaches the land of lost love
beyond the evening stars.
Song এবার তো যৌবনের কাছে
SONG OF BURDENS DROPPED
DO you own defeat at the hand of youth?
Yes.
Have you met at last the ageless Old, who ever grows new
Yes.
Have you come out of the walls that crumble and bury those whom they shelter?
Yes.
(Another group sings)
Do you own defeat at the hands of life?
Yes.
Have you passed through death to stand at last face to face with the Deathless?
Yes.
Have you dealt the blow to the demon dust, that swallows your city Immortal?
Yes.
Song ওর ভাব দেখে যে পায় হাসি
SONG OF THE HERALDS OF SPRING
HOW grave he looks,
how laughably old,
How solemnly quiet among death preparations!
Come, friends, help him to find himself
before he reaches home.
Change his pilgrim's robe
into the dress of the singing youth.
Snatch away his bag of dead things
And confound his calculations.
DO you own defeat at the hand of youth?
Yes.
Have you met at last the ageless Old, who ever grows new
Yes.
Have you come out of the walls that crumble and bury those whom they shelter?
Yes.
(Another group sings)
Do you own defeat at the hands of life?
Yes.
Have you passed through death to stand at last face to face with the Deathless?
Yes.
Have you dealt the blow to the demon dust, that swallows your city Immortal?
Yes.
Song ধীরে বন্ধু,গো,ধীরে ধীরে
THE BLIND MINSTREL
GENTLY, my friend, gently walk to your silent chamber.
I know not the way, I have not the light,
Dark is my life and my world.
I have only the sound of your steps
to guide me in this wilderness.
Gently, my friend, gently walk along the dark shore.
Let the hint of the way come in whisper,
Through the night, in the April breeze.
I have only the scent of your garland
to guide me in this wilderness.
THE BLIND MINSTREL
GENTLY, my friend, gently walk to your silent chamber.
I know not the way, I have not the light,
Dark is my life and my world.
I have only the sound of your steps
to guide me in this wilderness.
Gently, my friend, gently walk along the dark shore.
Let the hint of the way come in whisper,
Through the night, in the April breeze.
I have only the scent of your garland
to guide me in this wilderness.
Song ওর ভাব দেখে যে পায় হাসি
SONG OF THE HERALDS OF SPRING
HOW grave he looks,
how laughably old,
How solemnly quiet among death preparations!
Come, friends, help him to find himself
before he reaches home.
Change his pilgrim's robe
into the dress of the singing youth.
Snatch away his bag of dead things
And confound his calculations.
(Another group sings)
The time comes when the world shall know
that you're not banished in your own shadows;
Your heart shall burst in torrents
Out of the clasp of the ice;
And your North wind turn its face .
Against the haunts of the flitting phantoms.
There sounds the magician's drum,
And the sun waits with laughter in his glance,
To see your grey turn into green.
Song কৃষ্ণকলি আমি তারেই বলি
I CALL her MY Krishna flower
though they call her dark in the village.
I remember a cloud-laden day
and a glance from her eyes,
her veil trailing down at her feet
her braided hair loose on her back.
Ah, you call her dark; let that be,
her black gazelle eyes I have seen.
Her cows were lowing in the meadow,
when the fading light grew grey.
With hurried steps she came out
from her hut near the bamboo grove.
She raised her quick eyes to the sky,
where the clouds were heavy with rain.
Ah, you call her dark! let that be,
her black gazelle eyes I have seen.
The East wind in fitful gusts
ruffled the young shoots of rice.
I stood at the boundary hedge
with none else in the lonely land.
If she espied me in secret or not
She only knows and know I.
Ah, you call her dark! let that be,
her black gazelle eyes I have seen.
She is the surprise of cloud
in the burning heart of May,
a tender shadow on the forest
in the stillness of sunset hour,
a mystery of dumb delight
in the rain-loud night of June.
Ah, you call her dark! let that be,
her black gazelle eyes I have seen.
I call her my Krishna flower,
let all others say what they like.
In the rice-field of Maina village
I felt the first glance of her eyes.
She had not a veil on her face,
not a moment of leisure for shyness.
Ah, you call her dark! let that be,
her black gazelle eyes I have seen.
(another version translated by J. C. Ghosh)
KRISHNAKALI
IN the village they call her the dark girl,
but to me she is the flower Krishnakali.
On a cloudy day in a field
I saw the dark girl's dark gazelle-eyes.
She had no covering on her head,
her loose hair had fallen on her back.
Dark? However dark she be,
I have seen her dark gazelle-eyes.
Two black cows were lowing,
as it grew dark under the heavy clouds.
So with anxious, hurried steps,
the dark girl came from her hut.
Raising her eyebrows toward the sky,
she listened a moment to the clouds' rumble.
Dark? However dark she be,
I have seen her dark gazelle-eyes.
A gust of the east wind
rippled the rice plants.
I was standing by a ridge,
alone in the field.
Whether or not she looked at me
Is known only to us two.
Dark? However dark she be,
I have seen her dark gazelle-eyes.
This is how the Kohl-dark cloud
rises in the north-east in Jaistha;
the soft dark shadow
descends on the tamal grove in Asharha;
and sudden delight floods the heart
in the night of Sravana.
Dark? However dark she be,
I have seen her dark gazelle-eyes.
To me she is the flower Krishnakali,
whatever she be called by others.
In a field in Maynapara village
I saw the dark girl's dark gazelle-eyes.
She did not cover her head,
not having the time to feel embarrassed.
Dark? However dark she be,
I have seen her dark gazelle-eyes.
Song তোমায় নতুন করে পাব ব'লে
THE BLIND MINSTREL
I LOSE thee, to find thee back again and again,
My beloved.
Thou leavest me, that I may receive thee all the more,
when thou returnest.
Thou canst vanish behind the moment's screen
Only because thou art mine for evermore,
My beloved.
When I go in search of thee, my heart trembles,
spreading ripples across my love.
Thou smilest through thy disguise of utter absence,
and my tears sweeten thy smile.
(Another version)*
I KEEP losing you time and again,
so that I may discover you anew,
my most beloved.
Having said you would reveal yourself,
you become invisible,
my most beloved.
But you are not meant to be hidden from me.
You are mine forever,
Blithefully dipping and hiding in the stream of a moment’s play.
When I wander about searching for you,
my heart trembles in fear,
and my love swells like a wave.
You are endless,
so you adorn yourself in nothing
and give yourself away forever and ever.
But my tears of longing soon wash away that smile
my most beloved.
I keep losing you time and again,
so that I may discover you anew,
my most beloved.
*(translated by Marian Chatterjee, unpublished manuscript, June 2013)
Song (aami yaab naa go amani cha'le)
BAND OF YOUTH
I SHALL crown you with my garland,
before I take leave.
You ever spoke to me in all my joys and sorrows.
And now, at the end of the day, my own heart will break in speech.
Words came to me, but not the tune,
and the song that I never sang to you
remains hidden behind my tears.
Song ছাড়্ গো তোরা ছাড়্ গো
SONG OF WINTER
LEAVE me, let me go.
I sail for the bleak North, for the peace of the frozen shore.
Your laughter is untimely, my friends.
You turn my farewell tunes into the welcome song of the Newcomer.
And all things draw me back again into the dancing ring of their hearts.
Song সবাই যারে সব দিতেছে
THE BLIND MINSTREL
LET me give my all to him, before I am asked,
whom the world offers its all.
When I came to him for my gifts, I was not afraid;
And I will not fear, when I come to him,
to give up what I have.
The morning accepts his gold with songs,
the evening pays him back the debt of gold and is glad.
The joy of the blooming flower comes to fruit
with shedding of its leaves.
Hasten, my heart, and spend yourself in love,
before the day is done.
SONG OF THE HERALDS OF SPRING
LIFE'S spies are we, lurking in ambush everywhere.
We wait to rob you of your last savings of withered hours
to scatter them in the wayward winds.
We shall bind you in flower-chains
where Spring keeps his captives,
For we know you carry your jewels of youth
hidden in your grey rags.
Song ওগো নদী,আপন বেগে
SONG OF THE BLOSSOMING CHAMPAK
MY shadow dances in your waves,
everflowing river,
I, the blossoming champak, stand unmoved on the bank,
with my flower-vigils.
My movement dwells in the stillness of my depth.
In the delicious birth of new leaves,
In flood of flowers,
In unseen urge of new life towards the light.
Its stirring thrills the sky, and the silence of the dawn is moved.
Song ওগো দখিন হাওয়া
SONG OF THE BAMBOO
O SOUTH Wind, the Wanderer, come and rock me,
Rouse me into the rapture of new leaves.
I am the wayside bamboo tree, waiting for your breath
To tingle life into my branches.
O South Wind, the Wanderer, my dwelling is in the end of the lane.
I know your wayfaring, and the language of your footsteps.
Your least touch thrills me out of my slumber,
Your whisper gleans my secrets.
Song (aamaader paakabe naa chul go)
BAND OF YOUTH
OUR hair shall never turn grey.
Never.
There is no blank in this world for us,
no break in our road,
It may be an illusion that we follow,
But it shall never play us false,
Never.
(The Leader sings)
Our hair shall never turn grey,
Never.
We will never doubt the world and shut our eyes to ponder.
Never.
We will not grope in the maze of our mind.
We flow with the flood of things, from the mountain to the sea,
We will never be lost in the desert sand.
Never.
Song আমাদের শান্তিনিকেতন
SHE is our own, the darling of our hearts, Santiniketan.
Our dreams are rocked in her arms.
Her face is a fresh wonder of love every time we see her,
for she is our own, the darling of our hearts.
In the shadows of her trees we meet
in the freedom of her open sky.
Her mornings come and her evenings
bringing down heaven's kisses,
making us feel anew that she is our own, the darling of our hearts.
The stillness of her shades is stirred by the woodland whisper;
her amlaki groves are aquiver with the rapture of leaves.
She dwells in us and around us, however far we may wander.
She weaves our hearts in a song, making us one in music,
tuning our strings of love with her own fingers;
and we ever remember that she is our own, the darling of our hearts.
Song আকাশ আমার
SONG OF THE BIRD
THE sky pours its light into our hearts,
We fill the sky with songs in answer.
We pelt the air with our notes
When the air stirs our wings with its madness.
O Flame of the Forest,
All your flower-torches are ablaze;
You have kissed our songs red with the passion of your youth.
In the spring breeze the mango-blossoms launch their messages to the unknown
And the new leaves dream aloud all day.
O Sirish, you have cast your perfume-net round our hearts,
Drawing them out in songs.
Song ওরে ভাই, ফাগুন লেগেছে বনে বনে
BAND OF YOUTH
THE fire of April leaps from forest to forest,
Flashing up in leaves and flowers
from all nooks and corners.
The sky is thriftless with colours,
The air delirious With songs.
The wind-tost branches of the woodland
Spread their unrest in our blood.
The air is filled with bewilderment of mirth;
And the breeze rushes from flower to flower, asking their names...
SONG OF THE BIRD
THE sky pours its light into our hearts,
We fill the sky with songs in answer.
We pelt the air with our notes
When the air stirs our wings with its madness.
O Flame of the Forest,
All your flower-torches are ablaze;
You have kissed our songs red with the passion of your youth.
In the spring breeze the mango-blossoms launch their messages to the unknown
And the new leaves dream aloud all day.
O Sirish, you have cast your perfume-net round our hearts,
Drawing them out in songs.
Song ওরে ভাই, ফাগুন লেগেছে বনে বনে
BAND OF YOUTH
THE fire of April leaps from forest to forest,
Flashing up in leaves and flowers
from all nooks and corners.
The sky is thriftless with colours,
The air delirious With songs.
The wind-tost branches of the woodland
Spread their unrest in our blood.
The air is filled with bewilderment of mirth;
And the breeze rushes from flower to flower, asking their names...
THE BLIND MINSTREL
THE Spring flowers have woven my wreath of victory,
The South wind breathes its breath of fire in my blood.
The voice of the house-corner wails in vain from behind.
Death stands before me, offering its crown.
The tempest of youth sweeps the sky-harp with its fingers;
My heart dances in its wild rhythm.
Gathering and storing are not for me,
I spend and scatter.
And prudence and comfort bid me adieu in despair.
Song আমাদের খেপিয়ে বেড়ায় যে
BAND OF YOUTH
THE Piper pipes in the centre, hidden from sight,
And we become frantic, we dance.
The March wind, seized with frenzy,
Runs and reels, and sways with noisy branches.
The sun and stars are drawn in the whirl of rapture.
The Piper pipes in the centre, hidden from sight.
Ah, the turbulent tune, to whose time the oceans dance,
And dance our heaving hearts.
Fling away all burdens and cares, brother,
Do not be doubtful of your path,
For the path wakes up of itself
Under the dancing steps of freedom.
Song হবে জয়,হবে জয়
THE BLIND MINSTREL
VICTORY to thee, victory for ever,
O brave heart.
Victory to life, to joy, to love,
To eternal light.
The night shall wane, the darkness shall vanish,
Have faith, brave heart.
Wake up from sleep, from languor of despair,
Receive the light of new dawn with a song.
Song (moder yeman khelaa temani ye kaaj)
BAND OF YOUTH
WE are free, my friends, from the fear of work,
For we know that work is play,-
BAND OF YOUTH
THE Piper pipes in the centre, hidden from sight,
And we become frantic, we dance.
The March wind, seized with frenzy,
Runs and reels, and sways with noisy branches.
The sun and stars are drawn in the whirl of rapture.
The Piper pipes in the centre, hidden from sight.
Ah, the turbulent tune, to whose time the oceans dance,
And dance our heaving hearts.
Fling away all burdens and cares, brother,
Do not be doubtful of your path,
For the path wakes up of itself
Under the dancing steps of freedom.
THE BLIND MINSTREL
VICTORY to thee, victory for ever,
O brave heart.
Victory to life, to joy, to love,
To eternal light.
The night shall wane, the darkness shall vanish,
Have faith, brave heart.
Wake up from sleep, from languor of despair,
Receive the light of new dawn with a song.
Song (moder yeman khelaa temani ye kaaj)
BAND OF YOUTH
WE are free, my friends, from the fear of work,
For we know that work is play,-
the play of life.
It is Play, to fight and toss,
between life and death;
It is Play that flashes in the laughter of light in the infinite heart;
It roars in the wind,
and surges in the sea.
Play blooms in flower
and ripens in fruit
In the sunshine of eternal youth.
Play bursts up in the blood-red fire,
and licks into ashes the decaying and the dead.
Song ভালো মানুষ নই রে মোরা
BAND OF YOUTH
WE are neither too good nor wise,
That is all the merit we have.
Our calumny spreads from land to land,
And danger dogs our steps.
We take great care to forget what is taught us.
We say things different from the book,
Bringing upon us trouble,
And rebuke from the learned.
We are not too good nor wise,
That is all the merit we have.
In a luckless moment we were born,
When the star of wisdom was the dimmest.
We can hope for no profit from our adventures,
We move on, because we must.
It is Play, to fight and toss,
between life and death;
It is Play that flashes in the laughter of light in the infinite heart;
It roars in the wind,
and surges in the sea.
Play blooms in flower
and ripens in fruit
In the sunshine of eternal youth.
Play bursts up in the blood-red fire,
and licks into ashes the decaying and the dead.
BAND OF YOUTH
WE are neither too good nor wise,
That is all the merit we have.
Our calumny spreads from land to land,
And danger dogs our steps.
We take great care to forget what is taught us.
We say things different from the book,
Bringing upon us trouble,
And rebuke from the learned.
We are not too good nor wise,
That is all the merit we have.
In a luckless moment we were born,
When the star of wisdom was the dimmest.
We can hope for no profit from our adventures,
We move on, because we must.
BAND OF YOUTH
WE are out on our way
And we fear not the Robber, the Old Man.
Our path is straight, it is broad
Our burden is light, for our pocket is bare,
Who can rob us of our folly
For us there is no rest, nor ease, nor praise, nor success,
We dance in the measure of fortune's rise and fall
We play our game, or win or lose,
And we fear not the Robber.
Song চলি গো,চলি গো, যাই গো চলে
BAND OF YOUTH
WE move and move without rest,
We move while the wanderers' stars shine in the sky and fade.
We play the tune of the road
While our limbs scatter away the laughter of movement,
And our many-coloured mantle of youth flutters about in the air.
We move and move without rest.
World, the Rover, loves his comrades of the road.
His call comes across the sky,
The seasons lead the way, strewing the path with flowers.
Song আমরা খুঁজি খেলার সাথি
SONG OF THE HERALDS OF SPRING
WE seek our playmates,
Waking them up from all corners
before it is morning.
We call them in bird-songs,
Beckon them in nodding branches.
We spread our spell for them
in the splendour of clouds.
We laugh at solemn Death
Till he joins in our laughter.
We tear open Time's purse,
Taking back his plunder from him.
You shall lose your heart to us, a Winter.
It will gleam in the trembling leaves
And break into flowers.
Song এত দিন যে বসে ছিলেম
SONG OF FRESH BEAUTY
WE waited by the wayside counting moments
till you appeared in the April morning.
You come as a soldier-boy winning life at death's gate,-
Oh, the wonder of it!
We listen amazed at the music of your young voice.
Your mantle is blown in the wind
like the fragrance of the Spring.
The white spray of malati flowers in your hair
shines like star-clusters.
A fire burns through the veil of your smile,-
Oh, the wonder of it!
And who knows where your arrows are hidden
which smite death?
SONG OF THE HERALDS OF SPRING
WE seek our playmates,
Waking them up from all corners
before it is morning.
We call them in bird-songs,
Beckon them in nodding branches.
We spread our spell for them
in the splendour of clouds.
We laugh at solemn Death
Till he joins in our laughter.
We tear open Time's purse,
Taking back his plunder from him.
You shall lose your heart to us, a Winter.
It will gleam in the trembling leaves
And break into flowers.
Song এত দিন যে বসে ছিলেম
SONG OF FRESH BEAUTY
WE waited by the wayside counting moments
till you appeared in the April morning.
You come as a soldier-boy winning life at death's gate,-
Oh, the wonder of it!
We listen amazed at the music of your young voice.
Your mantle is blown in the wind
like the fragrance of the Spring.
The white spray of malati flowers in your hair
shines like star-clusters.
A fire burns through the veil of your smile,-
Oh, the wonder of it!
And who knows where your arrows are hidden
which smite death?
Song চোখের আলোয় দেখেছিলেম
BAND OF YOUTH
WHEN there was light in my world
You stood outside my eyes.
Now that there is none,
You come into my heart.
When there were dolls for me, I played;
You smiled and watched from the door.
Now that the dolls have crumbled to dust,
You come and sit by me.
And I have only my heart for my music,
When my lute-strings have broken.
*"Collected Poems and Plays", MacMillan, London 1936 ("The Cycle of Spring". Translated by C. F. Andrews and Nishikanta Sen.
"Collected Poems and Plays" was the last work of Rabindranath published by Macmillan, London, in 1936. Besides some of the books of verses and 10 new poems included, it also contains the translation (The Cycle of Spring) of one of his musicals (faalgunee), a source of a number of his great songs on spring - although translated not by the poet himself but by C. F. Andrews and Nishikanta Sen. The editorial part of the book leaves much to be desired, with no indications about the sources and no editorial comments, even leaving out the names of translators besides Rabindranath.
WHEN there was light in my world
You stood outside my eyes.
Now that there is none,
You come into my heart.
When there were dolls for me, I played;
You smiled and watched from the door.
Now that the dolls have crumbled to dust,
You come and sit by me.
And I have only my heart for my music,
When my lute-strings have broken.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*"Collected Poems and Plays", MacMillan, London 1936 ("The Cycle of Spring". Translated by C. F. Andrews and Nishikanta Sen.
"Collected Poems and Plays" was the last work of Rabindranath published by Macmillan, London, in 1936. Besides some of the books of verses and 10 new poems included, it also contains the translation (The Cycle of Spring) of one of his musicals (faalgunee), a source of a number of his great songs on spring - although translated not by the poet himself but by C. F. Andrews and Nishikanta Sen. The editorial part of the book leaves much to be desired, with no indications about the sources and no editorial comments, even leaving out the names of translators besides Rabindranath.
Comments