The day comes to an end –
darkness descends on earth
There is no point carrying on
rowing the boat any more.
“Listen, whose country is
this where a
foreigner like me has landed?”
just as I asked this with a
smile on my face,
at once without speaking a
word -
splashing water from her full
pitcher-
with head down, walked away
the young lass.
Anchor my boat in this ghat I shall.
Shadows are silently creeping
on the ground under thick
forest cover.
The still water evokes no
response,
Motionless are the leaves.
The birds in the forest are
already asleep.
In this golden evening on the
middle
of the lonely path
only the pitcher, struck by
her bangles
makes a metallic cry.
The very sight of this does
appeal to me.
The lightening from the cloud
is splashing over the golden
trident.
The lamp is burning in the
temple at a distance.
The shadowy path, made of
white marble
is totally covered with shed bakul flowers.
On seeing the rows of
dwelling houses
and the gardens with fences,
restless becomes the mind of
the passerby.
The lamp is burning in the
temple at a distance.
From the royal palace, the
distant air
carries the purabi tune in the sky.
The world has moved forward
to somewhere unknown,
no idea why a sense of
detachment overcomes my soul
This coming and going again
and again
and venturing to places far
away abroad
does not appeal to me
anymore.
The purabi tune is filling the sky.
On top of the palace in the
forest slowly descends night,
there is no point in rowing
the boat any more.
If somewhere I find a place
where I can take shelter,
I will give up this traffic
of buying and selling
and at once go there –
where along that winding path
with head down, walked away
the young lass
carrying the full pitcher on
her waist.
Let me anchor my boat here in
this ghat.
- Dr DEBIDAS RAY
English translation of
Rabindranath Tagore’s poem
entitled “Dinaseshe” in his
collection of poems “Chitra”
in Sanchayita, 11th ed.2010, p257-8.
Original Bengali poem first
line –Din sesh hoye alo andharilo dharani
Published in THE
VISVA-BHARATI QUARTERLY
August issue 2016. p1-2
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