What
an amazingly cool river is my East Bengal !
How
quiet and gay is sudden aver flowing abandon !
Once
loud and noisy, many a time sleepy
and lethargic,
At
other times a continuos flood of subdued voices,
How
often cranes and river-snipes,
A
kingfisher or two,
Some
chattering crows
Cluster
of kask thickets singing in the wind :
A
river of words rich with woves,
A
tiny island of earth
With
a few trees and some cottages
You
are bottomless
In
the overflowing waters of the monsoon,
A
heaven of generous heart,
A
wide expanse of life
Stretching
beyond the horizon,
A
greeting like the boat
Swimming
onward with the sweeping current
Like
the full-throated song of the boatman
Singing
with abandon
From
his seat perched way up at the projecting front.
What
astonishing wealth of life.
How
many times in how many
strange lands have
I seen
Numberless
trees, hills and smoke,
The
richness of many seas
Dark
thick blue, gray like the fog, or
black,
Seen
the sun and the sky of many countries
Right
and left, touching the horizon
Or
glittering on the ice
Red,
blue, or crystal white
And
in the generous width of the
woodlands
Of
western Bavaria.
The
air, light of the sun
And
every moment then had seemed
To
evelop me in some soft green languor,
But
the generous profusion of green
In
all its wild splendor
Now
suddenly comes back to me new and fresh.
Here
my world is much more glamorous,
Here
is a land like a river
Quiet,
overflowing, full of music,
Myriad-faced,
a line-sketch of many colours.
This
is my East Bengal
Whose
likeness is a cool quite river.
Syed
Ali Ahsan (1922-1999). Poet, essaist, researcher and translator.
Poetry: Anek Akash (1959), Ekak Sandhyay Basanta (1964), Sahasa Sachakita
(1965), Amar Protidiner Shabda (1974), Rajani Gandha (1988), Nirbachita Kavita
(1996). Essay : Bangla Sahityer Itibritta (jointly), Kabitar Katha (1957),
Adhunik Bangla Kavita : Shabder Anushange (1970), Adhunik German Sahitya (1976),
Shilpabodh o Shilpa Chaitanya (1983), Bangla Sahityer Itihas : Prachin Jug
(1994), Mrigavati (1998).
Translation : Iqbaler Kavita (1952), Whitmaner Kavita (1965). Awards : Bangla
Academy –1967, Daud Award-1968, Ekushe Padak-1983, Swadhinata Padak-1988.