"Bride, Speak"
BY KALIPADA MUKHERJEE 1
(Translated from the original Bengali poem by the author)
When she was with me, the bird did not sing:
But, now that she is gone, it sings throughout the whole morning.
"Bride, speak." It sings, as if coaxingly to a girl in the sulks.
And the separated one in the inmost recesses of my heart is put to the blush!
This morning is many-coloured with the wings of birds, and
is also sweet with the songs of the cuckoo.
And in the midst of all, the bird calls…..no one knows
from where……for I cannot see it even for a moment.
Is it then like a star sitting on a branch of the sky?
Like a ‘siddha,’ 2 it whisks at times through the air, at great
speed even like a bird of dream;
And it raises dreams in the mind!
It awakens dreams of youth: its song inspires new youth in the heart.
And its tuneful soul tells me what a darling is my love,
and how cherished a jewel she is!
1
The bird gets its name ‘Bou Katha Kau’ from its peculiar call which means ‘Bride, speak.’ It is a rare bird: its sweet voice is heard in some parts of Bengal in the summer and rainy seasons.2
Siddha: God-like supernatural being