TWO MODERN BENGALI POEMS
JAGADISH CHANDRA DAS
(1)
One by one I catch the
stars
And I bring them to
touch my body one by one:
They all turn into birds
and flyaway.
The stars glow like
fire-flies,
They come and settle
allover my body:
Indeed my body is made
of countless stars!
At long last I have
found out:
I exist no longer;
Filled with stars, am
myself a star.
Take away the stars and
I am no longer in the body,
I leave my star-filled
body
And go up into the
star-filled sky.
(2)
Now I am a heavenly
star,
Hence I shall become a
starry heaven.
I am a sweet fondling of
the sky,
I condescended to come
down upon earth.
Whoever makes a link
with me
Creates a link with the
sky.
I am a human from the
sky treading upon this mud,
At every step my anklets
ring taro ugh earth’s bosom.
Upon the soft breast of
earth
I drew the very image of
the sky.
With my tinkling anklets
on
I walk through the bosom
of the earth.
This earth is a stage
for me,
I play there a celestial
drama–
a true and real drama!