This is the first of series of posts where I translate some Bengali poems by Rabindranath Tagore. It is perhaps not possible to overstate the influence and popularity of Tagore and his work in modern Bengali culture. The corpus of his songs are called Rabindra Sangeet. Although I have heard them here and there growing up, I have not, until now, really try to understand them - thus the motivation for writing these posts.
Perhaps the most well-known work by Tagore is Gitanjali (“song offerings”). In fact, there are two distinct versions of Gitanjali. The first is the original Bengali version was published in 1910, consisting of 157 poems. The second is the English version, Song Offerings, published in 1912, in which Tagore translated 53 poems from the original and 50 from his other works. For this English version, Tagore was awarded the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature. Interestingly, the preface to this version was written by W. B. Yeats, who was a contemporary of Tagore.
Here are the resources for reading and translating the two Gitanjalis:
1910 version (Bengali only)
1913 version (Bengali poems with Tagore’s loose English translations)
1913 version re-translated by William Radice, sometimes a bit more literally than Tagore
In this post, I will be translating আমারে তুমি অশেষ করেছ, the first poem in the 1913 Gitanjali. Many musical renditions of it can be found on YouTube, for example here by Sraboni Sen. I tried to make sure I understood each word, using the digitized Bengali-English dictionary when necessary. Apart from that, I referred heavily to the English translations by Tagore and Radice. After the translation, I reflect a bit on some of the words used.
The original, with word-for-word and close translations
আমারে তুমি অশেষ করেছ
এমনি লীলা তব |
আমারে (my); তুমি (you); অশেষ (endless); করেছ (have done); এমনি (like this); লীলা (game); তব (your);
You have made me endless; thus is your game.
ফুরায়ে ফেলে আবার ভরেছ
জীবন নব নব |
ফুরায়ে ফেলে (having exhausted); আবার (again); ভরেছ (filled); জীবন (life); নব (new); নব (new);
You exhaust me, then filled me up again with new life.
কত যে গিরি কত যে নদীতীরে
বেড়ালে বহি ছোটো এ বাঁশিটিরে
কত যে তান বাজালে ফিরে ফিরে
কাহারে তাহা কব |
কত (how many); যে (those); গিরি (mountains); কত (how many); যে (those); নদীতীরে (riverbanks); বেড়ালে (roamed); বহি (with[out]?); ছোটো (small); এ (this); বাঁশিটিরে (flute);
কত (how many); যে (those); তান (melodies); বাজালে (played); ফিরে ফিরে (again and again); কাহারে (to whom); তাহা (those); কব (I will tell);
How many mountains, how many river banks have you roamed with the small flute? To whom shall I tell how many of those melodies you played, again and again?
তোমারি ওই অমৃতপরশে
আমার হিয়াখানি
হারালো সীমা বিপুল হরষে
উথলি উঠে বাণী।
তোমারি (your); ওই (that); অমৃতপরশে (in nectar-touch); আমার (my); হিয়াখানি (heart);
হারালো (lost); সীমা (boundary); বিপুল (vast); হরষে (in joy); উথলি (swell up); উঠে (rise); বাণী (words)
At your nectar-touch, my heart lost its boundary. In that vast joy, words gush out.
আমার শুধু একটি মুঠি ভরি
দিতেছ দান দিবসবিভাবরী,
হল না সারা কত-না যুগ ধরি,
কেবলই আমি লব।
আমার (my); শুধু (only); একটি (one); মুঠি (cupped hand); ভরি দিতেছ (filled); দান (gift); দিবস-বিভাবরী (day and night);
হল (was); না (not); সারা (full); কত-না (countlessly);যুগ (ages); ধরি (run); কেবলই (continuously); আমি (I); লব (will take);
You filled my single cupped hand with gifts day and night. It was not full, even after countless ages ran; I keep taking. Some lexical highlights
As I was translating, some words stood out to me as unusual, relative to my (admittedly limited) knowledge of modern colloquial Bengali. If a word is underlined, it means there’s a link to an entry in the digitized Samsad Bengali-English dictionary.
আমারে/তমারি - From what I understand, these just correspond to the possessive pronouns আমার/তমার (my/your). I’m not entirely sure if the vowel endings -e and -i are systematic, or if they reflect nonstandard/archaic speech from some region of Bengal.
তাহা - This is apparently an obsolete pronoun corresponding to সে (he/her/it). In the context of the poem, I think it is being used in accusative case, but with the ending -কে omitted.
কব - This is the first person future tense of কওয়া (to speak), itself a colloquial version of কহা. I’m not sure if this verb is obsolete, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard it used in the Bengali that was spoken around me (I only remember hearing বলা). It seems obviously related to the common Hindi verb कहना (to speak).
লব - This is the first person future tense of লওয়া (to take). The dictionary entry says that this is an “older variant” of নেওয়া, which is familiar to me. Again, there seems to be an obvious connection to a common Hindi verb - लेना (to take). At some point in history, did the Bengali equivalents of कहना and लेना fall out in favor of বলা and নেওয়া? Did this happen to other verbs as well? I wonder if I can find out more about this in the comparative Indo-Aryan linguistics literature.
কত-না - When না (not) is added after কত (much), an adverb meaning “countlessly” is formed. I didn’t know that!
কেবলই - Similarly, I didn’t know that when -ই is added to the end of কেবল (only), an adverb meaning “continuously” is formed.
অমৃতপরশে - The second part of this beautiful compound noun, in its undeclined form, is পরশ (touch), evidently a “poetic corruption” of স্পর্শ. The latter form, a direct borrowing from Sanskrit, is familiar to me.
হিয়াখানি - The first part of this compound is হিয়া (heart), which is a “poetic corruption” of হৃদয়. The latter form, again, is just borrowed directly from Sanskrit. I’ve also come across हिया in the Ramcaritmanas, the medieval Awadhi-language work of Tulsidas. Variants of this tadbhava word exist in many modern Indian languages (including Hindi).