• Parabaas
    Parabaas : পরবাস : বাংলা ভাষা, সাহিত্য ও সংস্কৃতি
  • পরবাস | Rabindranath Tagore | Poem
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  • When I don't see you : Rabindranath Tagore
    translated from Bengali to English by Palash Baran Pal

    When I don't see you

    When I don't see you
    I get this horrid thought
    That the earth conspires to withdraw its support
    From under my feet.
    I stretch my arms in fright
    To clutch at the empty sky.
    Startled, I wake up from my dream;
    I see, you are sitting by my side
    And knitting wool
    Endorsing the infallible serenity of the universe.

    Rogshajyay 39 (রোগশয্যায় ৩৯)
    Udayan; December 5, 1940, morning
    Translator's Note:

    1. The original poem is part of the Bengali book Rogshajyay (রোগশয্যায়, 'On the sickbed'). Like all other poems in that collection, it did not have a title. It was marked as poem number 39. Here I have used the first few words as a title just to help the reader identify the poem.
    2. The original poem did not have metred rhymes, like my translation.
    3. Udayan is the name of a house in Santiniketan.
  • Three Poems | Where the mind knows no fear | When I don't see you | Bug Logic
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