On Tagore's birthday...
Samir
Since it is the 25th Baishakh today (Tagore's birthday), I thought I
would post some translations of Tagore's songs which originally appeared in
the novel 'Memories of Rain' by Sunetra Gupta. I have included the first
line of the song in Bengali as well just for reference.
I must add that these are not word for word translations, but they do, to
my mind, convey the essential poetic spirit of the original Bengali.
Samir
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'jodi prem dile na prane...'
If you did not give me love
Why paint the dawn sky with such song
Why thread garlands of stars
Why make a field of flowers my bed
Why does the south wind whisper secrets in my ear?
If you did not give poetry to my soul
Why does the sky stare like that upon my face
And why do sudden fits of madness grip my heart?
I set sail upon seas whose shores I know not.
'jete jete ekla pathe nibeche mor bati...'
My light has been quenched upon this dark and lonely path
for a storm is rising
a storm is rising to befriend me
darkling disaster smiles at the edge of the sky
catastrophe wreaks delighted havoc with my garments, with my hair
my lamp has blown out on this lonely road
who knows where I must wander now, in this dense dark
but perhaps the thunder speaks of a new path
one that will take me to a new dawn.
'tomar noyon amay bare bare boleche gan gahibare...'
Your eyes have pleaded with me for a song
Among flowers and stars, day and night, in the dusty light of dusk
You wonder why I do not sing
I lose my lyrics in my pain, I forget my tune
You have called me in the fierce storm wind
from upon wild waters
in the thunder of mute clouds
in monsoon torrents, you have called me towards death
You wonder why I do not come
I cannot find my way to you across the seas.
'jodi e amar hridoyduyar bondho rohe go kabhu...'
If the doors to my heart should someday close upon you
break them down and enter my soul, do not turn away
if on these violin strings your beloved name does not play
still, I beseech you, do not turn away
if someday, at your call, I remain encased within dead dream
wake me with the agony of thunder, do not turn away
and if someday, upon your throne, I seat someone else with care
remember, you are my only king, do not turn away.
'tobu mone rekho jodi dure jai chole...'
Even so, remember me
If I should move far away, even so
If the old love should be lost in the mazes of a new passion
Even so, remember me
And if although I am near
My presence, like shadow, is shrouded with doubt
Your eyes might cloud with tears
And if one lovely night this game should end
Even so, remember me
If, on an autumn morn, the final blow should fall, even so
And if, remembering me, tears do not come
Tears do not glisten in the corners of your eyes
Even so, remember me.
Marek Lugowski
'jete jete ekla pathe nibeche mor bati...'
My light has been quenched upon this dark and lonely path
for a storm is rising
a storm is rising to befriend me
darkling disaster smiles at the edge of the sky
catastrophe wreaks delighted havoc with my garments, with my hair
my lamp has blown out on this lonely road
who knows where I must wander now, in this dense dark
but perhaps the thunder speaks of a new path
one that will take me to a new dawn.
^^^-- "different"
Same source (p 20). I knew it sounded wrong, so I checked.
-- Marek
(paperback, given to me by Marie Coffin)
Samir
You're quite right. I apologise for the mistake.
Samir
Samir
Rabindranath Tagore wrote in Bengali. Therefore there can be no
DEFINITIVE translations of his poetry in English. The only authentic
text is the Bengali. The references to the translations you mention
are his own and it is these so called 'originals' which have long been
castigated for their inexactitude by scholars and academics of Bengali
Tagore's excessive use of 'poetic license' when it came to English
translations is well documented.
As such the 'English' Gitanjali is nothing like the 'Bengali' edition.
The English edition is virtually Tagore's own re-interpretation of the
original with translations of the original added incidentally. It is
the same with these songs as well.
I might add that Tagore's works go far beyond those that he translated
into English (and which you have listed) - to use a cliche - they are
the tip of a very large iceberg. Sadly it seems unlikely that they
will ever be read by the western public.
Anyway, here is the original in Bengali for you. I can give you a line
by line translation if you want.
Samir
jodi prem dile na prane
keno bhorer akash bhore dile emon gane gane?
keno tarar mala gaNtha,
keno phuler shoyon pata,
keno dakhin-haoya kotha janay kane kane?
jodi prem dile na prane
keno akash tobe emon chaoya chay e mukher pane?
tobe khone khone keno
amar hridoy pagol-heno
tori shei sagore bhashay kul she nahi jane.
>1.
>Author: Tagore, Rabindranath, 1861-1941.
>Uniform title: Selected works. English.
>Title: Collected poems and plays of Rabindranath Tagore. New York, The
> Macmillan company [c1949]
>Description: 466 p. 22 cm.
>
>2.
>Author: Tagore, Rabindranath, 1861-1941.
>Title: Collected poems and plays of Rabindranath Tagore. New York, The
> Macmillan company 1949.
>Description: 577p.
>Notes: Contents: Gitanjall.-The crescent moon.-The gardener.-Chitra.
> -Fruit-gathering.-The post-office.-Lover's gift.
> -Crossing.-Stray birds.-The cycle of spring.-The fugitive, and
> other poems.-Sacrifice, and other plays: or, The ascetic,
> Malini, Sacrifice. The king and the queen, Karna and Kunti.
>
>"Mine":
>
>If love be denied me then why does the morning break its heart in
> songs, and why are these whispers that the south wind scatters
> among the new-born leaves?
>If love be denied me then why does the midnight bear in yearning
> silence the pain of stars?
>And why does this foolish heart recklessly launch its hope on the sea
> whose end it does not know? [Crossing, XXX]
Samir
> Well, it's an on-going debate whether poetry can be translated at
> all.
I totally agree. In fact it is a very topical matter in Calcutta at the
moment. In this week's edition of 'desh' (Calcutta's biggest selling
literary magazine in Bengali) there is a long article called
'Rabindrakabitar onubad prosonge kichhu bhabna' - Some thoughts on the
translations of Tagore's poetry. In it the author of the article puts
alongside one of Tagore's own translations about Shakespeare with two other
renditions by the two most prominent translators of Tagore - Ketaki Kushari
Dyson & William Radice (My teacher).
I have included these here so you can compare them yourself.
Tagore's own translation, while being poetic, again strays from the text.
Not to mention the complete loss of the subtle rhyming scheme, and metre.
Anyway, tell me what you think of the translations overall.
> I think the operative words here are "poetic thought" and the fact that
> without his translations his work would have long remained the exclusive
> domain of Bengali scholars and academics.
This is very true, but I am still convinced that the 'West' has yet to read
and understand the 'real' Tagore...
> There is that italian phrase about a translator being a traitor.
"Poetry is what is lost in translation. It is also what is lost in
interpretation.."
> I know he was extremely prolific. Translations are the only way most
> non-Bengali readers will ever see his work. Have you any idea how many
> languages he has been translated into?
I have seen translations of his into virtually all the European languages,
of course there are translations into all the Indian Languages and Chinese
as well I believe. There are probably several more than this.
> Yes, please, I'd find a translation very interesting and informative. As
> I said, I could identify only one of the works you posted, and I haven't
> had time to look further. But the old question arises ... is it still
> poetry?
Here is a word by word 'translation' of this poem. This is a VERY rough
outline, so there may well be some errors, particularly at the end, because
it is difficult to give a rough English approximation of the Bengali.
jodi prem dile na prane
jodi=if, prem=love, dile=give (you), na=not/no, prane=to life
If (you) did not give love to (a) life
keno bhorer akash bhore dile emon gane gane?
keno=why, bhorer=of dawn, akash=sky, bhore dile=fill(you), emon=such/like,
gane gane = with songs
Why did (you) fill the sky of the dawn with such song(s)
keno tarar mala gaNtha,
keno=why, tarar=of the stars, mala=garlands, gantha=(to) thread (as in
garlands)
why thread garlands of stars
keno phuler shoyon pata,
keno=why, phuler=of flowers, shoyon=bed, pata=(to) spread
why spread a bed of flowers
keno dakhin-haoya kotha janay kane kane
keno=why, dakhin haoya=south wind, kotha=generic word for information i.e.
speech, words, news etc, janay=(to) make known, kane kane= lit. in the
ear(s), taken to mean 'is heard'
Why does the south wind inform (me) of news (lit. in my ear)
jodi prem dile na prane
jodi=if, prem=love, dile=give (you), na=not/no, prane=to life
If (you) did not give love to (a) life
keno akash tobe emon chaoya chay e mukher pane?
keno=why, akash=sky, tobe=so/now, emon=in such a way/like, chaoya=staring
(noun), chay=(to) stare, e=(on) this, mukher pane=face/facial features/the
mouth.
So why does the sky, staring in such a way, stare at this face
tobe khone khone keno / amar hridoy pagol-heno
tobe=so, khone khone=frequently/repeatedly/every now and then, keno=why,
amar=my, hridoy=heart, pagol-heno=such madness
so why is my heart frequently ...... suchlike madness
tori shei sagore bhashay kul she nahi jane.
tori=boat/ship/vessel, shei=that/these/those, sagore=sea/seas,
bhashay=floats/drifts/swim, kul=shore/shore/beach she=that/it/one (person)
nahi=does not(negative) jane=know.
The boat, on those seas, drifts/floats, (it) does not know where the shore
is
Here is Tagore's translation of 'jedin udile tumi, bishwakabi, dur sindhu
pare'.... (about Shakespeare).
"When by the far-away sea your fiery disc appeared from
behind the unseen, O poet, O Sun, England's horizon felt
you near her breast and took you to be her own.
She kissed your forehead, caught you in the arms of her
forest branches, hid you behind her mist-mantle and
watched you in the green sward where fairies love to play
among meadow flowers.
A few early birds sang your hymn of praise while the rest
of the woodland choir were asleep.
Then at the silent beckoning of the Eternal you rose higher
and higher till you reached the mid-sky, making all quarters
of heaven your own.
Therefore at this moment, after the end of centuries,
the palm groves by the Indian sea raise their tremulous
branches to the sky murmuring your praise."
Here is another translation of the same poem by the writer Ketaki Kushari
Dyson.
"The day you rose, world poet, above a far shore,
England's horizon found you close to her breast
and reckoned you were her treasure, hers alone.
She kissed your radiant forehead and for a while
held you tight in the clasp of her sylvan boughs,
hid you for a while behind her stole of mists
on a playground of fairies, dewy, dense with grass,
where wild flowers blow. As yet the island's groves
hadn't woken up to hymn the poet-sun.
Thereafter, slowly, to the infinite's silent signals
you left the horizon's lap, and hour by hour
climbed, through the centuries, brilliant, to the zenith,
taking your place in the centre of all directions,
lighting all minds. Hear how, in another age,
on the shore of the Indian Ocean the quivering fronds
of massed coconut-groves ring with your triumph."
This is another translation of the poem by William Radice.
"When far across the sea your fire dawned, World Poet,
England embraced you within her own horizon,
Assumed your riches were hers alone;
Kissed your radiant brow, but kept you entwined for a while
In the branchy arms of her woods; cloaked you in mist
In the flowery, grassy, dew-bright glades
Where her woodsprites danced. Her Island groves
Did not at first rise up with hymns of praise
To a Sun-Poet. But slowly, hour by hour, century by century,
Silently beckoned by Infinity, you left that horizon's lap,
Climbed to blazing high noon splendour,
Took your seat at the hub of all skies
To flood with light the mind of the whole world.
See then how, at the turn of an era,
On the shore of India, joy at your glory rings out now
Through the rippling, thickly fronded coconut-groves."
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_
Samir
Samir
> It would appear that his English renderings did indeed bring his work to
> the attention and grasp of the rest of the world, as was noted in the
> Nobel Prize award announcement. In poetry perhaps no translation can be
> considered definitive, but for the benefit of the non-speaker, a
translation
> remains most welcome. Can you recommend some English translations?
I can recommend 'Selected Poems' by William Radice (Penguin, 1985,
reprinted 1993).
Also 'I Won't let you go' translated by Ketaki Kushari Dyson (Bloodaxe,
1991) which has poems as well as songs. See also 'Later Poems of Tagore'
trans. by Aurobindo Bose (Orient Paperbacks, 1984) & Love Poems of Tagore
(Orient paperbacks).
The Sahitya Akademi in Delhi is also working on a complete translation of
his works, but I'm not sure how far they have got with this.
Anyway, good luck. Write to me if you get stuck...
Samir