Banalata Sen of Jibanananda Das- Translated by Clinton B. Seely
Banalata Sen
Jibanananda Das
Translated from the Bangla by
Clinton B. Seely
For thousands of years I roamed the paths of this earth,
From waters round Sri Lanka, in dead of night, to seas up the Malabar Coast.
Much have I wandered. I was there in the gray world of Ashoka
And of Bimbisara, pressed on through darkness to the city of Vidarbha.
I am a weary heart surrounded by life's frothy ocean.
To me she gave a moment's peace—Banalata Sen from Natore.
(হাজার বছর ধরে আমি পথ হাঁটিতেছি পৃথিবীর পথে,
সিংহল সমুদ্র থেকে নিশীথের অন্ধকারে মালয় সাগরে
অনেক ঘুরেছি আমি; বিম্বিসার অশোকের ধূসর জগতে
সেখানে ছিলাম আমি; আরো দূর অন্ধকারে বিদর্ভ নগরে;
আমি ক্লান্ত প্রাণ এক, চারিদিকে জীবনের সমুদ্র সফেন,
আমারে দু-দণ্ড শান্তি দিয়েছিল নাটোরের বনলতা সেন।)
Her hair was like an ancient darkling night in Vidisha,
Her face, the craftsmanship of Sravasti. As the helmsman when,
His rudder broken, far out upon the sea adrift,
Sees the grass-green land of a cinnamon isle, just so
Through the darkness I saw her. Said she, "Where have you been so long?"
And raised her bird's-nest-like eyes—Banalata Sen from Natore.
(চুল তার কবেকার অন্ধকার বিদিশার নিশা,
মুখ তার শ্রাবস্তীর কারুকার্য; অতিদূর সমুদ্রের 'পর
হাল ভেঙে যে নাবিক হারায়েছে দিশা
সবুজ ঘাসের দেশ যখন সে চোখে দেখে দারুচিনি-দ্বীপের ভিতর,
তেমনি দেখেছি তারে অন্ধকারে; বলেছে সে, 'এতদিন কোথায় ছিলেন?'
পাখির নীড়ের মতো চোখ তুলে নাটোরের বনলতা সেন।)
At day's end, like hush of dew
Comes evening. A hawk wipes the scent of sunlight from its wings.
When earth's colors fade and some pale design is sketched,
Then glimmering fireflies paint in the story.
All birds come home, all rivers, all of life's tasks finished.
Only darkness remains, as I sit there face to face with Banalata Sen.
(সমস্ত দিনের শেষে শিশিরের শব্দের মতন
সন্ধ্যা আসে; ডানার রৌদ্রের গন্ধ মুছে ফেলে চিল;
পৃথিবীর সব রঙ নিভে গেলে পাণ্ডুলিপি করে আয়োজন
তখন গল্পের তরে জোনাকির রঙে ঝিলমিল;
সব পাখি ঘরে আসে—সব নদী—ফুরায় এ-জীবনের সব লেন দেন;
থাকে শুধু অন্ধকার, মুখোমুখি বসিবার বনলতা সেন। )
Note on Clinton Seely:
Professor Clinton Seely is in the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. Among his published books are: A Poet Apart: A Literary Biography of the Bengali Poet Jibanananda Das (1899-1954) (1990), The Slaying of Meghanada - A Ramayana from Colonial Bengal (2004), Barisal and Beyond--Essays on Bangla Literature, It Rained All Night, Ananya Jibanananda (অনন্য জীবনানন্দ), The Scent of Sunlight: Poems by Jibanananda Das, etc. With Leonard Nathan, he has translated Ramprasad's songs in a book Grace and Mercy in Her Wild Hair: Selected Poems to the Mother Goddess.
Q: We have always wondered how a pure American like you came to spend his whole working life on a Bangali poet. Was it mere coincidence or was there something else involved?
Clinton B. Seely: Actually, it was more than pure coincidence. The ground must have been prepared before the seed was sown, so to speak. But somehow, I met the right person at the right moment of my life. It was poet Jyotirmoy Dutta of Calcutta who had inspired me to start working on Bangla poetry. Jyotirmoy had come over to Iowa University as guest lecturer in the early 1960’s. I met him at the University of Chicago when he came over to run a workshop there. It was Jyotirmoy who told me that I was likely to like working on Bangla poetry in general and the poetry of Jibanananda Das in particular. So, in a way, the whole of my life’s work is somehow connected to my relationship with Jyotirmoy Dutta.
Q: Although Jibanananda Das was not generally recognized as a major poet in his lifetime, since his death in 1954 he has inspired severa1 generations of Bangali poets in diverse ways. Do you think that his poetry will continue to have fresh meaning for coming generations of Bangalis, particularly young practitioners of the difficult craft of poetry?
Clinton B. Seely: It is very true that since the 1950’s, several generations of Bangali poets on both sides of the border have worked with the poetry of Jibanananda Das as their model. So, it’s very reasonable to doubt if there is anything left in his poetry to squeeze out. But then the poetical work of every major poet has several layers of meaning, each for a different generation to discover and utilize. For example, while the ‘50’s poets became almost addicted to his particular brand of lyricism, the ‘60’s poets were fascinated by the sense of cosmic evil in his poetry. During the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971, the poems of Rupashi Bangla became a source of considerable inspiration for the nation as a whole and the freedom fighters in particular. Over the last 25 years, many hitherto-unpublished fictional works of Jibanananda Das have been discovered and published. So I think that every new generation of Bangalis will continue to discover their very own Jibanananda Das.
Q: Coming to his fiction, do you think that the novels and short stories discovered since 1980 have an intrinsic literary value?
Clinton B. Seely: Apart from the fact that they are the works of a major Bangali poet, the fictional works of Jibanananda Das are remarkable for their poetic dimension. As readers of his prose works like Kabitar Katha, the collection of essays published after his death, know quite often he crosses the boundaries of prose in his fiction and becomes more poetical than in his own poetry. It’s a rare quality in Bangali poets.
Q: We have come to know that Dr. Bhumendra Guha of Kolkata is working on the unpublished diaries of Jibanananda Das. Have you met Dr. Guha recently?
Clinton B. Seely: Ashokananda Das, Jibanananda’s brother, first showed me a glimpse of Jibanananda’s diaries some time ago. But at that time I thought that only scraps were available. But during a recent visit to Kolkata, I came to know from Dr. Bhumendra Guha that the unpublished diaries are spread over 157 exercise books and cover several decades of Jibanananda’s life from the 1930’s onwards. When they are published – and I hope that they are published soon – the unpublished diaries will definitely help to add a new dimension to the personality and poetry of Jibanananda Das as we know him.
Q: We have come to know that you have recently published an English translation of Michael Madhusudan Dutta’s epic Meghnadbadh Kavya. Do you think that there are any points of similarity between the two poets?
Clinton B. Seely: Up to a point, both the poets have somewhat similar backgrounds. Of course, both of them belonged ancestrally to the land of Bangladesh and both of them also spent the latter parts of their lives in the city of Kolkata which, unfortunately, was not a happy period for either of them. The poets also shared a somewhat morbid fascination for the land of Bengal as expressed in their poetry. It should also be remembered that a particular poetic form, the sonnet, introduced into Bangla poetry by Michael Madhusudan Dutta, was later very ably utilized by Jibanananda Das in the poems of his Rupashi Bangla, although in a very different way.
Q: Jibanananda Das has been described as the archetypal Bangali poet of the 20th century, being the first one to meaningfully embody a sense of evil in his poetry. Do you think that his poetry will continue to have exceptional significance for the Bangali readers of the 21st century?
Clinton B. Seely: As I have already said, every major poet has more than one layer of poetic meaning. As the different poetic generations of the closing decades of the 20th century discovered their own different meanings in the poetry of Jibanananda Das, so the coming generations will also be able to find their very own Jibanananda Das. Like all significant literature, his poetry will continue to reveal new layers of meaning in the coming centuries.
Jibanananda Das
Translated from the Bangla by
Clinton B. Seely
For thousands of years I roamed the paths of this earth,
From waters round Sri Lanka, in dead of night, to seas up the Malabar Coast.
Much have I wandered. I was there in the gray world of Ashoka
And of Bimbisara, pressed on through darkness to the city of Vidarbha.
I am a weary heart surrounded by life's frothy ocean.
To me she gave a moment's peace—Banalata Sen from Natore.
(হাজার বছর ধরে আমি পথ হাঁটিতেছি পৃথিবীর পথে,
সিংহল সমুদ্র থেকে নিশীথের অন্ধকারে মালয় সাগরে
অনেক ঘুরেছি আমি; বিম্বিসার অশোকের ধূসর জগতে
সেখানে ছিলাম আমি; আরো দূর অন্ধকারে বিদর্ভ নগরে;
আমি ক্লান্ত প্রাণ এক, চারিদিকে জীবনের সমুদ্র সফেন,
আমারে দু-দণ্ড শান্তি দিয়েছিল নাটোরের বনলতা সেন।)
Her hair was like an ancient darkling night in Vidisha,
Her face, the craftsmanship of Sravasti. As the helmsman when,
His rudder broken, far out upon the sea adrift,
Sees the grass-green land of a cinnamon isle, just so
Through the darkness I saw her. Said she, "Where have you been so long?"
And raised her bird's-nest-like eyes—Banalata Sen from Natore.
(চুল তার কবেকার অন্ধকার বিদিশার নিশা,
মুখ তার শ্রাবস্তীর কারুকার্য; অতিদূর সমুদ্রের 'পর
হাল ভেঙে যে নাবিক হারায়েছে দিশা
সবুজ ঘাসের দেশ যখন সে চোখে দেখে দারুচিনি-দ্বীপের ভিতর,
তেমনি দেখেছি তারে অন্ধকারে; বলেছে সে, 'এতদিন কোথায় ছিলেন?'
পাখির নীড়ের মতো চোখ তুলে নাটোরের বনলতা সেন।)
At day's end, like hush of dew
Comes evening. A hawk wipes the scent of sunlight from its wings.
When earth's colors fade and some pale design is sketched,
Then glimmering fireflies paint in the story.
All birds come home, all rivers, all of life's tasks finished.
Only darkness remains, as I sit there face to face with Banalata Sen.
(সমস্ত দিনের শেষে শিশিরের শব্দের মতন
সন্ধ্যা আসে; ডানার রৌদ্রের গন্ধ মুছে ফেলে চিল;
পৃথিবীর সব রঙ নিভে গেলে পাণ্ডুলিপি করে আয়োজন
তখন গল্পের তরে জোনাকির রঙে ঝিলমিল;
সব পাখি ঘরে আসে—সব নদী—ফুরায় এ-জীবনের সব লেন দেন;
থাকে শুধু অন্ধকার, মুখোমুখি বসিবার বনলতা সেন। )
Note on Clinton Seely:
Professor Clinton Seely is in the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. Among his published books are: A Poet Apart: A Literary Biography of the Bengali Poet Jibanananda Das (1899-1954) (1990), The Slaying of Meghanada - A Ramayana from Colonial Bengal (2004), Barisal and Beyond--Essays on Bangla Literature, It Rained All Night, Ananya Jibanananda (অনন্য জীবনানন্দ), The Scent of Sunlight: Poems by Jibanananda Das, etc. With Leonard Nathan, he has translated Ramprasad's songs in a book Grace and Mercy in Her Wild Hair: Selected Poems to the Mother Goddess.
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Clinton B. Seely: Actually, it was more than pure coincidence. The ground must have been prepared before the seed was sown, so to speak. But somehow, I met the right person at the right moment of my life. It was poet Jyotirmoy Dutta of Calcutta who had inspired me to start working on Bangla poetry. Jyotirmoy had come over to Iowa University as guest lecturer in the early 1960’s. I met him at the University of Chicago when he came over to run a workshop there. It was Jyotirmoy who told me that I was likely to like working on Bangla poetry in general and the poetry of Jibanananda Das in particular. So, in a way, the whole of my life’s work is somehow connected to my relationship with Jyotirmoy Dutta.
Q: Although Jibanananda Das was not generally recognized as a major poet in his lifetime, since his death in 1954 he has inspired severa1 generations of Bangali poets in diverse ways. Do you think that his poetry will continue to have fresh meaning for coming generations of Bangalis, particularly young practitioners of the difficult craft of poetry?
Clinton B. Seely: It is very true that since the 1950’s, several generations of Bangali poets on both sides of the border have worked with the poetry of Jibanananda Das as their model. So, it’s very reasonable to doubt if there is anything left in his poetry to squeeze out. But then the poetical work of every major poet has several layers of meaning, each for a different generation to discover and utilize. For example, while the ‘50’s poets became almost addicted to his particular brand of lyricism, the ‘60’s poets were fascinated by the sense of cosmic evil in his poetry. During the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971, the poems of Rupashi Bangla became a source of considerable inspiration for the nation as a whole and the freedom fighters in particular. Over the last 25 years, many hitherto-unpublished fictional works of Jibanananda Das have been discovered and published. So I think that every new generation of Bangalis will continue to discover their very own Jibanananda Das.
Q: Coming to his fiction, do you think that the novels and short stories discovered since 1980 have an intrinsic literary value?
Clinton B. Seely: Apart from the fact that they are the works of a major Bangali poet, the fictional works of Jibanananda Das are remarkable for their poetic dimension. As readers of his prose works like Kabitar Katha, the collection of essays published after his death, know quite often he crosses the boundaries of prose in his fiction and becomes more poetical than in his own poetry. It’s a rare quality in Bangali poets.
Q: We have come to know that Dr. Bhumendra Guha of Kolkata is working on the unpublished diaries of Jibanananda Das. Have you met Dr. Guha recently?
Clinton B. Seely: Ashokananda Das, Jibanananda’s brother, first showed me a glimpse of Jibanananda’s diaries some time ago. But at that time I thought that only scraps were available. But during a recent visit to Kolkata, I came to know from Dr. Bhumendra Guha that the unpublished diaries are spread over 157 exercise books and cover several decades of Jibanananda’s life from the 1930’s onwards. When they are published – and I hope that they are published soon – the unpublished diaries will definitely help to add a new dimension to the personality and poetry of Jibanananda Das as we know him.
Q: We have come to know that you have recently published an English translation of Michael Madhusudan Dutta’s epic Meghnadbadh Kavya. Do you think that there are any points of similarity between the two poets?
Clinton B. Seely: Up to a point, both the poets have somewhat similar backgrounds. Of course, both of them belonged ancestrally to the land of Bangladesh and both of them also spent the latter parts of their lives in the city of Kolkata which, unfortunately, was not a happy period for either of them. The poets also shared a somewhat morbid fascination for the land of Bengal as expressed in their poetry. It should also be remembered that a particular poetic form, the sonnet, introduced into Bangla poetry by Michael Madhusudan Dutta, was later very ably utilized by Jibanananda Das in the poems of his Rupashi Bangla, although in a very different way.
Q: Jibanananda Das has been described as the archetypal Bangali poet of the 20th century, being the first one to meaningfully embody a sense of evil in his poetry. Do you think that his poetry will continue to have exceptional significance for the Bangali readers of the 21st century?
Clinton B. Seely: As I have already said, every major poet has more than one layer of poetic meaning. As the different poetic generations of the closing decades of the 20th century discovered their own different meanings in the poetry of Jibanananda Das, so the coming generations will also be able to find their very own Jibanananda Das. Like all significant literature, his poetry will continue to reveal new layers of meaning in the coming centuries.
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