Beyond Land and Time

 

 

 

 

A Star Comes

(Єkti Nôkshôtrô Āshє)

 

Translated by Sibnarayan Ray

 

 

A star comes. Then treading the lonely path

by the tamarisk shore on a starry autumn night

it seems she will come. My door in the dark

has opened, unnoticed, at her confident touch.

She comes and shows how suddenly the evening

at the touch of a girl’s hand puts to sleep

the seas, sun, swiftness, and becomes

the night.

 

The sky above, distant,

by the movement of stars and planets, bright and dim,

becomes the night of autumn.

Does history remember anything but a glorious night like this?

 

The last tram has faded, the last sounds, Calcutta now

is the final night of life and world and nature :

crowding all around are buildings, falling bridges, graves.

 

Treading endless paths of weariness and decay

she has come as if from many seas,

a woman’s old heart in a new, vital body.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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