Jibanananda Das (17 February 1899 – 22 October 1954 / Barisal / Bangladesh)

Finally, I’m done with the ledger of my life,
Miss Banalata Sen!

Where have you gone at this odd hour?
Kingfisher hasn’t neglected its midday sport,
Sarika still returns to the nest,
River has become frothy in exuberance,
Still no sign of you, Miss Bonolata Sen!

Haven’t seen anyone like you – nowhere?
Why did you have to leave ahead any of us?
Makes me wonder – why you turned this world
of ours, into a desert wasteland.
(why it had to be you!)
Shattering the wizards’s sorcery
You departed from this earth,
My familiar Miss Bonolata Sen.

Many a gloaming must desend over the horizon,
Many a night must we sleep next to a squalor
Many a time must we rouse by wild wind,
The night train must have reached
the station amidst oak and jombu forest,
taking away my night princes, Miss Bonolata Sen.

[Original: Shesh Holo Jiboner Shob Lenden (Bengali), Translation: A.H. Jaffor Ullah]