Wine comes in at the mouth
And love comes in at the eye;
That's all we shall know for truth
Before we grow old and die.
I lift the glass to my mouth,
I look at you, and I sigh.
HERE lies Duns Scotus
Who died of lotus.
They mock the present and they haunt the past,
And in the future there is naught agleam
With hope, the soul desires, that at last
The heart pursuing does not find a dream.
At draw-gloves we'll play,
And prithee let's lay
A wager, and let it be this :
Who first to the sum
Of twenty shall come,
Shall have for his winning a kiss.
He whom I enclose with my name is weeping in this dungeon.
I am ever busy building this wall all around; and as this wall goes up into
the sky day by day I lose sight of my true being in its dark shadow.
I take pride in this great wall, and I plaster it with dust and sand
lest a least hole should be left in this name;
and for all the care I take I lose sight of my true being.
মানব জন্মের নামে হবে কলঙ্ক হবে
এরকম দুঃসময়ে আমি যদি মিছিলে না যাই,
উত্তর পুরুষে ভীরু কাপুরুষের উপমা হবো
আমার যৌবন দিয়ে এমন দুর্দিনে আজ
শুধু যদি নারীকে সাজাই।
Ducks bobbing on the water--
are they also, tonight,
hoping to get lucky?
Translated by Robert Hass
Du var den fine Rose,
Blegrød i Sommerluften,
Og jeg var Atmosphæren,
Som fyldte sig med Duften.
Du hast in Tagen, da ich arm gewesen,
In meines Herzens offnem Buch gelesen.
Nun ward zum Buch der Armut bange Zeit.
Wag drinnen steht, ist Leid von jenem Leid,
In dem mir Deiner Liebe reiner Trank
Wehmütig Glück gewährte. Habe Dank!
Droplet on the glass
tinkling on a summer's night
soft lips wait to taste
(Previously published in Poems Md, Apr 2008)
