Akashlina
Akashlina ( Bangala : আকাশলীনা )is one of the most celebrated and recited poem of poet Jibanananda Das along with his another sophisticated poem Banalata Sen ( Bangala : বনলতা সেন ).It was composed by the poet in the late Thirties of 20th century when the poet was in great distress with his wife.It was first published in 1940 in a verse collection named Satti Tarar Timir.[1]
Transliteration in the Latin alphabet
Transliteration and Translation
Transliterated lyrics | Approximate translation |
---|---|
1st stanza | |
Suanjana oi khane jeyo nako tumi, |
Suranjana never go there, |
2nd stanza | |
Fire asho ei mathe,dew-e |
Come back to this field, this wave; |
3rd stanza | |
KI kothotha tahar sathe tar sathe |
To him what the hell you talk, |
4th stanza | |
Suanjana tumar hridoye aj ghas, |
Suanjana |
Background
"Akashlina" was composed by Jibanananda Das in the late Thirties of 20th century when he was living in Calcutta, passing life through struggle after losing job of Assistant Lecturer at the City College. The relevant manuscript was discovered and labelled Book-9 while being preserved in the National Library of Calcutta. The poem occurs on page 12 of the manuscript. It was first published in the December 1940 in a verse collection named Satti Tarar Timir It is also the first poem of his third collection of poetry published in 1942 under the title Akashlina. Earlier, the lyric was collected in Modern Bengali Poetry jointly edited by Abu Sayeed Ayub and Hirendranath Mukhopadhyaya, published in 1940. Although popularly regarded a romantic lyric, poet’s historical sense of human existence is unmistakably the underlining essence.
Translation into English
Starting with poet Jibanananda Das himself, Akashlina has been translated into English by many hands. They include Martin Kirkman, one with the initials S.D., Puroshuttam Das together with Shamosri Das, P. Lal, Mary Lago in collaboration with Tarun Gupta, Chidananda Dasgupta, Ananda Lal, Clinton B. Seely, Sukanta Chaudhuri, Anupam Banerjee, Hayat Saif, Faizul Latif Chowdhury, Fakrul Alam, Anjana Basu, Joe Winter, Ron. D K Banergjee, Joydeep Bhattacharya, Arun Sarker, and Amitabha Mukerjee. A comparison of the translations reflect difference in understanding and interpretation as perceived by the translators. In certain points, interpretation by the translator differs from that of the poet himself, as reflected in his own translation.[2]
See also
References
Further reading
- IOO Bangla Premer kobita by Samresh Majumder
- Kabbo Somachar by Bangla Academy
- 5 Modern Poets by Sahittomala
External links
- Lyrics in Bengali
- Banalata Sen
- Translation by Joudeep Bhattacharya
- Translation by Ron. D K Banergjee
- A video recitation
- Comments on Banalata Sen
- Banalata Sen - the original poem in wikisource
- A Bengali Web-site on poet Jibanananda Das (Archived 2009-10-24)
- A Review on poet Jibanananda Das