Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta

MODERN BENGALI POEMS

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Release

 

WILL the sun rise tomorrow?

       It is here now evening. Darkness spreads

into every nook and corner,

And in a blind rage drives onward a desperate cry.

Night comes down the sky:

          Will the spell of darkness dissolve?

 

New-moon Night is black.

There is no mistaking;

And the full moon even at stand-still

With all its witchcraft cannot turn black.

 

Oh, where is the heart kind to the poor?

       And where the generous soul?

The honey-bee has ceased to hum and buzz:

      Only the chains jingle,

      fettering the honesty of the honest.

 

Now it is time

               to journey back to you:

Shall your eye ever turn

               to a helpless yearning gaze?

 

Shall the sun rise tomorrow?

 

Shall the sun rise ever?

 

JYOTIRMOY MUKHOPADHYAY