Rabindranath Tagore’s Amra Choli Somukhpane (We Look Forward and March) was first published in 1916 as part of Balaka (Flight of Migratory Cranes).
WE LOOK FORWARD AND MARCH
Who would dare bind us
If we look forward and march!
Those who look to the past,
Weep regret to the last.
With bloodied feet rip the chains.
Walk ahead in sun and shade.
They will trap themselves
With their self-wrought webs,
Weeping regret to the last.
A fiery storm sounds the bugle.
The mid-day sun shines
An awakening.
The mind soars onwards
Intoxicated with radiance.
If they cross the threshold,
They will be blinded
By the brightness of the light,
Weeping regret to the last.
We will conquer oceans and hills,
We will transgress their will.
I do not fear treading the path alone.
Friends return together.
They form coteries.
They have defined boundaries.
They will be trapped within
The walls they have created,
Weeping regret to the last.
This poem has been translated from Bengali by Mitali Chakravarty with editorial input by Sohana Manzoor
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