Vishwa Bharati Journal

Rabindranath’s Hymn to an Autumnal Goddess

Written in 1908, Amra Bedhechhi Kasher Guchho (We have Tied Bunches of Kash) was published as a part of Gitanjali in Bengali in 1910.

We have Tied Bunches of Kaash

We have tied bunches of kaash* and strung garlands of shefali.
We have decorated the wicker tray with new-sprung paddy. 
Welcome autumnal goddess on your chariot of white clouds! 
Ride on angelic azure paths,
Travel through clean bright glittering forested mountains.
Come wearing a crown of white lotus, sparkling with dewdrops. 
On the banks of Ganges, in a solitary bower
Carpeted with the flowers of fallen malati,
Swans flap their wings as your entourage. 
When you pluck the strings of your golden bina*,
Soft sweet notes, 
Usher laughter amidst transient tears. 
Like the magical parasmani* emanating light,
Stroke the flames of compassion in our hearts—
Brighten our thoughts and replace darkness with light. 

*kaash: Wild grass flowers
*Bina: Musical instrument 
*Parasmani: A magical touchstone

A Bengali rendition of the song performed by a contemporary artiste, Rezwana Choudhury Bannya

In 1913, Tagore received a Nobel Prize for his own translation, Gitanjali: Song Offerings, published in England. Only 69 of the original 157 of the Bengali Gitanjali made it into the English translation.

An essay, ‘Publication of Tagore’s song offerings, the Gitanjali : A Study’ by Partha Pratim Ray, a librarian in Vishwa Bharati, contends: “Rabindranath Tagore himself took the task of the translation of Gitanjali (Song Offerings) when he sailed for England on 27 May 1912. There he handed over the poems to William Rothenstein whom he met earlier in Calcutta in the year 1911. Moved by the poems, Rothenstein in turn gave the poems to W.B. Yeats to read. The literary and artistic circle of Yeats decided to publish the poems after Yeats made a selection of them and wished to write an introduction to it. That is how Gitanjali was first published by India Society of London on November 1912.”

The article further elucidates: “The next edition of Gitanjali was published in the next year (March 1913) by Macmillan and Company, London. The number of poems in Bengali and English Gitanjali are not the same. In Bengali there were 157 poems, but in English it was 103. The poems were first published in different Kavyagrantha. At the end of the Indian edition of India Society or Macmillan there was a statement: ‘These translations are of poems contained in three books- Naivedya, Kheya and Gitanjali…’”

Yeats wrote the introduction for Song Offerings. He wrote, “these prose translations from Rabindranath Tagore have stirred my blood as nothing has for years” and “Mr. Tagore, like the Indian civilization itself, has been content to discover the soul and surrender himself to its spontaneity.”

This poem has been translated by Mitali Chakravarty with editorial input from Sohana Manzoor on behalf of Borderless Journal

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Deliverance by Tagore

Deliverance From this hapless country, oh Benevolent One, Efface all petty fears — Fears of society, governance and death. The rock-like burden borne by the impoverished and the weak, This pain of being ground under dust, This endless abuse, reinforced each second, This self-debasement, within and without, This yoke of enslavement, terror, subjugation, Is trod on again and again by many marching feet. Beaten out of self-worth, pride — Break this enormous pile of shame With your foot. On this auspicious dawn, Let us hold our heads high in the infinite sky Amidst the light of bounteousness and the heady breeze of freedom.