ONCE AGAIN I wake up when the night has waned,
when the world opens all its petals once more,
and this is an endless wonder.
Vast islands have sunk in the abyss unnamed,
stars have been beggared of the last flicker of their light,
countless epochs have lost all their ladings.
World-conquerors have vanished into the shadow of a name
behind dim legends,
great nations raised their towers of triumph
as a mere offering to the unappeasable hunger of the dust.
Among this dissolving crowd of the discarded
my forehead receives the consecration of light,
and this is an endless wonder.
I stand for another day with the Himalayas,
with constellations of stars.
I am here where in the surging sea-waves
the infuriate dance of the Terrible
is rhythmed with his boisterous laughter.
The centuries on which have flashed up and foundered
kingly crowns like bubbles
have left their signature on the bark of this aged tree,
where I am allowed to sit under its ancient shade for one more day, and this is an endless wonder.

আমি শুধু মালা গাঁথি ছোটো ছোটো ফুলে,
সে ফুল শুকায়ে যায় কথায় কথায়,
তাই যদি, তাই হোক, দুঃখ নাহি তায়,
তুলিব কুসুম আমি অনন্তের কূলে।
যারা থাকে অন্ধকারে, পাষাণ-কারায়,
আমার এ মালা যদি লহে গলে তুলে,
নিমেষের তরে তারা যদি সুখ পায়,
নিষ্ঠুর বন্ধন-ব্যথা যদি যায় ভুলে।
ক্ষুদ্র ফুল, আপনার সৌরভের সনে
নিয়ে আসে স্বাধীনতা, গভীর আশ্বাস--
মনে আনে রবিকর নিমেষ-স্বপনে,
মনে আনে সমুদ্রের উদার বাতাসে।
ক্ষুদ্র ফুল দেখে যদি কারো পড়ে মনে
বৃহৎ জগৎ, আর বৃহৎ আকাশ।

IN THIS GREAT Universe
The giant wheel of pain revolves;
Stars and planets split up;
Sparks of fiery dust, far-flung,
Scatter at terrific speed
Enveloping in network primordial
The anguish of existence.
In the armoury of pain
Spreading on the stretches of consciousness, aglow,
Clang the instruments of torture;
Bleeding wounds gape open.
Small is man's body,
How immense his strength of suffering.
At the concourse of creation and chaos
To what end does he hold up his cup of fiery drink
In the weird festival of the gods
Drunk in their titan power,O why
Filling his body of clay
Sweeps the red delirious tide of tears?
To each moment he brings endless value
From his unconquerable will.
Man's sacrificial offering
His burning physical agony
Can anything compare,
In the whole fiery dedication of the suns and stars?
Such unyielding wealth of prowess,
Such fearless endurance,
Such indifference to death,
Triumphal march as this, in hundreds,
Trampling embers underfoot
To reach the limit of sorrow
Is there anywhere such quest, nameless, radiant,
Such pilgrimage together, from road to road?
Such pure waters of service, breaking through igneous rocks,
Such endless store of love?