Shesher kobita
kaaler jatrar dhwani shunite I pao?
Tari rath nityoi udhao,
Jagayichhe antarikshe hridoyspandan,
Charke pishte andharer bokhyophata tarar krondon.
ogo bondhu
Sei dhabomaan kaal
Joraye dhorilo more pheli taar jaal
Tule nilo druto raathe
Dushshahoshi bhromoner pathe
Toma hote bohu dure
mone hoy
Ajoshro mrityure paar hoye ashilam
Aji noboprobhater shokhorchhuray
Rather chanchal beg haoay uray
Amar purano naam -.
Phiribaar path nahi
Dur hote dekho Jodi chahi
Paribe na chinite amay-
Hey bondhu biday
konodin kormoheen purno abokaashe
Basanto batashe
Atiter teer hote je ratre bohibe dirghoshaash
Jhhora bokuler kaanna byathhibe akash
sei khone khuje dekho – kichu mor piche rohilo se
Tomar praner prante: bismriti prodoshe
Hoyto dibe se jyoti
Hoyto dhoribe kobhu naam hara swapner muroti
tobu toh se swapno noy
Sobchheye sotyo mor
Sei mrityunjoy
Se amar prem.
tari ami rakhiya elem
Aparibartan arghya tomar e uddeshhe
Poribortoner shrote ami jai bheshe
Kaaler jatray.
Hey bondhu biday.
tomar hoyni kono khoti
Morter mrityika mor, tai diye Jodi amritomurati
Shrishti kore thako
Tahari aroti hok tobo sondhyabela
Pujar sey khela
Byaghat pabe na mor protyoher mlaan sporsho lege
Trishnarto abeg bege
Brhoshto nahi hobe taar kono phul noibedyer thale
tomar manos bhoje sajatne sajale
Je bhab rasher patro banir trishay
Tar sathe dibo na mishaye jam or dhulir dhon
Ja mor chokher jole bhije
ajo tumi nije
Hoyto koribe rochon
Mor smritituku diye swapnabishto tomar bochon
bhar
tar na rohibe, na rohibe day
Hey bondhu biday
mor lagi koriyo na shok
Amar royechhe kormo, amar royechhe bishyolok.
Mor patro rikto hoy nai
Shunyere koribo purno, ei broto bohibo sodai
utkanthiya amar lagi Jodi keu protikhiya thake
Sei dhonyo koribe amake
shuklapakshya hote ani
Rajani gandhar brintokhani
Je pare sajate
Arghyathala krishnapakshya ratey
se amare dekhibare pay
Ashim dokhyotay…
Bhalo mondo milaye shokoli.
Ebar pujay tare aponay dite chai boli.
tomare ja diyechhinu peyechho tar nisshesh adikaar,
Ogo nirupamo
Tomare ja diyechhinu
Se tomar e daan
Grohon korechho joto rini toto korechho amay
Hey bondhu biday
Poem
The poem which is a part of the illumined classic of Rabindranath Tagore named Shesher kobita also appears in the Mohua anthology of the same poet under the name Biday.
This is one of the masterpieces of Indian Literature. Here the relationships of two people are dealt in with great precision. The poet ranks the feeling of love above all and thus he constructs some of the eternal feelings in newer dimensions. He knows that the world is full of lusty bonds and intimate physicality, he secedes the bondage of love from the shackles to the sheer height in the sky. Thus this poem is an evergreen mantelpiece preserved in the heart of the civilization for the centuries.
Background
As mentioned earlier this poem opes the deep bonds of love and affection. The romantic feeling is excavated in a sublime manner. The shesher kobita was written when the poet was of 67 years of age. The poem biday was later incorporated in the text. Biday as the dates say was written when the poet had reached the grave age of 65. Thus it is clear that he had passed through the various stages of life and has seen the life with open eyes. He had experienced every nook and cranny of the same and thus tries to construe some lines for the welfare of the generation to come. He instills a new sense of love and sacrifice in the minds of the readers.
Structure of the poem
The poem is written in iambic pentameter. This is a rhyming pattern famous in the greek literature. The poet also uses a regular rhyme in two lines. There are 4 stanzas of the poem. There are uses of allegories and similies with striking relevance. The poem delves in the rhyming pattern and then again breaks through it in a blank verse sometimes.
Analysis
"kaaler jatrar dhwani shunite I pao?
Tari rath nityoi udhao,
Jagayichhe antarikshe hridoyspandan,
Charke pishte andharer bokhyophata tarar krondon."
Can you hear the sounds of the immortal time passing by you? The chariot of Time ever passes in the vicinity of the darkness. The time passes by and it appears as if the twinkling stars are crying out for the same through the dark crevices of the sky.
"ogo bondhu
Sei dhabomaan kaal
Joraye dhorilo more pheli taar jaal
Tule nilo druto raathe
Dushshahoshi bhromoner pathe
Toma hote bohu dure."
O my friend! That ever passing time has scooped me up in the fangs. The poet reres to the eternal time and says that time has taken up the beloved and she is treading far away from her partner. The poet refers to this travel as adventurous!
"mone hoy
Ajoshro mrityure paar hoye ashilam
Aji noboprobhater shokhorchhuray
Rather chanchal beg haoay uray
Amar purano naam -.
Phiribaar path nahi
Dur hote dekho Jodi chahi
Paribe na chinite amay-
Hey bondhu biday"
The poet says that to the beloved it appears as if she is trespassing the death many a times and seeing the new morning with the open eyes. The speed of the chariot is leaving back the old names of the person and the names are driven away in the gush of the passing wind. The world thus ends the dimensions. If one sees from afar then one cannot recognize the other. She bid an adieu thus to her lover.
"konodin kormoheen purno abokaashe
Basanto batashe
Atiter teer hote je ratre bohibe dirghoshaash
Jhhora bokuler kaanna byathhibe akash"
If at any night of solitude and leisure the man senses a deep melancholy within the soul, if the spring winds blow in the deep sorrow from the banks of the past and the fallen flowers echo the cry of the heart in the blankness of the dark….
"sei khone khuje dekho – kichu mor piche rohilo se
Tomar praner prante: bismriti prodoshe
Hoyto dibe se jyoti
Hoyto dhoribe kobhu naam hara swapner muroti"
find me in those solitary nooks. Something is left behind me. That myself resides in the corners of your heart. If in any morning of the oblivion you remember my name and that shall illuminate the images of the nameless dreams.
"tobu toh se swapno noy
Sobchheye sotyo mor
Sei mrityunjoy
Se amar prem."
Yet that is not just a dream but that is the greatest truth of my life. That is the defeater of the death. That is my love.
"tari ami rakhiya elem
Aparibartan arghya tomar e uddeshhe
Poribortoner shrote ami jai bheshe
Kaaler jatray.
Hey bondhu biday"
The poet says that the beloved has left over the unchanging bows of the love for her beloved and she herself is eluded away by the waves of the changes in the tide of time. Thus she bids an adieu to the same.
"tomar hoyni kono khoti
Morter mrityika mor, tai diye Jodi amritomurati
Shrishti kore thako
Tahari aroti hok tobo sondhyabela
Pujar sey khela
Byaghat pabe na mor protyoher mlaan sporsho lege
Trishnarto abeg bege
Brhoshto nahi hobe taar kono phul noibedyer thale"
The beloved refers to her lover and says that he would have no loss. The soil piece of the idol which he had made of her is just made of the mud of the earth and that shall not be eradicated with time if he worships it daily during the evening periods. She says that game of worshipping shall not be mired by the daily handling of the mingled self and the passion of the physicality shall not smirk the purity of the divine love through the sole prayers.
"tomar manos bhoje sajatne sajale
Je bhab rasher patro banir trishay
Tar sathe dibo na mishaye jam or dhulir dhon
Ja mor chokher jole bhije."
What ever you have dressed up for me shall not be let to spoilt by any glimpse of sorrow. The prayers shall be ever as divine as graceful as it was before.
"ajo tumi nije
Hoyto koribe rochon
Mor smritituku diye swapnabishto tomar bochon."
May be you till today shall make up some dialogues between you and me through the weapons of the memory and imagination.
"bhar tar na rohibe, na rohibe day
Hey bondhu biday"
The weight of the bereaved soul shall no more stay tall. Thus o my friend adieu.
"mor lagi koriyo na shok
Amar royechhe kormo, amar royechhe bishyolok.
Mor patro rikto hoy nai
Shunyere koribo purno, ei broto bohibo sodai"
The poet says that the lover must not be sorrowful for the loved one. She says that she is not made a pauper. She shall ever bear the grace of filling the empty forever and ever. This shall be her holy service.
"utkanthiya amar lagi Jodi keu protikhiya thake
Sei dhonyo koribe amake"
If anyone waits for me in extremely tension then that shall hail my spirits
"shuklapakshya hote ani
Rajani gandhar brintokhani
Je pare sajate
Arghyathala krishnapakshya ratey"….
The poet uses the allegory here again. If there is anyone who can pluck the night flowers in a no moon night and dress the same up in a offering in a night of the full moon….
"se amare dekhibare pay
Ashim dokhyotay…
Bhalo mondo milaye shokoli.
Ebar pujay tare aponay dite chai boli."
He can see me in immense abilities. Today I would like to offer myself as a puja to that man who can mix the right and the wrong.
"tomare ja diyechhinu peyechho tar nisshesh adikaar,
Ogo nirupamo
Tomare ja diyechhinu
Se tomar e daan
Grohon korechho joto rini toto korechho amay
Hey bondhu biday"
Whatever I have given you, you had got the utmost rights of all of it. Whatever I had offered you that were all your gifts. The more you took the more hailed was I. thus adieu to you my friend.
Summary
The poem is a salutation from a beloved to her lover. The poet says that love is nothing frivolous. It is at the same time eternal and ephemeral. Love is greater than anything in this world. The beloved leaves but she says that she will stay for ever as the sweet memories in the mind of the lover. The lover can worship the form and start the dialogues in the imagining corners of his heart. She says that shall make her proud and hail her for time eternal.
