1
hawaa, ek khullay din
ek khullay din
chameli ki khushboo se bhara
hawaa ka ek jhonka
meri ruuh ko kehnay laga:
"mujhay tum apni ghulab ki khusboo day do,
is k badlay main apni chameli ki kushboo day doon gi."
"meray pass gulab ke phool nahin hain.
meray bageechay k sub phool mar chukay hain."
"chalo theek hai, main murjaee pankhrion ko,
peelay patton ko aur fauwaaray k paani ko
hi lay loon gi."
hawaa chaali gayi. main ro para. aur khud ko
khenay laga:
"kyaa kar dala hai tunay
us bageechoo ko
jo tumaaray hawaalay thaa?"
-tr. Ravi Kopra
from Robert Bly's English version of a Spanish poem
by Antonio Machado.
***
The Wind, One Brilliant Day
The wind, one brilliant day, called
to my soul with an odor of jasmine.
"in reurn for the odor of my jasmine,
I'd like all the odor of your roses."
"I have no roses; all the flowers
in my garden are dead."
"Well then, I'll take the withered petals
and the yellow leaves and the waters of the fountain."
The wind left. And I wept. And I said to myself:
"What have you done with the garden that was entrusted to you?"
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2
Samandar
mujhay kuch aisa lag raha hai
k meri kishti ab sagar ki gheraarion main
us badi cheez k saath lag gayii hai.
aur ab kuch bi nahin ho raha!
Kuch bhi nahin....sub khaamosi hai... sub lehrain hain...
- kuch bhi nahin ho raha? ya sub kuch ho chuka
hai
aur ab hum kharay hain, shaanti main, ek neyay jeewan main?
-tr. Ravi Kopra
from Robert Bly's English version of
a Spanish poem by Juan Ramon Jimenez.
***
Oceans
I have a feeling that my boat
has struck, down there in the depths,
against a great thing.
And nothing
happens! Nothing...Silence...Waves...
-Nothing happens? Or has everything hap-
pened,
and are we standing now, quietly, in new life?
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3
mera pchaaswaan saal
mera pchaaswaan janam din guzar gaya thaa.
main aklea London main ek bheer walaay
cafe main baitha thaa.
ek khuli kitab aur
khalli pyaala meray saamnay
ek sangmarmar k mez par.
jaisy hi main dukaan or galli ko dekh raha thaa,
achanak hi meray jism main ek lahak lagi,
aur takreeban bees minute tak itni khushi aayee
aur yeh laga k nemat mujhay mil chuki hai
aur logon ki bhi day sakta hoon.
-tr. Ravi Kopra The orginal poem is, My Fiftieth Year by W.B. Yeats.
My fiftieth year had come and gone,
I sat, a solitary man,
In a crowded London shop,
An open book and empty cup
On the marble table-top.
While on the shop and the street I gazed
My body of a sudden blazed;
And twentuy monutes more or less
It seemed, so great my happiness,
That I was blessed and could bless.
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4
bad rau safed ghaas
yahan bahar kharray huey,
apnay aap main khoay huey,
main nay kafi der tak,
makki k kheton aur
bad rau safed ghaas k door,
us chotay se ghar ko dekha hoga.
safed dewaarain, ghaain ghallay-gudaam main jaati hueen.
ab main udhar dekhta hoon
sab kuch badal chka hai.
main jis ko kho chuka hoon
jis k liyay rota hoon
wo ek wiraan narm dil ki
choti si kaali ankhon waali cheez thee
jisnay mujhay chchupay-chchupay pyaar kiya thaa.
yahaan par hi hawaa,
meray haath k choonay se,
kisi aur jahaan ki naazuk jaan se,
bhari - bhari aati hai.
-tr. Ravi Kopra
***
Milkweed
While I stood here, in the open, lost in myself,
I must have looked a long time
Down the corn rows, beyond grass,
The small house,
Whit walls, animals lumbering toward the barn.
I look down now. It is all changed.
Whatever it was I lost, whatever I wept for
Was a wild, gentle thing, the small dark eyes
Loving me in secret.
It is here. At a touch of my hand,
The air fills with delicate creatures
From the other world.
- James Wright
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5
POOR little heart! (Emily Dickinson)
chhotay say bechaaray dil!
kyaa log tumay bhool gayey?
kuch khyaal na kiya! kuch khyaal na kiya!
chhotay say garroori dil!
kyaa log tumay chor gayey?
khush raho! khush raho!
chhotay say dublay dil!
main tumain na toroongee.
mera aihsaan logay? mera aihsaan logay?
chhotay say khushi kay dil!
subah ki pyaari azmat.
tum mujrah jaaogay! tum mujrah jaaogay!
-tr. Ravi Kopra
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6
meray dil, hum usko bhool jaaengay!
meray dil, hum usko bhool jaaengay!
tu aur main dono is raat ko!
tum uska pyaar bhool jaao gay,
main uskee roshni.
jab tum usay bhool chukay,
to mujhay zara bataa dena,
ta kay main bhi bhool jaaon.
jaldi karo!
dar lagta hai k tumhari der main
kahin usko main yaad karnaa
fir shuroo na kar doon.
-tr. Ravi Kopra
***
HEART, we will forget him!
Heart, we will forget him!
You and I, to-night!
You may forget the warmth he gave,
I will forget the light.
When you have done, pray tell me,
That I my thoughts may dim;
Haste! lest while you’re lagging,
I may remember him!
- Emily Dickinson (1830–86)
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7
ek shaks hotay huey
meray marnay par
koee nahin aayaga
afsos karnay
meri kabar par
jab tak main zinda hoon
main aapnay aak ko
yeh keh loon -
haey, yeh kya hua!
badi buri baat huee -
baday taras ki baat huee!
main mar gayee!
-tr. Ravi Kopra
from the following English translation by
Steven D. Carter
Being a person
whom no one will mourn when gone,
I shuld perhaps
say for myself while still alive here -
"Ah, the pity, the pity."
- Lady Izumi Shikibu ( c. 970-1050)
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8
main waisay hi subah subah
main waisay hi subah subah
jab phiikaa sa ghulaabi suraj
nikal raha thaa uth baithi.
main nay mur kar dekha
tum meri chchaati k saath
laggay uth rehay thay
meray dil main yeh aaya k
k saansain bharta aadmi (chup, bolna nahin!)
khuda se bhi zyaada khoobsoorat hota hai.
-tr. Ravi Kopra
from the English version
***
Waking Intuitively
Waking Intuitively in the rosegray light of rising sun
I turned, saw you arise sleepwarm from my heart's side.
And knew( plain Calvinistic conscience, hold your tongue!)
that man, here, breathing, is more beautiful than God.
- Q. Lutatius Catulus ( c. 102 B.C.)
translated by Janet Lembke from Latin
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9
main sachhay dil se kehti hoon, meri jaan,
main sachhay dil se kehti hoon, meri jaan,
main tum se pyaar karti hoon
aur chahti hoon tumain
aur pyaaar bhi karoon
tumaray ghar ki raani banoon
teri baahon mein main rahoon
dukh lagta hai dekh k
tumari phiri hooee aankhain ko.
main apnay dil ko kehti hoon -
tera yaar ab door challa giya hai
raat ko mujhay akelay chor kar
kahin door challa giya hai.
mujhay ek kabar bana giya hai.
Aur main soch main par jaati hoon -
jab tum wapis aaoo gay to kya
tum mujh ko achchay lago gay?
bilkul achhay lago gay?
dukh lagata hai soch kar kis ki
aankhon nay tumari aankhon ko fislaa liya
main yeh sachhay dil se kehti hoon
na jaanay vo kis kis ko dekhain
agar meri taraf dekhain gi
to meray main jaan aa jaayey gi.
-tr. Ravi Kopra
from the following English version.
***
Egypt k 3500 se 2100 saal puraanay
mohabbat main par jaanay waalay gaanay
With candour I confess my love
With candour I confess my love;
I love you,yes, and wish to love you closer;
A mistress of your house,
Your arm placed over mine.
Alas your eyes are loose.
I tell my heart: " My lord
has moved away. During
The night moved away
And left me. I am like a tomb."
And I wonder: Is there no sensation
Left, when you come to me?
Nothing at all?
Alas those eyes which led you astray,
Forever on the loose.
And yet I confess with candour
That no matter where lese they roam
If they roam toward me
I enter into life.
- Anon (c. 1567 - 1085 B.C.)
tr. by Ezra Pound and Noel Stock
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10
socho k hum ek jail main hain
takreeban 50 saal k hain
aur 18 saal aur bachay hain
jab lohay k darwaazay khulain gay.
fir bhi hum zinda rehatay hai
bahar ki har cheez hamaray saath rehti hai -
sun log-baag, sub jaanwar, unki sub kash-makash, aur hawaa -
mera maksad hai duniya ka in dewaaron k bahar.
man kehtahoon k hum aisay bhi hon jahaan bhi hon
hamain aisa zinda rehna chahiyay k
maut say hamesha door hain
-tr. Ravi Kopra
from the following English version:
Let's say we're in prison
and close to fifty,
and have eighteen more years, say,
before the iron gates will open.
We'll still live with the outside,
with its people and animals, struggle and wind -
I mean with the outside beyond the walls.
I mean, however and wherever we are,
we must live as if we will never die.
- Nazim Hikmet, " On Living"
The original is in Turkish
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