The Bong Connection

                                                                  




Synopsis: Bengali poetry has always been known for its dramatic interpretation in terms of its elocutionist style from Rabindranath Tagore to Kazi Nazrul Islam to Nachinchandan Sen, Bengal has been one of the greatest contributers in terms of its poetic styles.Such has been the impact of poetry in Bengal that today majority metro stations, streets even buildings are named after these renowned legends! Lets check out a brief history on this magnificent genre.  


Bengal Poetry originated in Pali and other Prakrit socio-cultural traditions. It is antagonistic towards Vedic rituals and laws, which culminated in the Buddhist and Jain movements. However, modern Bengali owes much to Sanskrit.
The history of Bengali poetry underwent three successive stages of development: 

1. Poetry of the early age (like Charyapad), 
2. The Medieval period and
3. The age of modern poetry in1930s.

1.Poetry of the early age (like Charyapad):

Bengali poetry probably began during the 10th century. It is known for the mystic poems called Charyacharyavinishchaya, and sometimes called Charyapad or Charyagiti. These poems were discovered in Nepal's Royal Library by Bengali scholar Mahamahopadhyay Haraprasad Shastri.

2.The Medieval Period :

The Medieval period of Bengali poetry was between 1350 and 1800. It was known as the period of Jayadeva, the renowned 12th century poet from neighboring Orissa who was famous for his poem Gitagovinda.

The period from 1500 to 1800 is known as the Late Middle Bengali Period. During this period, there was a marked influence of Chaitanya, leading to the development of Vaishnava literature. Vaishnava poets include Govinddas and Gyandas.

3.The Modern Age:

The modern age was ushered in by a group of writers who wrote for Kallo, a little magazine founded in 1923. The most popular among this group were Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899–1976) and Mohitolal Majumdar (1888–1952), Achintyakumar Sengupta (1903–1976), Satyendranath Dutta(1882–1922), and Premendra Mitra (1904–1988).

    

With Rabindranath Tagore founding a firm basis for Bengali poetry, the new poets of the early 1920s consciously moved for transcending the frontiers of traditional verses to establishing a realm of truly modern poetry. It was a successful movement that brought permanent change to the structure and theme of poetry. One notable sect of modernists included pro-socialism poets likeSukanta Bhattacharya and Samar Sen.

The poem I'm focusing in this post is Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali. Gitanjali is a collection of 103 English poems, largely translations. This volume became very famous in the West, and was widely translated.The word gitanjoli is composed from "git", song, and "anjoli", offering, and thus means - "An offering of songs"; but the word for offering, anjoli, has a strong devotional connotation, so the title may also be interpreted as "prayer offering of song" 

The translations were undertaken prior to a visit to England in 1912, where the poems were extremely well received. A slender volume was published in 1913, with an exhilarating preface by W. B. Yeats. In the same year, based on a corpus of three thin translations, Rabindranath became the first non-European to win the Nobel prize.

The poems of Gitanjali express a largely metaphysical outlook, talking about a union with the "supreme"; but like much western poetry that explores similar themes, the language suggests the union of two earthly lovers. This type of anthropomorphic depiction of celestial love is quite common in the Vaishnava literature of India since the 12th century.

Some poems involve themes related to nature, but here, too, the spiritual is subtly present. Heres presenting poem no 57 which deals with the above style:

আলো আমার আলো ওগো, আলো ভূবন ভরা
আলো নয়ন ধোওয়া আমার আলো হৃদয় হরা ।
নাচে আলো নাচে ও ভাই, আমার প্রাণের কাছে -
বাজে আলো বাজে ও ভাই, হৃদয়বীণার মাঝে
জাগে আকাশ, ছোটে বাতাস, হাসে সকল ধরা ।
আলোর স্রোতে পাল তুলেছে হাজার প্রজাপতি
আলোর ঢেউয়ে উঠল মেতে মল্লিকা মালতী ।                                        
মেঘে মেঘে সোনা, ও ভাই যায়না মানিক গোনা -
পাতায় পাতায় হাসি ও ভাই, পুলক রাশি রাশি ।
সুরনদীর কূল ডুবেছে সুধা-নিঝর-ঝরা।
      - অচলায়তন

Read as: 

Alo amar, alo ogo, alo bhubon bhora

alo noyon dhoa amar, alo hridoe hara.

Nache alo nache, o bhai, amar praner kachhe --
baje alo baje, o bhai, hridoe binar majhe --
jage akash, chhoţe batash, hashe shokol dhora.
Alor srote pal tulechhe hajar projapoti.
Alor đheue uţhlo mete mollika maloti.
Meghe meghe shona, o bhai, jae na manik gona --
patae patae hashi, o bhai, pulok rashi rashi.
Shuronodir kul ḍubechhe shudha-nijhor-jhora.
      -Ocholaeoton

Translation:

Light, my light, the world-filling light, the eye-kissing light, heart-sweetening light!

Ah, the light dances, my darling, at the centre of my life; the light strikes, my darling, the chords of my love; the sky opens, the wind runs wild, laughter passes over the earth.

The butterflies spread their sails on the sea of light. Lilies and jasmines surge up on the crest of the waves of light.

The light is shattered into gold on every cloud, my darling, and it scatters gems in profusion.

Mirth spreads from leaf to leaf, my darling, and gladness without measure. The heaven's river has drowned its banks and the flood of joy is abroad.


source: wikepedia :)