A Bengali Poem by Lucy | English Translation
Introduction
Some longings never find their way to fulfilment. They live in the quiet corners of the heart, appearing and disappearing like an elusive breeze, leaving us forever caught between the joy of finding and the sorrow of losing.
In “ভেবে ভেবে তোকে!” (Thinking of You, Again and Again!), the poet explores the restless pursuit of an elusive beloved – someone who seems to come within reach, only to vanish once more. Through the playful metaphor of hide-and-seek, the ache of separation, and the image of a flowering vine clinging to its support, the poem unfolds a love that transcends the boundaries of the present and reaches into the infinite.
The Original Poem
ভেবে ভেবে তোকে!
ভাবনার খেয়ালে আমি খুঁজে ফিরি তোকে!
পালিয়ে বেড়াস তুই অধোরা বাতাসে!
তবুও আমি খুঁজে ফিরি তোকেই বারবার:
পেয়েও যাই, তারপর হারিয়েও ফেলি আবার!
এ যেন তোর সাথে আমার লুকোচুরি খেলা;
তোরই অপেক্ষায় থেকে কেটে যায় বেলা!
অস্থিরতার এক ঝাঁক উন্মাদনা নিয়ে স্পন্দনে –
তড়পাই কেবলই আমি তোরই বিহনে!
ঘুরেফিরে তুই এসে হৃদয়ের অতলে দিস হানা;
আমি পারি না, পারি না নিতে ভীষণ এ যন্ত্রণা!
ইচ্ছে করে, জড়িয়ে থাকি মাধবীলতা যেমন,
আষ্টেপৃষ্টে জড়িয়ে থাকে তারই অবলম্বন!
কিন্তু তুই তো জানি শুধুই এক স্বপ্নের ইন্দ্রজাল!
তোকে ভেবেই বুঝি বা পাড়ি দেবো মহাকাল!
অনন্ত অসীমের বুকে আঁকি তোর ছবি:
একালে নয়, হয়তো সেকালে আমার তুই হবি!
The English Translation
Watch the poem:
The video features English subtitles that offer an alternative poetic interpretation of the original Bengali poem. Though the wording differs from the translation presented here, both seek to capture the same emotions and essence of the poem.
Thinking of You, Again and Again!
Lost in the whims of thought, I search for you,
Yet you escape through winds I cannot pursue.
Still, time and again, I come looking for you;
I find you at last, then lose you anew!
It feels like a game of hide-and-seek we play,
While waiting for you, my hours slip away.
With a frenzy of restlessness pulsing within,
I writhe in the anguish of your absence again.
You return, time and again, to my heart’s deepest core,
I cannot, I cannot bear this torment anymore!
I long to cling to you, like the Madhavi vine,
Twining around its support, entwined line by line.
But I know you are only a spell woven by dreams,
A wondrous illusion, or so it seems.
Perhaps, thinking of you, I shall journey through time,
And sketch you upon eternity’s boundless design.
Not in this age, perhaps in an age yet to be,
You may finally belong, my beloved, to me.
Reflection: A Love Beyond Time
Love does not always find fulfilment in presence. Sometimes, it survives through memories, imagination, and the persistent hope of a meeting that may never happen. The beloved in this poem remains elusive – a fleeting presence who can be found in thought but never held for long.
The hide-and-seek of the opening verses captures the paradox of longing: the closer the beloved seems, the more painful the next disappearance becomes. The image of the Madhavi vine expresses a deeper yearning – not merely to find the beloved, but to remain intertwined with them, held in a bond that feels inseparable.
Yet the poem does not surrender to sorrow. In its final verses, the search expands beyond the present lifetime into the vastness of eternity. What cannot be fulfilled today is entrusted to another age, another possibility, another meeting beyond the limits of time.
Perhaps that is the quiet mystery of longing: even when reality offers no promise, the heart continues to imagine an elsewhere where love might finally come home.
A Journey Through Words and Feelings
Some people remain elusive, some dreams remain unfinished, and some longings refuse to fade. Yet the heart keeps searching, weaving its beloved into the endless fabric of imagination.
Perhaps not in this lifetime – but somewhere, sometime, beyond the boundaries of time, the heart still dares to hope.