Ashim Kumar Das is Professor, Dept of English, Rajshahi University, and his first book was published in 1990. I have translated this from the Bengali original, because the fact that almost every poet aspires to the state Homer and Dante belong to is true.


Incapability

by Ashim Kumar Das

It's the voices I hear from the far-off seas
and the symphony echoing in my sun-boiling blood.
Homer calls me,
Dante's sky calls – "Come on"
to the ultimate limit of poetry,
to the blue stillness arising out of light-circles
in millions and millions of skies.

Too small is my sky
where the flames of light are faint,
where break storms of light and darkness,
the lifetime of the words I use
proves too much mortal.
The love that runs in my blood
is transient
like the fog on the river –
I know I will never be a star
at any bend in the deathless sky.

Yet Homer goes on calling me,
Dante's sky calls back – "Come on"
to the wordless blue far away.
Yet I hear over and over again
the symphony echoing in my sun-boiling blood
and the voices coming from the far-off seas.




Poetry by Sofiul Azam
Read 830 times
Written on 2005-10-14 at 12:07

Tags Warmth  Anxiety  Hope 

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chasingtheday The PoetBay support member heart!
the ultimate limit of poetry, life itself, nature's poetry. we are her minions here, part of her great scheme, we so often forget i think that we are animals living on the back of spinning earth, we put ourselves above other forms, but they are here too. love life and dreams - those make us, our mortality is open everyday, staring us right between the eyes, but we blink a lot and just casually roll along the waves.
2005-10-17


F.i.in.e Moods The PoetBay support member heart!
lovely poem indeed... aspiring to the famous poets' talents and statures seems to be something impossible to achieve from what i understand of this expression... the author comparing his art to theirs and making the conscious realization that he's lacking (their refinement and geniuses?) in his approach is the impression i get from the words... yet at the same time, the passion and love for the art does call him to persevere and not give up... homer and dante are evidently adored by him... they are a great source of inspiration is what i pick up on in the end... very poetic with graceful delivery... excellent poem, i enjoyed very much... thanks for sharing :f

later... xx
2005-10-16