Thursday, June 3, 2010

Magic of Poetry

Many many years ago , I came across the following lines from “ A Psalm of Life “ by H.W.Longfellow in a translation book :

"Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!—
For the soul is dead that slumbers
And things are not what they seem. "

translated in Hindi thus
" न सुनाओ दुःख भरे गीतों में मुझे
जीवन है एक स्वप्न ख़ाली
मुर्दा है वह जो बुदबुदाये
स्वप्नों में दिखती है कुछ और ही लाली "
I wonder if the magic of the following beautiful lines
" धरा पर झुकी प्रार्थना सदृश
मधुर मुरली सी फिर भी मौन
किसी अज्ञात विश्व की विकल
वेदना दूती सी तुम कौन ! "
by the poet Jai Shankar  Prasad  can be kept intact, if someone attempts a translation in English. !

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