Unfinished Prayers
(Jibone Jao Puja Holo Na Sara)
By Rabindranath Tagore
The prayers in my life
That remain undone,
I know, yes I do,
They were not in vain.
The buds that have fallen on the grounds
Before they could fully bloom,
The rivers that lost their streams
On their way through the desert sands
I know, yes I do, that they were not in vain.
The things in my life that I’ve left behind,
My songs that remain unsung,
The thoughts that remain unspoken,
I know, yes I do, they too were not in vain.
The boons in my life that are yet to come,
The blessings that I so deeply yearn,
I know that they will become alive
in the songs that will be sung
By those who have travelled with me
In tune with the melody
of Your divine veena.
I know, yes I do, that
these were not in vain.
Translated by Snehendu Bikash Kar
from Coming and Going: Poems and Songs
of Rabindranath Tagore
Translated from Gitabitan, by Rabindranath Tagore
*The veena is a classical Indian stringed instrument.
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Rabindranath Tagore was a prolific poet, writer,
composer, painter, philosopher and social reformer.
He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913 for his poetry and lyrics,
and both India and Bangladesh chose songs written by Tagore as their national anthem.
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