Hymn To Life

I sing of those- Who deliver to Mother Earth The message of fruitfulness and bounty, Whose rough, cruel, worn-out palms Are filled by the admiring Earth With the richest offerings of fruits and flowers, Under whose superb workmanship This Earth full of wild beasts, death and decrepitude Becomes as beautiful and as lovely as a paradise. These barbarians with awful fearlessness Build their huts here in company with The tigers of the forest, lions of the desert and serpents of the cave! Those who come as Gipsy boys With irresistible speed and stupendous force - They alone sing of a new philosophy of love Like Jesus, son of Mary the Mother-Earth - The momentum of whose speed Makes Earth move like a meteor With tremendous force Across endless space! Those who of their own accord Under the impulse of a creative nature Demolish dense forests, root and branch, And build an Eden thereon: And again destroy that fair habitation In sheer indiscretion: Those who unable to resist The overwhelming urge of youthful exuberance Stand erect and embark Upon the adventure of conquering the Himalayas, Or are out 'to tempt the dangerous Deep' Those who launch a campaign To discover New Worlds beyond the poles. Those who in search of unknown regions Fly by the Airships up into the clouds : Yet their adventurous spirit does not stop: In an ecstasy of adventure They fade far away and dissolve To discover the guarded secrets Of the Moon, the planets, and the other Heavenly Bodies. And the endless etherial sky Those who call at each door of Death With their lives as merchandise for sale. And those who on a perilous field of battle Stake their life and forfeit it. I an ephemeral Poet-- Sing of those barbarian Beduins, Who for naught unfurl In every age the flag of rebellion, Who out of the abundance of life And in an ecstasy of poignant pleasure Cheerfully drink the Cup of Hemlock Or plunge a spear into the bosom Those who like the impetuous mountain streams of Asarh Defy and sweep everything before them, Those who are branded by the mean-minded As barbarian boors. Those who are called 'reckless' by men of narrow outlook Are indeed the theme of my minstrelsy, and I do worship them. [Original: Jibon Bondona; Translation: Abdul Hakim]