Modern Bengali Poetry: Desire for Fire

by Arunava Sinha (Translation)

The seventh-most spoken language in the world, Bengali is home to some of the most distinctive poetry ever written anywhere. Starting with the later poems of Nobel Laureate RabindranathTagore, there has been a long and continuous line of modern poetry in the language, its span ranging from lyrical love poems to passionate political verse, from expressions of existential anguish to psychological explorations. This volume celebrates over one hundred years of this poetry from the two Bengals—the eastern Indian state and the country of Bangladesh—represented by over fifty different poets and a multitude of forms and styles.

Genres: Poetry

250 pages, Paperback

Published April 1, 2020

About the author

Arunava Sinha translates classic, modern and contemporary Bengali fiction and nonfiction into English.

Reviews

[Sarmistha · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enthralling anthology of alluring poems penned by the legends of Bengali Literature like Rabindranath Tagore, Nazrul Islam, Buddhadeva Bose,Sunil Gangopadhyay, Mallika Sengupta, Nabaneeta Dev Sen and Anita Agnihotri among many others.The strokes of their pen produced a plea, lovesong, unrequited love, rebel, hunger, pageant of struggle, suffering, survival, silence, seperation and death.The poetic verses resonated with the rhythm of an old city, trials of the oppressed, sweet nothings, remembering natural beauty, thoughts of progressive youth, burning social and political issues.
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The translation is meticulous, preserving the essence of the original text.Beautifully balanced, the anthology aroused a range of emotions in me.I couldn't help falling for Urvashi, The Permit, The Pebble, Bonolata Sen and Tea.
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Tea by Manik Bandopadhyay spoke about the hands that constantly toiled in the sun, bound by slavery and whose dreams are intertwined with the weight of tender leaves.Readers could taste the bitterness, anger and sarcasm in the verses of Mallika Sengupta' s While Teaching My Son History and Salt.
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I would highly recommend this book to all the readers.
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The ethereal beauty of poetic verses will make your heart yearn for more.