The Reply

SURESH CHANDRA CHAKRAVARTY
(Rendered by the Author from the Bengali original)

I

In spring I asked him:
How did you know me, Beloved? Tell me how?
The cool green felicity which has spread from forest to forest,
Did you see it reflected in the depth of my eyes?
From the mango-groves comes floating the humming of the bees,
Did you hear that music in the jingle of my bracelets?
The wood-lands are a-tremble today with newly blown
flowers and fresh-born leaves,
Did you see their intoxicating happiness spread all over my body?
How did you know me, Beloved? How?
In spring I asked.

He said– “I could not notice all those.
I, lost in wonder, knew thee at once, Sweetheart,
knew thee at once !”

II

In rain I asked him:
How did you know me, Beloved? Tell me how?
The cool shadowy felicity which the Shravana¹-clouds
have spread over the earth,
Did you see it reflected in the depth of my eyes?
The rain comes pattering on the window-panes weaving dreams,
Did you hear that music in the jingle of my bracelets?
In meadows the blades of grass are a-tremble today
with the caress of new showers,
Did you see their intoxicating happiness spread all over my body? 
How did you know me, Beloved? How?
In rain I asked.

He said– “I could not notice all those.
I, lost in deep and sad yearning, knew thee
at once, Sweetheart, knew thee at once!”

III

In autumn I asked him:
How did you know me, Beloved? Tell me how?
The transparent blue felicity which is spread all over the sky,
Did you see it reflected in the depth of my eyes?
Songs of far-away which are floating in the soft breeze,
Did you hear that music in the jingle of my bracelets?
Shefali¹-bowers are a tremble today with longing and yearning desires,
Did you see their intoxicating happiness spread all over my body?
How did you know me, beloved? How?
In autumn I asked.
He said–“I could not notice all those,
I, lost in utter ecstasy, knew thee at once,
Sweetheart, knew thee at once!

¹ Shravana–One of the rainy months in Bengal, from mid-July to mid-August.
² Shefali–atiny delicately sweet-smelling white flower with orange coloured stalk. It is called Parijata in the South.