Secret Lover Poem by Kazi Nazrul Islam

Though lost, yet I love thee
O dear,
Between the two shores of the sea
A whisper I hear.

Me on this shore,
You on the other,
In between weeps
A formidable tether.

The shadow of a tree
Beckons me from the shore,
I am a desert,
The gentle touch of shade
I do abhor.

We have never known,
Nor have we met each other.
I have hopes in my heart,
In you, there is fear.

When the wind beats
The waves break on your feet;
But never shall my waves
Harm your shore -

They erode only my bank,
Not yours any more.

Dear love,
I have never been near you.
A song-bird,
I sat on the branch
For a day or two.

After the songs
When I shall part
Shall my songs dwell
In your heart?

The bird will be gone
But cadences will remain;
I shall fly high,
You will cry in vain.

That once my waves
On your shore did ring.
No one shall know,
No one shall sing.

When I fly so high
If a feather comes night
Wear it in your tresses
In sheer forgetfulness.

But, do not fear,
For some day
it will also disappear.

Like me in one of those
Rain-soaked morns,
Will you drip
Oh my pine, alone?
And kiss me in imagination,
In your midnight fascination.
And wake up from a trance
With random thoughts
To weep with the clouds
Oh my Swallow?

My lone,
I weep, for I shall not
Find you any more.
The waves rumble,
For they never get off the shore.

To possess you is to
Banish the flute,
And to invite the death
Total and absolute:

My bosom is full
For I have been denied,
The flute is melodious
For it is empty inside.

[Translation: Syed Mujibul Huq]