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A BENG.ALI SONG.

Dec. 6, 1872.]

THE LADY AND THE DOVE : A BENGALI SONG, COMPOSED BY A HINDU FEMALE.

TRANSLATED INto English WERSE, By Rev. J. MURRAY MITCHELL, LL.D., CALCUTTA.

FEMALE education has now made such pro gress in Bengal, that the writings of women both in prose and verse are beginning to appear

not unfrequently in print. A very interesting collection of female compositions was given to the public a few months ago by the adjudicators of the Hare Prize Fund,-the fund having for its special object the production of works in

Bengali fitted for the instruction of women. The adjudicators seem to have made a very good selection of papers written not only for, but by, women.

The volume extends to 267 pages,

and it is interesting throughout. I have selected for translation

Hardly anything as yet has been done towards the use of Romanized Bengali; and several ques tions in orthography thus remain undetermined. Initial y in Bengali sounds like j in Sanskrit; and I have written it j, though with hesitation. Ksh sounds kh in Bengali; but I have not had courage to throw out the s. For the most part v sounds like b ; and I have so given it, as ‘subarna' for suvarna. But when the word occurs in the contracted form ‘svarna,' I have not

dared to write “sbarna, the Bengali pronuncia tion—though corrupt enough—having then no sound of b in it.

the piece PA'LITA KAPoti NI'R PRATI.

which, on the whole, appears to me the most spirited in the book. If I do not over-estimate

Bala ogo kapotini

its merits, it is possessed of much life and colour. It is said to have been composed by a lady of Dhākā (Dacca). I am far from thinking the rendering of verse

Heritechi balago tomāya Prakāśiyā balanā āmāya.

into verse an easy task—I almost assent to the

Achha sadā adhomukhe

dictum of Voltaire, Les poètes ne se traduisent

Netranira kara sambarana Sudhāo fimāya bibarana.

Kena eta bishādini

-

pas. If, then, any of my readers maintain that my lines but poorly represent the vivacity of the original, I certainly shall not dissent from the judgment. In one thing I hope I have succeeded—I mean, in reproducing the tone of

Eta duhkhi kona duhkhe

Subarna šikala pade Sadā āchhauchchapade Subarna piñjare abasthāna Itheoki bhole ná go prāna 2

the Bengali. The poem is sad throughout; and the sadness deepens as the strain proceeds. I have done my best to make the version a faith

Tomára santosha tare

Apürbba kotarāpure

ful echo of the plaintive note of the unhappy

Rahiyâchhe khābāra sakala

Hindu woman.

Tabe tumi kena go chaichala?

The measure in the original is Trochaic ; the first two lines of each stanza are octo-syllabic,

Bala kari bicharana Kari ähäräharana Tătei ba kata sukhodaya

the last two decasyllabic. I have also used Trochaic metre ; each line containing seven syllables.

Suna go kapotapriye

The original has double (generally called female) rhymes always; but I do not possess

Amio go piñjaravāsini.

Bala more haiye sadaya.

Balite bidare hiye

a sufficient mastery over our somewhat intract

Kibâ sukhe bañche svechchādhini.

able language to imitate the poetess in this

Áchha tumi je sukhete

respect.

I give the original in Roman character, with the hope of attracting a much larger number of readers than would attempt Bengali letters. The relation between Bengali and most of the

Svarmamaya piñjarete Amädera nähi eta sukha.

Tumi kena hao go bimukha 7 Nă deya gañjaná keha

dialects of Northern India is such that no person

Däsitva bhāra nã baha

who has a good knowledge of one of these will find serious difficulty with the lady's composition.

Annajale nāhika abhāba. Tabe kena bhāba nãnã bhāba