Ruposhi Bangla

Ruposhi Bangla (রূপসী বাংলা, Beautiful Bengal) is the most popular collection of poems by Jibanananda Das, the great modern Bengali poet. Written in 1934, the sixty-two sonnets - discovered in an exercise-book twenty years after Das wrote them - achieved instant popularity on their posthumous publication in 1957, becoming a totemic symbol of freedom in Bangladesh's 1971 War of Independence. In Ruposhi Bangla, Das seamlessly blends in both real and mythical historical figures, as well as mythical creatures such as the shuk bird, weaving a tapestry of a beautiful, dreamlike Bengal The poems celebrate the beauty of Barishal. In these poems infused with a scent of unrequited love, Jibanananda Das captured his country's soul through evocations of village life and natural beauty. Satyajit Ray designed the cover of 1957 edition.

"Go where you will – I shall remain on Bengal’s shore Shall see jackfruit leaves dropping in the dawn’s breeze; Shall see the brown wings of shalik chill in the evening, Its yellow leg under the white down goes on dancing In the grass, darkness – once, twice – and then suddenly The forest’s oak beckons it to its heart’s side, Shall see sad feminine hands – white conch-bangles Crying like conch shells in the ash-grey wind: She stands on the pond’s side in the evening,

As if she will take the parched rice hued duck To some land of legends – As if the fragrance of the quiltcover clings to her body, As if she is born out of watercress in the pond’s nest – Washes her feet silently – then goes faraway, traceless In the fog – yet I know I shall not lose her In the crowd of the earth – She is there on my Bengal’s shore."