LET HONOUR come to me from Thee
through a call to some desperate task,
in the pride of poignant suffering.
Lull me not into languid dreams;
Shake me out of this cringing in the dust,
Out of the fetters that shackle our mind, make futile our destiny;
Out of the unreason that bends our dignity down under the
indiscriminate feet of dictators;
Shatter this age-long shame of ours,
And raise our head
into the boundless sky,
into the generous light,
into the air of freedom.

             জন্মদিন এল তব আজি
     ভরি ল'য়ে সংগীতের সাজি।
বিজ্ঞানের রসায়ন রাগরাগিণীর রসায়নে
     পূর্ণ হল তোমার জীবনে।
কর্মের ধারায় তব রসের প্রবাহ যেথা মেশে
সেইখানে ভারতীর আশীর্বাদ অমৃত বরষে।

WHILE STEPPING into the carriage she turned her head and threw me a swift glance of farewell.
        This was her last gift to me. But where can I keep it safe from the trampling hours?
        Must evening sweep this gleam of anguish away, as it will the last flicker of fire from the sunset?
        Ought it to be washed off by the rain, as treasured pollens are from heart-broken flowers?
        Leave kingly glory and the wealth of the rich to death. But may not tears keep ever fresh the memory of a glance flung through a passionate moment?
'Give it to me to keep,' said my song; I never touch kings' glory or the wealth of the rich, but these small things are mine for ever.'