The Two Birds

~Rabindranath Tagore

The caged bird was in his golden cage
The wild bird was in the woods.
Once somehow they managed to meet,
Maybe God thought they should.
The wild bird says, “Brother caged bird,
Let’s go the jungle way.”
The caged bird says, “O wild one, come
In this quiet little cage we’ll stay.”
The wild bird says, “No,
I won’t let the chains arrest.”
The caged bird says, “Alas,
I can’t go to the forest.”

.

The wild bird sings sitting outside
All his jungle songs,
The caged bird speaks lines he was taught –
No match between their tongues.
The wild bird says, “Brother caged bird,
Sing some jungle songs please!”
The caged bird says, “Brother wild bird,
Let’s see you learn up these.”
The wild bird says, “No,
I don’t want songs that are taught.”
The caged bird says, “Alas,
Jungle songs I know not.”

.

The wild bird says, “The sky is so blue,
And it has no bounds.”
The caged bird says, “This cage is cozy
And covered all around.”
The wild bird says, “Let go yourself,
Into the clouds’ midst.”
The caged bird says, “In this happy nook
Keep yourself fixed.”
The wild bird says, “No,
Where do I get to fly!”
The caged bird says, “Alas,
There’s no perch in the sky!”

.

Thus the two birds love each other,
But closer they cannot get.
Between the bars they touch their beaks
In silence their eyes met.
Neither can understand the other one,
Nor make himself clear.
Both flutter their wings alone,
And painfully say, “Come near.”
The wild bird says, “No,
They’ll close the cage door.”
The caged bird says, “Alas,
I have no strength to soar.”

(I was thinking of translating a Tagore poem for a few days, but was unable to decide on the poem. This was chosen by my sister today, and it was fun to translate. There's obviously scope for improvement, and this post may be updated if I decide to change some lines.)