Judgment

Judgment

~Rabindranath Tagore

(Original Bengali version here)

My little child has a lot of faults

I know them every bit,

Though to others that I may not admit.

Sometimes I can’t check his

Mischief maybe,

But that’s the deal of good and bad

Between him and me.

You strangers can judge him

Or blame him with ease

As much as you please,

That verdict why should I heed?

I love him because he’s my child

And not for his good deeds.

.

How much my child means to me

Will never dawn on you.

His flaws are all that you can view.

I punish him if I need to

But I hold him near,

If I have to make him cry

I must shed a tear.

I judge him, or punish him,

Or blame him with ease

As much as I please.

Your censures we don’t value.

The right to censure only rests

With the one who loves too.

(Translated by Sugata Banerji)

One of the best things to have happened in the past year is the availability of Tagore's works on the Web at the two sites here and here. Now I can translate poems more often, and also get more poems to choose from. And can someone please tell me how to insert tabs in poems on blogger? I go crazy maintaining the format each time I post a translation!