O Egret! Give us Nail Flowers as You Go

O Egret! Give us nail flowers as you go
O Egret! Give us white tips as you go

I want you in the wee hours of the morning
I want you at noon, on the banks of the Luit

In your majestic appearance in the evening
Where do you go flying in the sky?
To your nest in the bamboo grooves?

To hear your hatchlings warble
I feel like going near you
Those are wealth of life that don't get lost anywhere,
Your chirpings and those of your hatchlings
Tinged with wonderful mystery 

Yet I want nail flowers
A white tip, give for once as you go by

Do come together
O Egret!

Do come and pick up the medlar flowers 
That remain vibrant lying long on the goose grass
The people will bless you

In the light of your white tip one day
The world will be illuminated -you'd see

In that light come to the congregation prayers for once, O Egret!
Do come once

1. Nail flowers— Literal translation of the Assamese word in the children’s song which is the lunula. ↩︎

Translated by Uttam Duorah

Nalinidhar Bhattacharya (b. 1921-d.2016) was a noted poet and critic of Assam.

Uttam Duorah, the translator, retired as the HoD, English, Women’s College, Tinsukia and is based in Tinsukia, Assam.

Original Assamese poem.