Better it is that no age
Brings itself to its own end
Nor does it end its songs
Its unfulfilled hopes and desires
Leave deep sighs behind in the air
Who knows where
In the songs of succeeding days
Its message remains hidden
Who knows what it wants to say!
All its sufferings and pains
Fill with tears
The day-to-day pains of later times
With its glowing colours its sunset hour
Gives them a timeless grandeur of death.
The fragrance of spring flowers
The sighs of forgotten lovers
Blowing from a land beyond the sea of time
Whisper some unknown words
Into the ears of today’s lovers.
Translation of the poem – Atit kal – from the collection Purabi by Rabindranath tagore. The original poem in Bengali script may be viewed at