Ruposhi Bangla

{{Short description|1957 collection of poems by Jibanananda Das}} {{other uses}} {{Infobox book  | name = Ruposhi Bangla (Bengal the beautiful or The Beauteous Bengal ) | image = Rupasi Bangla.jpg | caption = First edition's cover by Satyajit Ray. | author = Jibanananda Das | title_orig = | translator = Joe Winter, A K Basu Majumdar | illustrator = | cover_artist = Signet Press 1957 edition cover by Satyajit Ray | country = | language = Bengali | series = | subject = | genre = Poetry, Sonnet | publisher = First edition in Bengali by Signet Press, Joe Winter's English translation by Anvil Press Poetry, A K Basu Majumdar's English translation by Mittal Publication, etc. | pub_date = 1957 | english_pub_date = 1987, 2006 | media_type = | pages = 79 in English (Anvil Press Poetry 2006 edition), 101 (''The Beauteous Bengal'' published by Mittal) | isbn = 978-0-85646-390-7 | isbn_note= (of ''Bengal the beautiful''), 978-0836422399 (of ''The Beauteous Bengal'') | oclc = 76907525 | dewey = | congress = | preceded_by = Bela Obela Kaalbela | followed_by = }} '''''Ruposhi Bangla''''' ({{langx|bn|রূপসী বাংলা}}, Beautiful Bengal) is the most popular collection of poems by Jibanananda Das, the great modern Bengali poet.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.alokitobangladesh.com/online/details/14964|script-title=bn:জীবনানন্দ দাশের কবিতার সংখ্যা কত?|work=Alokito Bangladesh |language=bn|access-date=2018-06-07}}</ref><ref name="Murshid 2016">{{Cite book|title=Hajar Bacharer Bangali Sangskriti|last=Murshid|first=Ghulam|publisher=Abasar|year=2016|isbn=978-984-415-190-1|location=Dhaka|pages=316|language=bn|script-title=bn:হাজার বছরের বাঙালি সংস্কৃতি|trans-title=Bengali Culture across the Millennia|chapter=Bangla Bhasha o Sahitya|script-chapter=bn:বাংলা ভাষা ও সাহিত্য|trans-chapter=Bengali Language and Literature|author-link=Ghulam Murshid}}</ref>

== History == It was written in 1934, the sixty-two sonnets - discovered in an exercise-book twenty years after Das wrote them - achieved instant popularity on their posthumous publication in 1957,<ref name="Alexander2018">{{cite book|author=Meena Alexander|title=Name Me a Word: Indian Writers Reflect on Writing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DVRnDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA43|date=24 July 2018|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-23565-4|pages=43–}}</ref> becoming a totemic symbol of freedom in Bangladesh's 1971 War of Independence. In ''Ruposhi Bangla,'' Das seamlessly blends in both real and mythical historical figures, as well as mythical creatures such as the ''shuk'' bird, weaving a tapestry of a beautiful, dreamlike Bengal<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/city/jibanandas-birds-1377718|title=Jibananda's Birds|date=2017-03-18|work=The Daily Star|access-date=2018-06-09|language=en}}</ref> The poems celebrate the beauty of Barishal.<ref name="Islam 2012">{{Cite book|title=Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh|publisher=Asiatic Society of Bangladesh|year=2012|editor-last=Islam|editor-first=Sirajul|editor-link=Sirajul Islam|edition=2nd|location=Dhaka|chapter=Das, Jibanananda|chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Das,_Jibanananda}}</ref> In these poems infused with a scent of unrequited love, Jibanananda Das captured his country's soul through evocations of village life and natural beauty. Satyajit Ray designed the cover of 1957 edition.thumb|left|First page of the manuscript containing sonnets of "Rupashi Bangla" (Bengal, the Beautiful), by poet Jibanananda Das

{{Blockquote|text=Go where you will – I shall remain on Bengal’s shore Shall see jackfruit leaves dropping in the dawn’s breeze; Shall see the brown wings of shalik chill in the evening, Its yellow leg under the white down goes on dancing In the grass, darkness – once, twice – and then suddenly The forest’s oak beckons it to its heart’s side, Shall see sad feminine hands – white conch-bangles Crying like conch shells in the ash-grey wind: She stands on the pond’s side in the evening,

As if she will take the parched rice hued duck To some land of legends – As if the fragrance of the quiltcover clings to her body, As if she is born out of watercress in the pond’s nest – Washes her feet silently – then goes faraway, traceless In the fog – yet I know I shall not lose her In the crowd of the earth – She is there on my Bengal’s shore.|sign=Jibanananda Das|source=''Ruposhi Bangla''}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Bengali poetry Category:1934 poetry books Category:Works by Jibanananda Das Category:1957 poetry books Category:Indian poetry collections Category:Bengali-language literature Category:Books published posthumously Category:Bengali-language books