II

The Creator in his dreaming has created
This immortal thing in creation,
Figuring as a common creature,
forgetful of his self:
A mystic reason makes him hide
his own form and nature,
Ever at labour in working out
the Impossible:
To transfigure Nature, to establish the Transcendent
here on the bosom of material Earth,
To feed the divine sacrificial Fire
with this human body,
With this bounded frame.
Lo, the timeless hero worker
with this flaming faith,
Indifferent to the rude impacts of Reality,
Dreaming the victorious Mother's
wonder dreams,
Shaping in his heart of hearts
the golden garden of Paradise —
A faultless, sleepless, pure
self-dedication
Has built this life into a piece of
IMMORTALITY.

— Nolini Kanta Gupta

Translated from the Bengali of Chinmoy