247 Shri Ramachandra has it: hantabandhna mama hi hpdayam gitika-panjare te^ thus condensing two lines into one, losing the lyrical value, and having to employ metri oausa^ the often unpoetical and spurious hi. More lyrical and closer to the original Bengali would have been: XI: kam tvam tantim vetva vetva XII: parito mom svara-pa^e ^adhnah. Take Song 31 of Bengali Gitanjati: I ami hethay thaki ^udhu II gaite tomap gan III diyo tomav jagd b-sdbhay IV ei fuku mop sthan V ami tornaT hhuvan-majhe VI lagi ni nath^ kono kaje VII Sudhu kevat sure ba^e VIII akajev ei pran . The English Gitanjali (No. 15) has it: I-II: I am here to sing thee songs; III-IV: In this hall of thine I have a corner seat. V-VI: In thy world I have no work to do; VII-VIII: My useless life can only break out in tunes without a purpose. This is not too far from the original, but Shri Ramachandra translates; I: gitim te 'harp madhura-madhuram gatum evatra varte II: Sata-kGne tava ca bhavane prapam atyasanam me III: karyam hy asmad aparam iha me nasti lake tvad^ye IV: vyarthad asm'at sapadi nipatej janmano gana-matram. Madhura-madhuram had to be extrapolated, perhaps again metri causa^ Ata-kone tava oa bhavane is altogether inappropriate as it might be understood to mean "in a corner of the hall and in your house." The biggest blunder is in failing to see that the Bengali word prana means "life-breath," which in the English version is merely "life" and the Sanskrit translator then uses janman^ "birth" ~ a complete departure from Tagore^ intent, A more lyrical translation direct from Bengali may be suggested: aham ayato gills tava tubhyam gatiMn jagatas samsadupante me padam atra sthatwi. (or9, jagatas te susabhayam kevalcon atra stimtton) tava tubby con gatun. te bhuvane niskarydh kirn kartum yaoG for: kirn vaham yace) te svara-mupchasu prana me vaptepan tava tubhyam gat-urn. aham ayato gttis tava tubhyam gatum.