One of the greatest poets of the subcontinent, Jibanananda Das (1899–1954) redefined the parameters of Bengali poetry in the wake of the impression left by the work of his more traditional compatriot, Rabindranath Tagore. Idiosyncratic in style and with an affinity for the bylanes of the imagination, Jibanananda Das stands unusually close to the reader.

The tensions of the everyday modern world are in his poetry, as well as Bengal’s living land. It has been said that Nature is a character in his work. Almost magically popular in West Bengal and Bangladesh, his poetry is presented here in a new English translation that catches the form and freshness of the original.

Joe Winter, born in London in 1943, taught English in secondary schools in London from 1967 to 1994. He now lives in Calcutta and has contributed regularly to `The Statesman’ there. He has published translations of Tagore’s `Song Offerings’ (Gitanjali) and `Lipika’ and poetry of his own. His most recent collection is `Guest and Host’.