Parinde Ki Faryad

A Bird's Lament

Those garden splendors, the chorus of all, The freedom to come and to go at my call.

My heart aches with pain when I chance to recall, The smiling of buds on the dewdrops that fall.

That beautiful image, that form full of grace, Whose presence brought life to my own dwelling place.

Her voice never reaches me, held in this plight, Oh, if only release were within my own might!

How wretched I am, for my home I now pine, My friends in our homeland, this prison is mine.

The spring has arrived, and the flowers all bloom, While I weep for my fate in this house of dark gloom.

O God! To whom can I tell my tale of despair? I fear in this cage I will die from my care.

My heart is consuming its grief, it is true, And grief is consuming my heart through and through.

O listener, don't think this a song and be glad, It is the cry of all hearts that are wounded and sad.

O Captor, I beg you, now make me unbound, I'm voiceless; release me, a blessing you've found.