‘Late the Candle Be Alive Forever’
Imam Hossain
(In the memory of late prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia)
Stanza I
From gentle childhood’s sunlit days she rose,
A conjugal life of grace and promise fair;
Love bloomed in shared dreams, in hope’s repose,
A household warmed by faith and tender care.
Beauty lived not only in her face,
But in a heart that learned to give and bear.
Stanza II
Fate struck cruelly in her tender prime—
A National Fighter Hero husband slain, the nation’s thunder hushed.
Widowhood came, a wound beyond all time,
Yet from that grief her courage fiercely rushed.
She gathered tears and turned them into flame,
A lonely path by iron resolve was crushed.
Stanza III
For democracy she stood, unbent, unbought,
A lady forged in vows of no retreat;
Non-compromise her banner, dearly fought, went ahead
Through storms of slander, prisoned days, defeat.
Three times she bore the people’s sovereign trust,
A queen in will, in sacrifice complete.
Stanza IV
Thirty Eight years she struggled, watched, confined,
Home-arrested, yet freedom in her breath;
Her candle burned in Bangladeshi history and mind of Bangladeshi all over the World,
Defying chains, outshining fear and death.
Let that queen-like candle, steadfast flame,
Live on forever—Bangladeshi’s every breath, faith and National History.
Poet Imam Hossain
