In Bengali literature there is an accepted system of division into decade, in order to make the readers aware of the time of each of the poets. The poets of Bengali, whose are quite different from Rabindranath Tagore and who are also different in their philosophy of life and activities - belong to the decade of 1930's are designated modern Bengali poets like Jibananda Das, Buddhadev Bose, Amiya Chakraborti etc.

In this article it is not possible to present all the poets of modern Bengali verse commencing from 1930 to 1990, 80 attempt has been done to highlight the representative poets in the post-independence period, i.e., from 1950's to 1990.

Among the major poets of the worth mentioning name, first of all, in of course of Sankha Ghosh, a brilliant craftsman of poetic diction, metre and images. He is also a true spokesman of hard reality of contemporary life e.g. - " Ekla hoye dhariye activits/ tomar janye gatior kone/bhavi amar mukh dekhabo/mukh dhhek jay bignyapane' or pratiti chokhher/chokhher pratiti/jaler bindu/ Hiroshima/je bhole bhuluk/tumi to bholoni/tumi to jenechho/ Hiroshima/ A long journey of Sankha Ghosh from "Dinguli Ratguli" to very recent book "Chhander bhitarey ato andhakar" shows how he discovers the crisis, faced by the state and society and sufferings of man - "Utsa theke mohanay chhute jay ghola jab abarta toofan/shakuis-ahlade phate kan/ye to pahela jhanki hai/ye to pahela jhanki hai (Swapna) or " Ami ei satabdir sesh pranta theke katha bali/ami ei shalpransu madhyaratrir theke katha bali" (Shahid Shikhar Theke).

In Shakti Chattopadhyay's poem's the reader may not have the feeling of so-called modernism, but Shakti's command over metre and over all, a kind of magical language of his poem's make the readers mesmerised, e.g.- "Chandramallikar mansa pade achhe Ghasey/ Se jeno eikhhani chale ase", or "Basanta ase bagane phutechhe cheir/ei to samay/bridge bandha halo sesh/tumi jadi karo abhyasbashe deri/Kachho achhe Animesh", Shakti's poem at the later end of his life become a little bit philosophical - "Kabi Chhila lokta Kangalor chhila khub …../ attacha aguney pude gelo lokta - kabi -o- kangal'(Epitaph).

Sunil Gangopadhyay has brought a kind of freshness and novelty in Bengali poetry by combining intellect and emotion, passion and reality in a lucid language through his poems - "Shudhu Kabitar janye eka heem Sandhyebela Bhuvan periye asa" or "Halud Saree or padona/ebar mathe haldu dhan phale his "(Ami Kirakan bhavey benche achhis).

Alokeranjan Dasgupta, another powerful poet of 50's has introduced in Bengali poetry a style of his own - beautiful imagery and virtues of sound as well as word - "Udasin megha meghe/Phutey achhe thoka thoka/araktakarabi/Samasta Takash jeno Gaganendra Thakurer Chhabi"(Jouban Baul), of " Aaj ki je rod/Ki je roddur/ Ki je roudra/matter upor magne ghaser ghatane",

Binoy Mazumder has laid bare the tapestry of his heart in a very romantic flavour in many of his poems' - "Aganan Kusumer deshe nil ba nilavabarne golaper avaber mato tomar avab bujhis" or " Sughavir Mukurer prati bhalobasar mato shanta dinguli jay hai sakhi, Biswaranshile" (Phirey Eso Chaka).

Utpal Kumar Basu, a major poet of 50's has also composed excellent verses. Some of his poems mekes the reader spell - bound - "Swapney tumi katobar tiroskar Karechhile Lekha jokha hei: Utpal's recent poems are a little bit different in style and form e.g. - "aajke ei bhorer aloy Hasan Ujjwab/Amar hate manush marer Kal/aajke ei bhorer aloy Husen-hata lab/amar hate manush marar phal'(Agranthita Kabita).

Writing poetry, to Pranabendu Das -Gupta is " the social act of a solitary man' Pranabendu's poetry is rooted in life and nourished by the milien where he lives, as for example - "Michhil theke andhakare beriye ase pagal/ Bagane nil machhi/ Janmechhilan/ Janme hoyechhila/ ekhono bencho achi" (Nijaswa Ghurir Prati) or, " Aha, Kolkata/Apis pherat busey Greek latiner mato durbodh Swadeshi", Pranabendu again and again has endeavoured to bridge a gap between man, nature and life, that is why, the reader seeks in Pranabendu's poem" the joy of communication." A powerful poet of 50's Pranabendu difinitely occupies a prominent position in Bengali literature and still he is producing excellent poetry.

(To be continued)