The Astronomer by Rabindranath Tagore
entangled among the beaches of that Dadam tree, couldn’t somebody catch it?” But dada laughed at me and said, “Baby, you are the silliest child I have ever known. The moon is ever so far from us, how could anybody catch it?” I said, “Dada, how foolish you are! When mother looks out of her […]
Religious Obsession — translation from Dharmamoha by Rabindranath Tagore
He is blind He only kills and gets killed. Even an atheist is blessed Because he doesn’t have the vanity of any faith. Humbly he lights up his reason Defies the authority of scriptures And seeks only the good of men. He who kills as infidels The followers of other faiths Dishonours his own faith […]
Poems On Time by Rabindranath Tagore
and has time enough. ~ Time is a wealth of change, but the clock in its parody makes it mere change and no wealth. ~ Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf. ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry Monster, […]
Poems On Man by Rabindranath Tagore
to drown his own clamour of silence. ~ Man is immortal; therefore he must die endlessly. For life is a creative idea; it can only find itself in changing forms. ~ Man’s abiding happiness is not in getting anything but in giving himself up to what is greater than himself, to ideas which are larger […]
Poems On Love by Rabindranath Tagore
it seeks to prove inward joy by outward beauty. ~ Love does not claim possession, but gives freedom. ~ Love is an endless mystery, for it has nothing else to explain it. ~ Love’s gift cannot be given, it waits to be accepted. ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry Monster, […]
Poems On Life by Rabindranath Tagore
we earn it by giving it. ~ Let the dead have the immortality of fame, but the living the immortality of love. ~ Life’s errors cry for the merciful beauty that can modulate their isolation into a harmony with the whole. ~ Life, like a child, laughs, shaking its rattle of death as it runs. […]
Poems On Beauty by Rabindranath Tagore
when she beholds her own face in a perfect mirror. ~ Beauty is in the ideal of perfect harmony which is in the universal being; truth the perfect comprehension of the universal mind. ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry Monster, 2021. Poems by topic and subject. Poetry Monster — the […]
One Day In Spring…. by Rabindranath Tagore
In my lonely woods, In the lovely form of the Beloved. Came, to give to my songs, melodies, To give to my dreams, sweetness. Suddenly a wild wave Broke over my heart’s shores And drowned all language. To my lips no name came, She stood beneath the tree, turned, Glanced at my face, made sad […]
On The Nature Of Love by Rabindranath Tagore
a million people thread it in a million ways. We have trysts to keep in the darkness, but where or with whom – of that we are unaware. But we have this faith – that a lifetime’s bliss will appear any minute, with a smile upon its lips. Scents, touches, sounds, snatches of songs brush […]
My Friend, Come In These Rains — English Translation by Rabindranath Tagore
Evading all Like silent night In stealthy steps you have come. The morning has closed its eyes The wind is hopelessly sighing And the blue naked sky Is overcast with endless clouds In the woodland the birds do not sing In every home the doors are closed You are a lonely wayfarer on a lonely […]
Lover’s Gifts LVI: The Evening Was Lonely by Rabindranath Tagore
heart became dry, and it seemed to me that beauty was a thing fashioned by the traders in words. Tired I shut the book and snuffed the candle. In a moment the room was flooded with moonlight. Spirit of Beauty, how could you, whose radiance overbrims the sky, stand hidden behind a candle’s tiny flame? […]
Lord Of My Life by Rabindranath Tagore
art thou pleased, Lord of my Life? For I give to thee my cup filled with all the pain and delight that the crushed grapes of my heart had surrendered, I wove with rhythm of colors and song cover for thy bed, And with the molten gold of my desires I fashioned playthings for thy […]
Lamp Of Love by Rabindranath Tagore
Kindle it with the burning fire of desire! There is the lamp but never a flicker of a flame–is such thy fate, my heart? Ah, death were better by far for thee! Misery knocks at thy door, and her message is that thy lord is wakeful, and he calls thee to the love-tryst through the […]
Kinu Goala’s Alley – English Translation by Rabindranath Tagore
Named after Kinu the milkman. By its side stands A two-storey building Its ground floor room Is enclosed by iron railings. It is thoroughly damp Here and there its walls Bear ugly damp marks In places their plasters are also peeling off. On its door hangs a rag Torn from a bale of plain cloth […]
In The Dusky Path Of A Dream by Rabindranath Tagore
Her house stood at the end of a desolate street. In the evening breeze her pet peacock sat drowsing on its perch, and the pigeons were silent in their corner. She set her lamp down by the portal and stood before me. She raised her large eyes to my face and mutely asked, “Are you […]
In The Country – English Translation by Rabindranath Tagore
As close is the earth beneath my feet As are close to me The fruits, flowers and the air and water. Here I love him too As I love the songs of birds The murmur of streams The mellowness around The light of dawn and the greeneries of trees. Here I find him beautiful As […]
I Found A Few Old Letters by Rabindranath Tagore
I found a few old letters of mine carefully hidden in thy box-a few small toys for thy memory to play with. With a timorous heart thou didst try to steal these trifles from the turbulent stream of time which washes away planets and stars, and didst say, “These are only mine!” Alas, there is […]
I Cast My Net Into The Sea by Rabindranath Tagore
I dragged up from the dark abyss things of strange aspect and strange beauty — some shone like a smile, some glistened like tears, and some were flushed like the cheeks of a bride. When with the day’s burden I went home, my love was sitting in the garden idly tearing the leaves of a […]
Gift Of The Great – English Translation by Rabindranath Tagore
Those whose minds are wrought The base of whose existence becomes shaky Those who are listless Let them listen – Don’t ever forget yourselves. Let you meet every day Those who have won over death Those who have kept their torch aflame Above whatever is mean and small If you make them dwarf The sin […]
From Afar by Rabindranath Tagore
From a distance I watch him. With the dust and the water, With the fruit and the flower, With the All he is rushing forward. He is always on the surface, Tossed by the waves and dancing to the rhythm Of joy and suffering. The least loss makes him suffer, The least wound hurts him– […]
Dream Girl by Rabindranath Tagore
You are also the creation of men From the core of their heart They have endowed you with charm. With golden threads of similes Your dress the poet weaves. To immortalize your image The painter puts on your face An ever fresh glow. So many colours, scents and costumes – From the seas come pearls […]
Cruel Kindness by Rabindranath Tagore
But you have saved me denying. All through my life This your cruel kindness Has filled my being. The things you gave me without asking – This sky full of light This body, this soul and this mind Saving me ever from too much craving For these great gifts you are making me fit. The […]
Compensation by Rabindranath Tagore
Everybody is blaming me for you! They are saying, ‘In all his songs Her picture he is painting In her ears He is singing only love songs Because of his addiction He is composing Frivolous words into poesy And all over the land at the top of his voice He is raving and shouting.’ My […]
Birth Story by Rabindranath Tagore
‘From where did I come, Me where did you find?’ Holding him tight in an embrace In tears and laughter The mum replies, ‘You were in my mind As my deepest wish. You were with me When I was a child And played with my dolls. When worshiping Shiva in the morning I made and […]
At The Last Watch by Rabindranath Tagore
That pettiest of gifts, Is but a sugar-coating over neglect. Any passerby can make a gift of it To a street beggar, Only to forget the moment the first corner is turned. I had not hoped for anything more that day. You left during the last watch of night. I had hoped you would say […]
At The End Of The Day by Rabindranath Tagore
At the end of the day Wanly smiling The dying sun will look at my face Bidding me its last farewell. The flute will play by the side of the way The cattle will graze on the banks of the river In the courtyard the children will play And the birds will sing – Still […]
And In Wonder And Amazement I Sing by Rabindranath Tagore
The universe is full of life Among all these I have found a place And in wonder and amazement I sing. The world is swayed By eternity’s rushing tide Rising and falling I have felt its tug in my blood Racing through my veins And in wonder and amazement I sing. While walking in the […]
Along The Way by Rabindranath Tagore
I receive your touch Now and then But I don’t know how and when. Is it in the scent of an unknown flower Or in the joy I feel in the song of a travelling singer? Do I receive your touch all on a sudden When there is great sorrow And my world is shaken […]
All These I Loved by Rabindranath Tagore
This dancing of the light on the leaves This playing of the wild winds Among the sal groves They have all maddened my mind Along this red-earth road That man going to the village market The little girl sitting on the dust Playing alone with her tray of toys Whatever I see before me They […]
A Hundred Years Hence by Rabindranath Tagore
Who it is With such curiosity Reads my poems A hundred years hence! Shall I be able to send you An iota of joy of this fresh spring morning The flower that blooms today The songs that the birds sing The glow of today’s setting sun Filled with my feelings of love? Yet for a […]
A Dream (English Translation) by Rabindranath Tagore
On the banks of the river Shipra Far far away in that land of dreams To seek the first love of my former life. She had lodhra* powder on her face A lotus she playfully held in her hand She stuck buds of kunda in her ears And kurubak flower in her hair Her slim […]
The Essay on Liberty by Abraham Cowley
OF LIBERTY The liberty of a people consists in being governed by laws which they have made themselves, under whatsoever form it be of government; the liberty of a private man in being master of his own time and actions, as far as may consist with the laws of God and of his country. Of this […]
Under Cover of Night by Robert Desnos
Under Cover of Night by Robert Desnos To slip into your shadow under cover of night. To follow your footsteps, your shadow at the window. That shadow at the window is you and no one else; it’s you. Do not open that window behind whose curtains you’re moving. Shut your eyes. I’d like to shut […]
The Voice of Robert Desnos by Robert Desnos
The Voice of Robert Desnos by Robert Desnos So like a flower and a current of air the flow of water fleeting shadows the smile glimpsed at midnight this excellent evening so like every joy and every sadness it is the midnight past lifting its naked body above belfries and poplars I call to me […]
The Ring of Stars by Robert Desnos
The Ring of Stars by Robert Desnos In order to make a star with five branches Where six would have been the same A circle must first be drawn In order to make a star with five branches … A ring! One did not take so many precuations In order to make a tree from […]
Sleep Spaces by Robert Desnos
Sleep Spaces by Robert Desnos In the night there are of course the seven wonders of the world and the greatness tragedy and enchantment. Forests collide with legendary creatures hiding in thickets. There is you. In the night there are the walker’s footsteps the murderer’s the town policeman’s light from the street lamp and the […]
No, Love Is Not Dead by Robert Desnos
No, Love Is Not Dead by Robert Desnos No, love is not dead in this heart these eyes and this mouth that announced the start of its own funeral. Listen, I’ve had enough of the picturesque, the colorful and the charming. I love love, its tenderness and cruelty. My love has only one name, one […]
Lying Down by Robert Desnos
Lying Down by Robert Desnos To the right, the sky, to the left, the sea. And before your eyes, the grass and its flowers. A cloud, the road, follows its vertical way Parallel to the plumb line of the horizon, Parallel to the rider. The horse races towards its imminent fall And the other climbs […]
Long Long Ago by Robert Desnos
Long Long Ago by Robert Desnos Long long ago I went through the castle of leaves Yellowing slowly in the moss And far away barnacles clung desperately to rocks in the sea Your memory better still your tender presence was there too Transparent and mine Nothing had changed but everything had aged at the same […]
If You Only Knew by Robert Desnos
If You Only Knew by Robert Desnos Far from me and like the stars, the sea and all the trappings of poetic myth, Far from me but here all the same without your knowing, Far from me and even more silent because I imagine you endlessly. Far from me, my lovely mirage and eternal dream, […]