When Day Is Done by Rabindranath Tagore
if birds sing no more, if the wind has flagged tired, then draw the veil of darkness thick upon me, even as thou hast wrapt the earth with the coverlet of sleep and tenderly closed the petals of the drooping lotus at dusk. ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem © Poetry Monster, […]
When and Why by Rabindranath Tagore
is such a play of colours on clouds, on water, and why flowers are painted in tints-when I give coloured toys to you, my child. When I sing to make you dance, I truly know why there is music in leaves, and why waves send their chorus of voices to the heart of the listening […]
Vocation by Rabindranath Tagore
lane. Every day I meet the hawker crying, “Bangles, crystal bangles!” There is nothing to hurry him on, there is no road he must take, no place he must go to, no time when he must come home. I wish I were a hawker, spending my day in the road, crying, “Bangles, crystal bangles!” When […]
Untimely Leave by Rabindranath Tagore
Henceforth I deal in whispers. The speech of my heart will be carried on in murmurings of a song. Men hasten to the King’s market. All the buyers and sellers are there. But I have my untimely leave in the middle of the day, in the thick of work. Let then the flowers come out […]
Twelve O’Clock by Rabindranath Tagore
book all the morning. You say it is only twelve o’clock. Suppose it isn’t any later; can’t you ever think it is afternoon when it is only twelve o’clock? I can easily imagine now that the sun has reached the edge of that rice-field, and the old fisher-woman is gathering herbs for her supper by […]
Threshold by Rabindranath Tagore
when I first crossed the threshold of this life. What was the power that made me open out into this vast mystery like a bud in the forest at midnight! When in the morning I looked upon the light I felt in a moment that I was no stranger in this world, that the inscrutable […]
The Wicked Postman by Rabindranath Tagore
mother dear? The rain is coming in through the open window, making you all wet, and you don’t mind it. Do you hear the gong striking four? It is time for my brother to come home from school. What has happened to you that you look so strange? Haven’t you got a letter from father […]
The Unheeded Pageant by Rabindranath Tagore
your sweet limbs with that little red tunic? You have come out in the morning to play in the courtyard, tottering and tumbling as you run. But who was it coloured that little frock, my child? What is it makes you laugh, my little life-bud? Mother smiles at you standing on the threshold. She claps […]
The Source by Rabindranath Tagore
it comes? Yes, there is a rumour that it has its dwelling where, in the fairy village among shadows of the forest dimly lit with glow-worms, there hang two shy buds of enchantment. From there it comes to kiss baby’s eyes. The smile that flickers on baby’s lips when he sleeps-does anybody know where it […]
The Sailor by Rabindranath Tagore
It is uselessly laden with jute, and has been lying there idle for ever so long. If he would only lend me his boat, I should man her with a hundred oars, and hoist sails, five or six or seven. I should never steer her to stupid markets. I should sail the seven seas and […]
The Recall by Rabindranath Tagore
The night is dark now, and I call for her, “Come back, my darling; the world is asleep; and no one would know, if you came for a moment while stars are gazing at stars.” She went away when the trees were in bud and the spring was young. Now the flowers are in high […]
The Rainy Day by Rabindranath Tagore
forest. O child, do not go out! The palm trees in a row by the lake are smiting their heads against the dismal sky; the crows with their dragged wings are silent on the tamarind branches, and the eastern bank of the river is haunted by a deepening gloom. Our cow is lowing loud, ties […]
The Lotus by Rabindranath Tagore
and I knew it not. My basket was empty and the flower remained unheeded. Only now and again a sadness fell upon me, and I started up from my dream and felt a sweet trace of a strange fragrance in the south wind. That vague sweetness made my heart ache with longing and it seemed […]
The Little Big Man by Rabindranath Tagore
as old as my father is. My teacher will come and say, “It is late, bring your slate and your books.” I shall tell him, ” Do you not know I am as big as father? And I must not have lessons any more.” My master will wonder and say, “He can leave his books […]
The Land of the Exile by Rabindranath Tagore
the time is. There is no fun in my play, so I have come to you. It is Saturday, our holiday. Leave off your work, mother; sit here by the window and tell me where the desert of Tepantar in the fairy tale is. The shadow of the rains has covered the day from end […]
The Judge by Rabindranath Tagore
I do not love him because he is good, but because he is my little child. How should you know how dear he can be when you try to weigh his merits against his faults? When I must punish him he becomes all the more a part of my being. When I cause his tears […]
The Journey by Rabindranath Tagore
and the flowers were all merry by the roadside; and the wealth of gold was scattered through the rift of the clouds while we busily went on our way and paid no heed. We sang no glad songs nor played; we went not to the village for barter; we spoke not a word nor smiled; […]
The Hero by Rabindranath Tagore
strange and dangerous country. You are riding in a palanquin and I am trotting by you on a red horse. It is evening and the sun goes down. The waste of Joradighi lies wan and grey before us. The land is desolate and barren. You are frightened and thinking-“I know not where we have come […]
The Gift by Rabindranath Tagore
stream of the world. Our lives will be carried apart, and our love forgotten. But I am not so foolish as to hope that I could buy your heart with my gifts. Young is your life, your path long, and you drink the love we bring you at one draught and turn and run away […]
The Gardener XXXVIII: My Love, Once upon a Time by Rabindranath Tagore
launched a great epic in his mind. Alas, I was not careful, and it struck your ringing anklets and came to grief. It broke up into scraps of songs and lay scattered at your feet. All my cargo of the stories of old wars was tossed by the laughing waves and soaked in tears and […]
The Gardener XXXIV: Do Not Go, My Love by Rabindranath Tagore
my leave. I have watched all night, and now my eyes are heavy with sleep. I fear lest I lose you when I’m sleeping. Do not go, my love, without asking my leave. I start up and stretch my hands to touch you. I ask myself, “Is it a dream?” Could I but entangle your […]
The Gardener XXVIII: Your Questioning Eyes by Rabindranath Tagore
seek to know my meaning as the moon would fathom the sea. I have bared my life before your eyes from end to end, with nothing hidden or held back. That is why you know me not. If it were only a gem, I could break it into a hundred pieces and string them into […]
The Gardener XXIV: Do Not Keep to Yourself by Rabindranath Tagore
your heart, my friend! Say it to me, only to me, in secret. You who smile so gently, softly whisper, my heart will hear it, not my ears. The night is deep, the house is silent, the birds’ nests are shrouded with sleep. Speak to me through hesitating tears, through faltering smiles, through sweet shame […]
The Gardener XXII: When She Passed by Me by Rabindranath Tagore
steps, the end of her skirt touched me. From the unknown island of a heart came a sudden warm breath of spring. A flutter of a flitting touch brushed me and vanished in a moment, like a torn flower petal blown in the breeze. It fell upon my heart like a sigh of her body […]
The Gardener XXI: Why Did He Choose by Rabindranath Tagore
door, the wandering youth, when the day dawned? As I come in and out I pass by him every time, and my eyes are caught by his face. I know not if I should speak to him or keep silent. Why did he choose to come to my door? The cloudy nights in July are […]
The Gardener XX: Day After Day He Comes by Rabindranath Tagore
away. Go, and give him a flower from my hair, my friend. If he asks who was it that sent it, I entreat you do not tell him my name– for he only comes and goes away. He sits on the dust under the tree. Spread there a seat with flowers and leaves, my friend. […]
The Gardener XVI: Hands Cling to Eyes by Rabindranath Tagore
on eyes: thus begins the record of our hearts. It is the moonlit night of March; the sweet smell of henna is in the air; my flute lies on the earth neglected and your garland of flowers is unfinished. This love between you and me is simple as a song. Your veil of the saffron […]
The Gardener XLVIII: Free Me by Rabindranath Tagore
sweetness, my love! Nor more of this wine of kisses. This mist of heavy incense stifles my heart. Open the doors, make room for the morning light. I am lost in you, wrapped in the folds of your caresses. Free me from your spells, and give me back the manhood to offer you my freed […]
The Gardener XLVI: You Left Me by Rabindranath Tagore
I thought I should mourn for you and set your solitary image in my heart wrought in a golden song. But ah, my evil fortune, time is short. Youth wanes year after year; the spring days are fugitive; the frail flowers die for nothing, and the wise man warns me that life is but a […]
The Gardener XLV: To the Guests by Rabindranath Tagore
God’s speed and brush away all traces of their steps. Take to your bosom with a smile what is easy and simple and near. To-day is the festival of phantoms that know not when they die. Let your laughter be but a meaning- less mirth like twinkles of light on the ripples. Let your life […]
The Gardener XLIV: Reverend Sir, Forgive by Rabindranath Tagore
sinners. Spring winds to-day are blowing in wild eddies, driving dust and dead leaves away, and with them your lessons are all lost. Do not say, father, that life is a vanity. For we have made truce with death for once, and only for a few fragrant hours we two have been made immortal. Even […]
The Gardener XLIII: No, My Friends by Rabindranath Tagore
ascetic, whatever you may say. I shall never be and ascetic if she does not take the vow with me. It is my firm resolve that if I cannot find a shady shelter and a companion for my penance, I shall never turn ascetic. No, my friends, I shall never leave my hearth and home, […]
The Gardener XLII: O Mad, Superbly Drunk by Rabindranath Tagore
If you kick open your doors and play the fool in public; If you empty your bag in a night, and snap your fingers at prudence; If you walk in curious paths and play with useless things; Reck not rhyme or reason; If unfurling your sails before the storm you snap the rudder in two, […]
The Gardener XL: An Unbelieving Smile by Rabindranath Tagore
eyes when I come to you to take my leave. I have done it so often that you think I will soon return. To tell you the truth I have the same doubt in my mind. For the spring days come again time after time; the full moon takes leave and comes on another visit, […]
The Gardener XIX: You Walked by Rabindranath Tagore
with the full pitcher upon your hip. Why did you swiftly turn your face and peep at me through your fluttering veil? That gleaming look from the dark came upon me like a breeze that sends a shiver through the rippling water and sweeps away to the shadowy shore. It came to me like the […]
The Gardener XIV: I Was Walking by the Road by Rabindranath Tagore
know why, when the noonday was past and bamboo branches rustled in the wind. The prone shadows with their out- stretched arms clung to the feet of the hurrying light. The koels were weary of their songs. I was walking by the road, I do not know why. The hut by the side of the […]
The Gardener XIII: I Asked Nothing by Rabindranath Tagore
edge of the wood behind the tree. Languor was still upon the eyes of the dawn, and the dew in the air. The lazy smell of the damp grass hung in the thin mist above the earth. Under the banyan tree you were milking the cow with your hands, tender and fresh as butter. And […]
The Gardener X: Let Your Work Be, Bride by Rabindranath Tagore
guest has come. Do you hear, he is gently shaking the chain which fastens the door? See that your anklets make no loud noise, and that your step is not over- hurried at meeting him. Let your work be, bride, the guest had come in the evening. No, it is not the ghostly wind, bride, […]
The Gardener LXXXIV: Over the Green by Rabindranath Tagore
sweep the shadows of the autumn clouds followed by the swift-chasing sun. The bees forget to sip their honey; drunken with light they foolishly hover and hum. The ducks in the islands of the river clamour in joy for mere nothing. Let none go back home, brothers, this morning, let none go to work. Let […]
The Gardener LXXXIII: She Dwelt on the Hillside by Rabindranath Tagore
of a maize-field, near the spring that flows in laughing rills through the solemn shadows of ancient trees. The women came there to fill their jars, and travellers would sit there to rest and talk. She worked and dreamed daily to the tune of the bubbling stream. One evening the stranger came down from the […]