The Gardener LVII: I Plucked Your Flower by Rabindranath Tagore

I pressed it to my heart and the thorn pricked. When the day waned and it darkened, I found that the flower had faded, but the pain remained. More flowers will come to you with perfume and pride, O world! But my time for flower-gathering is over, and through the dark night I have not […]

The Gardener LV: It Was Mid-Day by Rabindranath Tagore

away . The sun was strong in the sky. I had done my work and sat alone on my balcony when you went away. Fitful gusts came winnowing through the smells of may distant fields. The doves cooed tireless in the shade, and a bee strayed in my room hum- ming the news of many […]

The Call Of The Far — English Translation by Rabindranath Tagore

I am athirst for the far. My time passes by And in an absent mind I keep waiting at my window Hoping and hoping you will come. O how my entire being Is eager for your intimate touch! O you far, O you boundless far So irresistible is the call of your flute But I […]

The Beginning by Rabindranath Tagore

its mother. She answered, half crying, half laughing, and clasping the baby to her breast- “You were hidden in my heart as its desire, my darling. You were in the dolls of my childhood’s games; and when with clay I made the image of my god every morning, I made the unmade you then. You […]

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 […]

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 […]

Night Launch by Sonya Ki Tomlinson

Night Launch by Sonya Ki Tomlinson Muscles of the bold black sky rippled stars The warrior Perseus, his bow strung aimed flaming arrows towards the brilliant constellations roaming nocturnal plateaus Perfect backdrop for a night launch Myself, David, and my twin brothers Chris and Pat had front row seats on the brick pathway directly in […]

Long For This World by Sophie Hannah

Long For This World by Sophie Hannah I settle for less than snow, try to go gracefully like seasons go which will regain their ground – ditch, hill and field; when a new year comes round. Now I know everything: how winter leaves without resenting spring, lives in a safe time frame, gives up so […]

LIGHT ECHOES by Sonya Ki Tomlinson

LIGHT ECHOES by Sonya Ki Tomlinson tip of the flame is lucid blue it’s nucleus a golden spiral of undiminished rapture look at all your bright faces there is an incredible sovereign joy that dances independent of earthly suffering, sorrow and pain Copyright ©:  2013 ————— The End And that’s the End of the Poem […]

Life Brings Me to this Journey. by Stephen Sweitzer

Life Brings Me to this Journey. by Stephen Sweitzer I fear of my soulless fears,Hardly known of my ignorant peers, I constantly consume this pain,Leading me to this dark, evil lane,  I lean on man’s understanding,Giving me Satan’s branding,  I, instead, need to trust my Alpha, Calling out for my Almighty Abba, However, my sinful chains […]

Leaving and Leaving You by Sophie Hannah

Leaving and Leaving You by Sophie Hannah When I leave you postcode and your commuting station, When I left undone all the things we planned to do You may feel you have been left by association But there is leaving and leaving you. When I leave your town and the club that you belong to, […]