The Gardener 10
Let your work be, bride. Listen, the 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 isnot over-hurried at meeting him.Let your work be, bride, the guest has come in the evening.
No, it is not the ghostly wind, bride, do not be frightened.It is the full moon on a night of April; shadows are pale in thecourtyard; the sky overhead is bright.Draw your veil over your face if you must, carry the lamp to thedoor if you fear.No, it is not the ghostly wind, bride, do not be frightened.
Have no word with him if you are shy; stand aside by the door when you meet him.If he asks you questions, and if you wish to, you can lower youreyes in silence.Do not let your bracelets jingle when, lamp in hand, you lead him in.Have no word with him if you are shy.
Have you not finished your work yet, bride? Listen, the guest has come.Have you not lit the lamp in the cowshed?Have you not got ready the offering basket for the evening service?Have you not put the red lucky mark at the parting of your hair,and done your toilet for the night?O bride, do you hear, the guest has come?Let your work be!
Words in this poem
- ghostly a.
- Relating to the soul; not carnal or secular; spiritual; as, a ghostly confessor. [OE. gastlich, gostlich, AS. gastlic. See Ghost.]
- jingle v. i.
- To sound with a fine, sharp, rattling, clinking, or tinkling sound; as, sleigh bells jingle. [OE. gingelen, ginglen; prob. akin to E. chink; cf. also E. jangle.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Gardener 10 is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Gardener, translated by the author from the original Bengali (Macmillan, London and New York, 1913; this text the 1915 printing), Project Gutenberg ebook #6686; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Rabindranath Tagore, The Gardener 10, in The Gardener (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6686, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tagore-gardener/poem-10.html, id L27646.
About this section
The Gardener 10 is prose, printed in 4 paragraphs. It is part of the edition and is kept for reading, but nothing here is measured: the line breaks are the printer's, so no metre, rhyme scheme or scansion is stated.
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