The Gardener 13
I asked nothing, only stood at the 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 I was standing still.
I did not say a word. It was the bird that sang unseen from the thicket.The mango tree was shedding its flowers upon the village road, andthe bees came humming one by one.On the side of the pond the gate of Shiva's temple was opened andthe worshipper had begun his chants.With the vessel on your lap you were milking the cow.I stood with my empty can.
I did not come near you.The sky woke with the sound of the gong at the temple.The dust was raised in the road from the hoofs of the driven cattle.With the gurgling pitchers at their hips, women came from the river.Your bracelets were jingling, and foam brimming over the jar.The morning wore on and I did not come near you.
Words in this poem
- unseen a.
- Not seen or discovered.
- gong n.
- A privy or jakes. Chaucer. Gong farmer, Gong man, a cleaner of privies. [AS. gong, gang, a going, passage, drain. See Gang.]
- jingling n.
- The act or process of producing a jingle; also, the sound itself; a chink.
- brimming a.
- Full to the brim; overflowing.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Gardener 13 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 13, in The Gardener (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6686, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tagore-gardener/poem-13.html, id L27649.
About this section
The Gardener 13 is prose, printed in 3 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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