The Gardener 55
It was mid-day when you went 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 many distant fields.The doves cooed tireless in the shade, and a bee strayed in myroom humming the news of many distant fields.
The village slept in the noonday heat. The road lay deserted.In sudden fits the rustling of the leaves rose and died.I glazed at the sky and wove in the blue the letters of a name Ihad known, while the village slept in the noonday heat.
I had forgotten to braid my hair. The languid breeze played withit upon my cheek.The river ran unruffled under the shady bank.The lazy white clouds did not move.I had forgotten to braid my hair.
It was mid-day when you went away.The dust of the road was hot and the fields panting.The doves cooed among the dense leaves.I was alone in my balcony when you went away.
Words in this poem
- went n.
- Course; way; path; journey; direction.
- fitful a.
- Full of fits; irregularly variable; impulsive and unstable. [From 7th Fit.]
- winnowing n.
- The act of one who, or that which, winnows.
- noonday n.
- Midday; twelve o'clock in the day; noon.
- wove
- p. pr. & rare vb. n. of Weave.
- unruffled a.
- Not ruffled or agitated; smooth; calm; tranquil; quiet. [Pref. un- not + ruffled.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Gardener 55 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 55, in The Gardener (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6686, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tagore-gardener/poem-55.html, id L27691.
About this section
The Gardener 55 is prose, printed in 5 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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