The Gardener 56
I was one among many women busy with the obscure daily tasks of the household.Why did you single me out and bring me away from the cool shelterof our common life?
Love unexpressed in sacred. It shines like gems in the gloom ofthe hidden heart. In the light of the curious day it lookspitifully dark.Ah, you broke through the cover of my heart and dragged mytrembling love into the open place, destroying for ever the shadycorner where it hid its nest.
The other women are the same as ever.No one has peeped into their inmost being, and they themselvesknow not their own secret.Lightly they smile, and weep, chatter, and work. Daily they go tothe temple, light their lamps, and fetch water from the river.
I hoped my love would be saved from the shivering shame of theshelterless, but you turn your face away.Yes, your path lies open before you, but you have cut off myreturn, and left me stripped naked before the world with itslidless eyes staring night and day.
Words in this poem
- curious a.
- Difficult to please or satisfy; solicitous to be correct; careful; scrupulous; nice; exact. [OF. curios, curius, F. curieux, L. curiosus careful, inquisitive, fr. cura care. See Cure.]
- broke v. i.
- To transact business for another. Brome. [See Broker, and cf. Brook.]
- inmost a.
- Deepest within; farthest from the surface or external part; innermost. [OE. innemest, AS. innemest, a double superlative form fr. inne within, fr. in in. The modern form is due to confusion with most. See In, and cf. Aftermost, Fore]
- shelterless a.
- Destitute of shelter or protection.
- lidless a.
- Having no lid, or not covered with the lids, as the eyes; hence, sleepless; watchful.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Gardener 56 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 56, in The Gardener (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6686, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tagore-gardener/poem-56.html, id L27692.
About this section
The Gardener 56 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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