The Gardener 67
Though the evening comes with slow steps and has signalled for allsongs to cease;Though your companions have gone to their rest and you are tired;Though fear broods in the dark and the face of the sky is veiled;Yet, bird, O my bird, listen to me, do not close your wings.
That is not the gloom of the leaves of the forest, that is the seaswelling like a dark black snake.That is not the dance of the flowering jasmine, that is flashing foam.Ah, where is the sunny green shore, where is your nest?Bird, O my bird, listen to me, do not close your wings.
The lone night lies along your path, the dawn sleeps behind the shadowy hills.The stars hold their breath counting the hours, the feeble moonswims the deep night.Bird, O my bird, listen to me, do not close your wings.
There is no hope, no fear for you.There is no word, no whisper, no cry.There is no home, no bed for rest.There is only your own pair of wings and the pathless sky.Bird, O my bird, listen to me, do not close your wings.
Words in this poem
- veiled a.
- Covered by, or as by, a veil; hidden.
- sunny a.
- Of or pertaining to the sun; proceeding from, or resembling the sun; hence, shining; bright; brilliant; radiant.
- lone n.
- A lane. See Loanin.
- pathless a.
- Having no beaten path or way; untrodden; impenetrable; as, pathless woods.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Gardener 67 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 67, in The Gardener (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6686, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tagore-gardener/poem-67.html, id L27703.
About this section
The Gardener 67 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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