The Gardener 7
O mother, the young Prince is to pass by our door,--how can Iattend to my work this morning?Show me how to braid up my hair; tell me what garment to put on.Why do you look at me amazed, mother?I know well he will not glance up once at my window; I know hewill pass out of my sight in the twinkling of an eye; only thevanishing strain of the flute will come sobbing to me from afar.But the young Prince will pass by our door, and I will put on mybest for the moment.
O mother, the young Prince did pass by our door, and the morningsun flashed from his chariot.I swept aside the veil from my face, I tore the ruby chain from myneck and flung it in his path.Why do you look at me amazed, mother?I know well he did not pick up my chain; I know it was crushedunder his wheels leaving a red stain upon the dust, and no oneknows what my gift was nor to whom.But the young Prince did pass by our door, and I flung the jewelfrom my breast before his path.
Words in this poem
- twinkling n.
- The act of one who, or of that which, twinkles; a quick movement of the eye; a wink; a twinkle. Holland.
- sobbing n.
- A series of short, convulsive inspirations, the glottis being suddenly closed so that little or no air enters into the lungs.
- afar adv.
- At, to, or from a great distance; far away; -- often used with from preceding, or off following; as, he was seen from afar; I saw him afar off. [Pref. a-.(for on or of) + far.]
- tore n.
- The dead grass that remains on mowing land in winter and spring. Mortimer. [Probably from the root of tear; cf. W. tór a break, cut, tóri to break, cut.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Gardener 7 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 7, in The Gardener (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6686, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tagore-gardener/poem-7.html, id L27643.
About this section
The Gardener 7 is prose, printed in 2 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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