The Gardener 73
Infinite wealth is not yours, my patient and dusky mother dust!You toil to fill the mouths of your children, but food is scarce.The gift of gladness that you have for us is never perfect.The toys that you make for your children are fragile.You cannot satisfy all our hungry hopes, but should I desert you for that?Your smile which is shadowed with pain is sweet to my eyes.Your love which knows not fulfilment is dear to my heart.From your breast you have fed us with life but not immortality,that is why your eyes are ever wakeful.For ages you are working with colour and song, yet your heaven isnot built, but only its sad suggestion.Over your creations of beauty there is the mist of tears.I will pour my songs into your mute heart, and my love into your love.I will worship you with labour.I have seen your tender face and I love your mournful dust, Mother Earth.
Words in this poem
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- scarce a.
- Not plentiful or abundant; in small quantity in proportion to the demand; not easily to be procured; rare; uncommon. [OE. scars, OF. escars, eschars, LL. scarpsus, for L. excerptus, p. p. of excerpere to pick out, and hence to contract, to shorten; ex (see Ex-) + carpere. See C]
- wakeful a.
- Not sleeping; indisposed to sleep; watchful; vigilant.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
The Gardener 73 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 73, in The Gardener (1913), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #6686, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tagore-gardener/poem-73.html, id L27709.
About this section
The Gardener 73 is prose, printed in 1 paragraph. 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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