Gitanjali 27
Light, oh where is the light? Kindle it with the burning fire ofdesire!
There is the lamp but never a flicker of a flame—is such thy fate, myheart? Ah, death were better by far for thee!
Misery knocks at thy door, and her message is that thy lord is wakeful,and he calls thee to the love-tryst through the darkness of night.
The sky is overcast with clouds and the rain is ceaseless. I know notwhat this is that stirs in me—I know not its meaning.
A moment’s flash of lightning drags down a deeper gloom on my sight,and my heart gropes for the path to where the music of the night callsme.
Light, oh where is the light! Kindle it with the burning fire ofdesire! It thunders and the wind rushes screaming through the void. Thenight is black as a black stone. Let not the hours pass by in the dark.Kindle the lamp of love with thy life.
Words in this poem
- flicker v. i.
- To flutter; to flap the wings without flying. [OE. flikeren, flekeren, to flutter, AS. flicerian, flicorian, cf. D. flikkeren to sparkle. Flacker.]
- wakeful a.
- Not sleeping; indisposed to sleep; watchful; vigilant.
- tryst v. i.
- To mutually agree to meet at a certain place.
- overcast v. t.
- To cast or cover over; hence, to cloud; to darken.
- ceaseless a.
- Without pause or end; incessant.
- screaming a.
- Uttering screams; shrieking.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Gitanjali 27 is in the public domain. This text is taken from Gitanjali (Song Offerings), a collection of prose translations made by the author from the original Bengali, with an introduction by W. B. Yeats (India Society, London, 1912), Project Gutenberg ebook #7164; 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, Gitanjali 27, in Gitanjali (Song Offerings) (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7164, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tagore-gitanjali/poem-27.html, id L27889.
About this section
Gitanjali 27 is prose, printed in 6 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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