Gitanjali 41
Where dost thou stand behind them all, my lover, hiding thyself in theshadows? They push thee and pass thee by on the dusty road, taking theefor naught. I wait here weary hours spreading my offerings for thee,while passers-by come and take my flowers, one by one, and my basket isnearly empty.
The morning time is past, and the noon. In the shade of evening my eyesare drowsy with sleep. Men going home glance at me and smile and fillme with shame. I sit like a beggar maid, drawing my skirt over my face,and when they ask me, what it is I want, I drop my eyes and answer themnot.
Oh, how, indeed, could I tell them that for thee I wait, and that thouhast promised to come. How could I utter for shame that I keep for mydowry this poverty. Ah, I hug this pride in the secret of my heart.
I sit on the grass and gaze upon the sky and dream of the suddensplendour of thy coming—all the lights ablaze, golden pennons flyingover thy car, and they at the roadside standing agape, when they seethee come down from thy seat to raise me from the dust, and set at thyside this ragged beggar girl a-tremble with shame and pride, like acreeper in a summer breeze.
But time glides on and still no sound of the wheels of thy chariot.Many a procession passes by with noise and shouts and glamour of glory.Is it only thou who wouldst stand in the shadow silent and behind themall? And only I who would wait and weep and wear out my heart in vainlonging?
Words in this poem
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- dowry n.
- A gift; endowment. [Contr. from dowery; cf. LL. dotarium. See Dower.]
- splendour n.
- Great brightness; brilliant luster; brilliancy; as, the splendor ot the sun. B. Jonson. [L. fr. splendere to shine: cf. F. splendeur.]
- ablaze adv.
- On fire; in a blaze, gleaming. Milman. [Pref. a- + blaze.]
- roadside n.
- Land adjoining a road or highway; the part of a road or highway that borders the traveled part. Also used ajectively.
- agape adv.
- Gaping, as with wonder, expectation, or eager attention. [Pref. a- + gape.]
- glamour n.
- A charm affecting the eye, making objects appear different from what they really are. [Scot. glamour, glamer; cf. Icel. glámeggdr one who is troubled with the glaucoma; or Icel. glam-s weakness of sight, glamour; glamr name of the moon, also of a ]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Gitanjali 41 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 41, in Gitanjali (Song Offerings) (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7164, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tagore-gitanjali/poem-41.html, id L27903.
About this section
Gitanjali 41 is prose, printed in 5 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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