Gitanjali 47
The night is nearly spent waiting for him in vain. I fear lest in themorning he suddenly come to my door when I have fallen asleep weariedout. Oh friends, leave the way open to him— forbid him not.
If the sounds of his steps does not wake me, do not try to rouse me, Ipray. I wish not to be called from my sleep by the clamorous choir ofbirds, by the riot of wind at the festival of morning light. Let mesleep undisturbed even if my lord comes of a sudden to my door.
Ah, my sleep, precious sleep, which only waits for his touch to vanish.Ah, my closed eyes that would open their lids only to the light of hissmile when he stands before me like a dream emerging from darkness ofsleep.
Let him appear before my sight as the first of all lights and allforms. The first thrill of joy to my awakened soul let it come from hisglance. And let my return to myself be immediate return to him.
About this text
Gitanjali 47 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 47, in Gitanjali (Song Offerings) (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7164, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tagore-gitanjali/poem-47.html, id L27909.
About this section
Gitanjali 47 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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