Gitanjali 52
I thought I should ask of thee—but I dared not—the rose wreath thouhadst on thy neck. Thus I waited for the morning, when thou didstdepart, to find a few fragments on the bed. And like a beggar Isearched in the dawn only for a stray petal or two.
Ah me, what is it I find? What token left of thy love? It is no flower,no spices, no vase of perfumed water. It is thy mighty sword, flashingas a flame, heavy as a bolt of thunder. The young light of morningcomes through the window and spreads itself upon thy bed. The morningbird twitters and asks, “Woman, what hast thou got?” No, it is noflower, nor spices, nor vase of perfumed water—it is thy dreadfulsword.
I sit and muse in wonder, what gift is this of thine. I can find noplace to hide it. I am ashamed to wear it, frail as I am, and it hurtsme when I press it to my bosom. Yet shall I bear in my heart thishonour of the burden of pain, this gift of thine.
From now there shall be no fear left for me in this world, and thoushalt be victorious in all my strife. Thou hast left death for mycompanion and I shall crown him with my life. Thy sword is with me tocut asunder my bonds, and there shall be no fear left for me in theworld.
From now I leave off all petty decorations. Lord of my heart, no moreshall there be for me waiting and weeping in corners, no more coynessand sweetness of demeanour. Thou hast given me thy sword for adornment.No more doll’s decorations for me!
Words in this poem
- didst
- , the 2d pers. sing. imp. of Do.
- depart v. i.
- To part; to divide; to separate. [OE. departen to divide, part, depart, F. départir to divide, distribute, se départir to separate one's self, depart; pref. dé- (L. de) + partir to part, depart,]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- dreadful a.
- Full of dread or terror; fearful.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- honour n.
- Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence. [OE. honor, honour, onour, onur, OF. honor, onor, honur, onur, honour, onour, F. honneur, fr. L. honor, honos.]
- shalt
- 2d per. sing. of Shall.
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
- demeanour n.
- Management; treatment; conduct. [For demeanure, fr. demean. See Demean, v. t.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Gitanjali 52 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 52, in Gitanjali (Song Offerings) (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7164, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tagore-gitanjali/poem-52.html, id L27914.
About this section
Gitanjali 52 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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