Gitanjali 64
On the slope of the desolate river among tall grasses I asked her,“Maiden, where do you go shading your lamp with your mantle? My houseis all dark and lonesome—lend me your light!” she raised her dark eyesfor a moment and looked at my face through the dusk. “I have come tothe river,” she said, “to float my lamp on the stream when the daylightwanes in the west.” I stood alone among tall grasses and watched thetimid flame of her lamp uselessly drifting in the tide.
In the silence of gathering night I asked her, “Maiden, your lights areall lit—then where do you go with your lamp? My house is all dark andlonesome—lend me your light.” She raised her dark eyes on my face andstood for a moment doubtful. “I have come,” she said at last, “todedicate my lamp to the sky.” I stood and watched her light uselesslyburning in the void.
In the moonless gloom of midnight I ask her, “Maiden, what is yourquest, holding the lamp near your heart? My house is all dark andlonesome—lend me your light.” She stopped for a minute and thought andgazed at my face in the dark. “I have brought my light,” she said, “tojoin the carnival of lamps.” I stood and watched her little lampuselessly lost among lights.
Words in this poem
- lonesome a.
- Secluded from society; not frequented by human beings; solitary.
- daylight n.
- The light of day as opposed to the darkness of night; the light of the sun, as opposed to that of the moon or to artificial light.
- moonless a.
- Being without a moon or moonlight.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Gitanjali 64 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 64, in Gitanjali (Song Offerings) (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7164, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tagore-gitanjali/poem-64.html, id L27926.
About this section
Gitanjali 64 is prose, printed in 3 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.
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.