Gitanjali 71
That I should make much of myself and turn it on all sides, thuscasting coloured shadows on thy radiance—such is thy maya.
Thou settest a barrier in thine own being and then callest thy severedself in myriad notes. This thy self-separation has taken body in me.
The poignant song is echoed through all the sky in many-coloured tearsand smiles, alarms and hopes; waves rise up and sink again, dreamsbreak and form. In me is thy own defeat of self.
This screen that thou hast raised is painted with innumerable figureswith the brush of the night and the day. Behind it thy seat is woven inwondrous mysteries of curves, casting away all barren lines ofstraightness.
The great pageant of thee and me has overspread the sky. With the tuneof thee and me all the air is vibrant, and all ages pass with thehiding and seeking of thee and me.
Words in this poem
- coloured a.
- Having color; tinged; dyed; painted; stained.
- maya n.
- The name for the doctrine of the unreality of matter, called, in English, idealism; hence, nothingness; vanity; illusion.
- myriad n.
- The number of ten thousand; ten thousand persons or things. [Gr. myriade.]
- poignant a.
- Pricking; piercing; sharp; pungent. [F., p. pr. of poindre to sting, fr. L. pungere to prick, sting. See Pungent.]
- defeat v. t.
- To undo; to disfigure; to destroy. [From F. défait, OF. desfait, p. p. ofe défaire, OF. desfaire, to undo; L. dis- + facere to do. See Feat, Fact, and cf. Disfashion.]
- hast
- , 2d pers. sing. pres. of. Fave, contr. of havest.
- wondrous adv.
- In a wonderful or surprising manner or degree; wonderfully. [OE. wonders, adv. (later also adj.). See Wonder, n., and cf. -wards.]
- pageant n.
- A theatrical exhibition; a spectacle. [OE. pagent, pagen, originally, a movable scaffold or stage, hence, what was exhibited on it, fr. LL. pagina, akin to pangere to fasten; cf. L. pagina page, leaf]
- vibrant a.
- Vibrating; tremulous; resonant; as, vibrant drums. [L. vibrans, p. pr.: cf. F. vibrant. See Vibrate.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Gitanjali 71 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 71, in Gitanjali (Song Offerings) (1912), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #7164, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/tagore-gitanjali/poem-71.html, id L27933.
About this section
Gitanjali 71 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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