1
Thou hast made me endless, such is thy pleasure. This frail vessel thou emptiest again and again, and fillest it ever with fresh life.
This little flute of a reed thou hast carried over hills and dales, and hast breathed through it melodies eternally new.
At the immortal touch of thy hands my little heart loses its limits in joy and gives birth to utterance ineffable.
Thy infinite gifts come to me only on these very small hands of mine. Ages pass, and still thou pourest, and still there is room to fill.
This little flute of a reed thou hast carried over hills and dales, and hast breathed through it melodies eternally new.
At the immortal touch of thy hands my little heart loses its limits in joy and gives birth to utterance ineffable.
Thy infinite gifts come to me only on these very small hands of mine. Ages pass, and still thou pourest, and still there is room to fill.
2
When thou commandest me to sing it seems that my heart would break with pride; and I look to thy face, and tears come to my eyes.
All that is harsh and dissonant in my life melts into one sweet harmony---and my adoration spreads wings like a glad bird on its flight across the sea.
I know thou takest pleasure in my singing. I know that only as a singer I come before thy presence.
I touch by the edge of the far-spreading wing of my song thy feet which I could never aspire to reach.
Drunk with the joy of singing I forget myself and call thee friend who art my lord.
All that is harsh and dissonant in my life melts into one sweet harmony---and my adoration spreads wings like a glad bird on its flight across the sea.
I know thou takest pleasure in my singing. I know that only as a singer I come before thy presence.
I touch by the edge of the far-spreading wing of my song thy feet which I could never aspire to reach.
Drunk with the joy of singing I forget myself and call thee friend who art my lord.
3
I know not how thou singest, my master! I ever listen in silent amazement.
The light of thy music illumines the world. The life breath of thy music runs from sky to sky. The holy stream of thy music breaks through all stony obstacles and rushes on.
My heart longs to join in thy song, but vainly struggles for a voice. I would speak, but speech breaks not into song, and I cry out baffled. Ah, thou hast made my heart captive in the endless meshes of thy music, my master!
TIMELESS GITANJALI
Gitanjali is a collection of 103 poems of the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore in English, translated by the poet himself. This volume became well known in the West, and was widely translated into other languages. In England a slender volume was published in 1913, with an exhilarating preface by W. B. Yeats. In the same year, Rabindranath became the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize. His work, thus became a part of the English literature.
Gitanjali is a blend of a number of themes and ideas. It explores the relationship between the creator, nature, individual and humanity. The book becomes a revelation, and incantation, like mantras and the poem as a whole opens the closed petals of our lotus heart. It is an X'ray of our inner reality. The poems of Gitanjali are the offerings of the finite to the infinite. Gitanjali is Tagore's autobiography. At the same time it is the voice our own soul.
Gitanjali is a blend of a number of themes and ideas. It explores the relationship between the creator, nature, individual and humanity. The book becomes a revelation, and incantation, like mantras and the poem as a whole opens the closed petals of our lotus heart. It is an X'ray of our inner reality. The poems of Gitanjali are the offerings of the finite to the infinite. Gitanjali is Tagore's autobiography. At the same time it is the voice our own soul.
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