10 best poems of Rabindranath Tagore
10 BEST POEMS OF RABINDRANATH TAGORE
1. WAITING
The
song I came to sing
Remains
unsung to this day.
I
have spent my days in stringing
And
in unstringing my instrument.
The
time has not come true,
The
words have not been rightly set
Only
there is the agony,
Of
wishing in my heart.
I
have not seen his face,
Nor
have I listened to his voice.
Only
I have heard his gentle footsteps,
From
the road before my house.
But
the lamp has not been lit,
And
I cannot ask him into my house.
I
live in the hope of meeting with him,
But
this meeting is not yet.
2. FRIEND
Art
thou abroad on this stormy night
On
the journey of love, my friend?
The
sky groans like one in despair.
I
have no sleep tonight,
Ever
and again I open my door and look out on
The
darkness, my friend!
I
can see nothing before me.
I
wonder where lies the path!
By
what dim shore of the ink black river,
By
what far edge of the frowning forest,
Through
what mazy depth of gloom art thou threading
Thy
course to come to me, my friend?
3. GITANJALI
Thou
hast made me endless, such is thy pleasure.
This
frail vessel thou emptiest again and again,
The
fillest it ever with fresh life.
The
little flute of the 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.
The
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.
4. ON THE NATURE OF LOVE
The
night is black and the forest has no end,
A
million people thread it in a million ways.
We
have trysts to keep in the darkness, but where
or
with whom – of that we are unaware.
But
we have this faith – that a lifetime’s bliss
Will
appear any minute, with a smile upon its lips.
Scents,
touches, sounds, snatches of sohgs
Brush
us, pass us, give us delightful shocks.
Then
peradventure there’s a flash of lightening;
Whomever
I see that instant I fall in love with,
I
call that person and cry; ‘this life is blest!
For
your sake such miles have I traversed!’
All
those others who came close and moved off
In
the darkness – I don’t know if they exist or not.
5. PAPER BOATS
Day
by day I float my paper boats
One
by one down the running stream.
In
big black letters I write my name on them
And
the name of the villagers where I live.
I
hope that someone in some strange land will find them
and
know who I am.
I
load my little boats with shiuli flower from our garden
And
hope that these blooms of the dawn will be carried safely
To
land in the night.
I
launch my paper boats and look up into the sky and see the little clouds
Setting
thee white bulging sails.
I
know not what playmate of mine in the sky sends them down
The
air to race with my boast!
Where
night comes I bury my face in my arms and dream that my
Paper
boats float on and on under the midnight stars.
The
failures of sleep are sailing in them
And
the lady ins their baskets full of dreams.
6. WHERE THE MIND IS WITHOUT FEAR
Where
the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where
knowledge is free
Where
the world has not been broken into fragments
By
narrow domestic walls
Where
words come out from the depth of truth
Where
tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection
Where
the clear stream of reason has not lost its way
Into
the dreary desert sand of dead habit
Where
the mind is led forward by thee
Into
ever- widening thought and action
Into
that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake.
7. ENDLESS TIME
Time
is endless in thy hands, my lord.
There
is none to count thy minutes.
Days
and nights pass and ages bloom and fade like flowers.
Thou
knowest how to wait.
The centuries
follow each other perfecting a small wide flower.
We
have no time to lose,
And
having no time we must scramble for a chance.
We
are too poor to be late.
And
thus it is that time goes by
While
I give it to every querulous man who claims it,
And
thine altar is empty of all offerings to the last.
At
the end of the day I hasten in fear lest thy gate be shut;
But
I find that yet there is time.
8. FREEDOM
Freedom
from fear is the freedom
I
claim for you my motherland!
Freedom
from the burden of the ages, bending your head,
Breaking
your back, blinding your eyes to the beckoning call of the future.
Freedom
from the shackles of slumber wherewith
You
fasten yourself in night’s stillness,
Mistrusting
the star that speaks of truth’s adventurous paths;
Freedom
from the anarchy of destiny
Whole
sails are weekly yielded to the blind uncertain winds,
And
the helm to a hand ever rigid and cold as death.
Freedom
from the insult of dwelling in a puppet’s world,
Where
movements are started through brainless wires,
Repeated
through mindless habits,
Where
figures wait with patience and obedience for the
Master
of the show,
To
be stirred into a mimicry of life.
9. FREE LOVE
By
all means they try to hold me secure
Who
love me in this world.
But
it is otherwise with thy love which is
Greater
than theirs,
And
thou keepest me free.
Lest
I forget them they never venture to
Leave
me alone.
But
day passes by after day and thou
Art
not seen.
If
I call not thee in my prayers, if I keep
Not
thee in my heart,
Thy
love for me still waits for my love.
10. THE BOAT
I
must launch out my boat.
The
languid hours pass by on the
Shore
--- Alas for me!
The
spring has done its flowering and taken leave.
And
now with the burden of faded futile flowers I wait and linger.
The
waves have become clamorous, and upon the bank in the shady lane
The
yellow leaves flutter and fall.
What
emptiness do you gaze upon!
Do
you not feel a thrill passing through the air
With
the notes of the far-away song
Floating
from the other shore?
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