Lotus by Rabindranath Tagore

Lotus
by Rabindranath Tagore


On the day when the lotus bloomed, alas, my mind was straying,
and I knew it not. My basket was empty and the flower remained unheeded.

Only now and again a sadness fell upon me, and I started up from my
dream and felt a sweet trace of a strange fragrance in the south wind.

That vague sweetness made my heart ache with longing and it seemed to
me that is was the eager breath of the summer seeking for its completion.

I knew not then that it was so near, that it was mine, and that this
perfect sweetness had blossomed in the depth of my own heart.


Lovely, memorable poem. A link to read more about this poet is here. http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1913/tagore-bio.html

Patience by Rabindranath Tagore

Patience 
by Rabindranath Tagore


If thou speakest not I will fill my heart with thy silence and endure it.
I will keep still and wait like the night with starry vigil
and its head bent low with patience.

The morning will surely come, the darkness will vanish,
and thy voice pour down in golden streams breaking through the sky.

Then thy words will take wing in songs from every one of my birds' nests,
and thy melodies will break forth in flowers in all my forest groves.




Patience has it's own rewards. A link to read more is here. Photo is mine. http://allpoetry.com/Rabindranath_Tagore

("Sing the song of the moment...") By Rabindranath Tagore

(“Sing the song of the moment...”)

BY RABINDRANATH TAGORE

                                                      VII

Sing the song of the moment in careless carols, in the transient light of the day;

Sing of the fleeting smiles that vanish and never look back;

Sing of the flowers that bloom and fade without regret.

Weave not in memory’s thread the days that would glide into nights.

To the guests that must go bid God-speed, and wipe away all traces of their steps.

Let the moments end in moments with their cargo of fugitive songs.

With both hands snap the fetters you made with your own heart chords;

Take to your breast with a smile what is easy and simple and near.

Today is the festival of phantoms that know not when they die.         

Let your laughter flush in meaningless mirth like twinkles of light on the ripples;

Let your life lightly dance on the verge of Time like a dew on the tip of a leaf.

Strike in the chords of your harp the fitful murmurs of moments.

Moments are all we have, he says that so well here. A link to read more is here.http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/rabindranath-tagore

Stream of Life by Rabindranth Tagore

Stream of Life

by Rabindranth Tagore

The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day
runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.

It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth
in numberless blades of grass
and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.

It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth
and of death, in ebb and in flow.

I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.
And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment.

Wonderful poem of life, what we are made of. To read more a link is here.http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/may/07/rabindranath-tagore-why-was-he-neglected

Give Me Strength by Rabindranath Tagore

Give Me Strength 
by Rabindranath Tagore




This is my prayer to thee, my lord—-strike,
strike at the root of penury in my heart.

Give me the strength lightly to bear my joys and sorrows.

Give me the strength to make my love fruitful in service.

Give me the strength never to disown the poor or bend my knees before insolent might.

Give me the strength to raise my mind high above daily trifles.

And give me the strength to surrender my strength to thy will with love.




Spiritual poetry is special and meaningful. A link to learn more is here. http://allpoetry.com/Rabindranath_Tagore

The Gardener 38 by Rabindranath Tagore

The Gardener 38

BY RABINDRANATH TAGORE

My love, once upon a time your poet launched a great epic in his mind.

Alas, I was not careful, and it struck your ringing anklets and came to grief.

It broke up into scraps of songs and lay scattered at your feet.

All my cargo of the stories of old wars was tossed by the laughing waves and soaked in tears and sank.

You must make this loss good to me, my love.

If my claims to immortal fame after death are shattered, make me immortal while I live.

And I will not mourn for my loss nor blame you.

Beautiful writing. A link to read more is here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabindranath_Tagore

("Over the green and yellow...") by Rabindranath Tagore

(“Over the green and yellow...”)

BY RABINDRANATH TAGORE

                                    I 

         Over the green and yellow rice fields sweep the shadows of the autumn clouds, followed by the swift-chasing sun.
         The bees forget to sip their honey; drunken with the light they foolishly hum and hover; and the ducks in the sandy riverbank clamour in joy for mere nothing.
         None shall go back home, brothers, this morning, none shall go to work.
         We will take the blue sky by storm and plunder the space as we run.
         Laughters fly floating in the air like foams in the flood.
         Brothers, we shall squander our morning in futile songs. 

This one makes me smile each time I read it. A link to read more is here. http://www.schoolofwisdom.com/history/teachers/rabindranath-tagore/

Where the mind is without fear by Rabindranath Tagore

Where the mind is without fear
by Rabindranath Tagore


Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high
Where knowledge is free
Where the world has not been broken up 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.


What's so interesting reading this poem is that it is still current. A link to read more is here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabindranath_Tagore