Gitanjali — Song 11
Gitanjali — Song 11
Rabindranath Tagore
Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads! Whom dost thou
worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut?
Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee!
He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground and where the
pathmaker is breaking stones. He is with them in sun and in shower, and
his garment is covered with dust. Put of thy holy mantle and even like
him come down on the dusty soil!
Deliverance? Where is this deliverance to be found? Our master himself
has joyfully taken upon him the bonds of creation; he is bound with us
all for ever.
Come out of thy meditations and leave aside thy flowers and incense!
What harm is there if thy clothes become tattered and stained? Meet him
and stand by him in toil and in sweat of thy brow.
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Complete 103-poem English Gitanjali, translated by the author and published in 1912. · Translated by Rabindranath Tagore
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