Gitanjali — Song 31
Gitanjali — Song 31
Rabindranath Tagore
“Prisoner, tell me, who was it that bound you?”
“It was my master,” said the prisoner. “I thought I could outdo
everybody in the world in wealth and power, and I amassed in my own
treasure-house the money due to my king. When sleep overcame me I lay
upon the bed that was for my lord, and on waking up I found I was a
prisoner in my own treasure-house.”
“Prisoner, tell me, who was it that wrought this unbreakable chain?”
“It was I,” said the prisoner, “who forged this chain very carefully. I
thought my invincible power would hold the world captive leaving me in
a freedom undisturbed. Thus night and day I worked at the chain with
huge fires and cruel hard strokes. When at last the work was done and
the links were complete and unbreakable, I found that it held me in its
grip.”
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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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