Time poems
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Vocation
© Rabindranath Tagore
When the gong sounds ten in the morning and I walk to school by our
lane.
Every day I meet the hawker crying, "Bangles, crystal
bangles!"
Untimely Leave
© Rabindranath Tagore
No more noisy, loud words from me---such is my master's will.
Henceforth I deal in whispers.
The speech of my heart will be carried on in murmurings of a song.
The Wicked Postman
© Rabindranath Tagore
Why do you sit there on the floor so quiet and silent, tell me,
mother dear?
The rain is coming in through the open window, making you all
wet, and you don't mind it.
The Little Big Man
© Rabindranath Tagore
I am small because I am a little child. I shall be big when I am
as old as my father is.
My teacher will come and say, "It is late, bring your slate
and your books."
The Land of the Exile
© Rabindranath Tagore
Mother, the light has grown grey in the sky; I do not know what
the time is.
There is no fun in my play, so I have come to you. It is
Saturday, our holiday.
The Journey
© Rabindranath Tagore
The morning sea of silence broke into ripples of bird songs;
and the flowers were all merry by the roadside;
and the wealth of gold was scattered through the rift of the clouds
while we busily went on our way and paid no heed.
The Hero
© Rabindranath Tagore
Mother, let us imagine we are travelling, and passing through a
strange and dangerous country.
You are riding in a palanquin and I am trotting by you on a
red horse.
The Gift
© Rabindranath Tagore
I want to give you something, my child, for we are drifting in the
stream of the world.
Our lives will be carried apart, and our love forgotten.
But I am not so foolish as to hope that I could buy your heart
The Gardener XXXVIII: My Love, Once upon a Time
© 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
The Gardener XXI: Why Did He Choose
© Rabindranath Tagore
Why did he choose to come to my
door, the wandering youth, when the
day dawned?
As I come in and out I pass by him
The Gardener XLVI: You Left Me
© Rabindranath Tagore
You left me and went on your way.
I thought I should mourn for you
and set your solitary image in my
heart wrought in a golden song.
The Gardener XLV: To the Guests
© Rabindranath Tagore
To the guests that must go bid
God's speed and brush away all traces
of their steps.
Take to your bosom with a smile
The Gardener XLIV: Reverend Sir, Forgive
© Rabindranath Tagore
Reverend sir, forgive this pair of
sinners. Spring winds to-day are
blowing in wild eddies, driving dust
and dead leaves away, and with them
The Gardener XL: An Unbelieving Smile
© Rabindranath Tagore
An unbelieving smile flits on your
eyes when I come to you to take my
leave.
I have done it so often that you
The Gardener LXXV: At Midnight
© Rabindranath Tagore
At midnight the would-be ascetic
announced:
"This is the time to give up my
home and seek for God. Ah, who has
The Gardener LXVIII: None Lives For Ever, Brother
© Rabindranath Tagore
None lives for ever, brother, and
nothing lasts for long. Keep that in
mind and rejoice.
Our life is not the one old burden,
The Gardener LXI: Peace, My Heart
© Rabindranath Tagore
Peace, my heart, let the time for
the parting be sweet.
Let it not be a death but completeness.
Let love melt into memory and pain
The Gardener IV: Ah Me
© Rabindranath Tagore
Ah me, why did they build my
house by the road to the market
town?
They moor their laden boats near
The Flower-School
© Rabindranath Tagore
When storm-clouds rumble in the sky and June showers come down.
The moist east wind comes marching over the heath to blow its
bagpipes among the bamboos.
Then crowds of flowers come out of a sudden, from nobody knows
The End
© Rabindranath Tagore
It is time for me to go, mother; I am going.
When in the paling darkness of the lonely dawn you stretch out
your arms for your baby in the bed, I shall say, "Baby is not
here!"-mother, I am going.
