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Rabindranath Tagore Poems

A collection of select Rabindranath Tagore famous poems that were written by Rabindranath Tagore or written about the poet by other famous poets. PoetrySoup is a comprehensive educational resource of the greatest poems and poets on history.

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by Tagore, Rabindranath
 I ask for a moment's indulgence to sit by thy side. The works 
that I have in hand I will finish afterwards. 

Away from the sight of thy face my heart knows no rest nor respite, 
and my work becomes an endless toil in a shoreless sea of toil. 

Today the summer has come at my window with its...Read more of this...



by Tagore, Rabindranath
 If baby only wanted to, he could fly up to heaven this moment.
It is not for nothing that he does not leave us.
He loves to rest his head on mother's bosom, and cannot ever
bear to lose sight of her.
Baby know all manner of wise words, though few on earth can
understand their meaning.
It is not for nothing that he never...Read more of this...

by Tagore, Rabindranath
 I wish I could take a quiet corner in the heart of my baby's very
own world.
I know it has stars that talk to him, and a sky that stoops
down to his face to amuse him with its silly clouds and rainbows.
Those who make believe to be dumb, and look as if they never
could move, come creeping to his window...Read more of this...

by Tagore, Rabindranath
 I thought that my voyage had come to its end 
at the last limit of my power,---that the path before me was closed, 
that provisions were exhausted 
and the time come to take shelter in a silent obscurity. 

But I find that thy will knows no end in me. 
And when old words die out on the tongue, 
new...Read more of this...

by Tagore, Rabindranath
 Mother, the folk who live up in the clouds call out to me-
"We play from the time we wake till the day ends.
We play with the golden dawn, we play with the silver moon."
I ask, "But how am I to get up to you ?"
They answer, "Come to the edge of the earth, lift up your
hands to the sky,...Read more of this...



by Tagore, Rabindranath
 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. 

Thy centuries follow each other perfecting a small wild flower. 

We have no time to lose, 
and having no time we must scramble for a chance. 
We are...Read more of this...

by Tagore, Rabindranath
 Day after day, O lord of my life, 
shall I stand before thee face to face. 
With folded hands, O lord of all worlds, 
shall I stand before thee face to face. 

Under thy great sky in solitude and silence, 
with humble heart shall I stand before thee face to face. 

In this laborious world of thine, tumultuous with...Read more of this...

by Tagore, Rabindranath
 If people came to know where my king's palace is, it would vanish 
into the air.
The walls are of white silver and the roof of shining gold.
The queen lives in a palace with seven courtyards, and she
wears a jewel that cost all the wealth of seven kingdoms.
But let me tell you, mother, in a whisper, where my king's
palace is.
It...Read more of this...

by Tagore, Rabindranath
 Pluck this little flower and take it, delay not! I fear lest it 
droop and drop into the dust. 

I may not find a place in thy garland, but honour it with a touch of 
pain from thy hand and pluck it. I fear lest the day end before I am 
aware, and the time of offering go by....Read more of this...

by Tagore, Rabindranath
 Art thou abroad on this stormy night 
on thy 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 thy path! 

By what dim shore of the...Read more of this...

by Tagore, Rabindranath
 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...Read more of this...

by Tagore, Rabindranath
 The time that my journey takes is long and the way of it long. 

I came out on the chariot of the first gleam of light, and pursued my 
voyage through the wildernesses of worlds leaving my track on many a star and planet. 

It is the most distant course that comes nearest to thyself, 
and that training is...Read more of this...

by Tagore, Rabindranath
 If it is not my portion to meet thee in this life 
then let me ever feel that I have missed thy sight 
---let me not forget for a moment, 
let me carry the pangs of this sorrow in my dreams 
and in my wakeful hours. 

As my days pass in the crowded market of this world 
and my...Read more of this...

by Tagore, Rabindranath
 Mother, your baby is silly! She is so absurdly childish!
She does not know the difference between the lights in the
streets and the stars.
When we play at eating with pebbles, she thinks they are real
food, and tries to put them into her mouth.
When I open a book before her and ask her to learn her a, b,
c, she tears the...Read more of this...

by Tagore, Rabindranath
 I only said, "When in the evening the round full moon gets
entangled among the beaches of that Dadam tree, couldn't somebody
catch it?"
But dada laughed at me and said, "Baby, you are the silliest
child I have ever known. The moon is ever so far from us, how could
anybody catch it?"
I said, "Dada, how foolish you are! When mother looks out...Read more of this...

by Tagore, Rabindranath
 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...Read more of this...

by Tagore, Rabindranath
 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.
It is evening and the sun goes down. The waste of Joradighi
lies wan and grey before us. The land is desolate and barren.
You are frightened and thinking-"I know not where we have...Read more of this...

by Tagore, Rabindranath
 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. 

We sang no glad songs nor played; 
we went not to the village for barter;...Read more of this...

by Tagore, Rabindranath
 Anghiari is medieval, a sleeve sloping down
A steep hill, suddenly sweeping out
To the edge of a cliff, and dwindling.
But far up the mountain, behind the town,
We too were swept out, out by the wind,
Alone with the Tuscan grass.

Wind had been blowing across the hills
For days, and everything now was graying gold
With dust, everything we saw, even
Some small children scampering...Read more of this...

by Tagore, Rabindranath
 If the day is done, 
if birds sing no more, 
if the wind has flagged tired, 
then draw the veil of darkness thick upon me, 
even as thou hast wrapt the earth with the coverlet of sleep 
and tenderly closed the petals of the drooping lotus at dusk....Read more of this...


Book: Shattered Sighs