This morning, I'm posting my favorite poem here.
I was about 15 years old when I first read this poem and copied it on a yellow piece of paper. I still have that paper. Later, I learned that the poet, Rabindranath Tagore, 1861 - 1941, had written about 50 volumes of poetry, Gitanjali (Song Offerings) 1910, is the one I'm most familiar with.
In 1913, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
I don't know the name of this poem, I neglected to note it when I copied it so many years ago.
I have since read many of his poems about love and love lost and been touched by them, but this remains my favorite.
I walked along a path overgrown with grass when suddenly I heard from someone behind, "See if you know me?"
I turned round and looked at her and said, "I cannot remember your name."
She said, "I am that first great sorrow whom you met when you were young."
Her eyes looked like a morning whose dew is still in the air.
I stood silent for some time til I said, "Have you lost all the great burden of your tears?"
She smiled and said nothing.
I felt that her tears had had time to learn the language of smiles.
"Once you said," she whispered,"that you would cherish your grief forever."
I blushed and said, "Yes, but years have passed and I forget."
Then I took her hand in mine and said, "But you have changed."
"What was sorrow once has now become peace," she said.
R. Tagore
Hari OM
ReplyDeleteInger - Tagore was a magnificent poet! You would not have put the title because he himself had not put one when he translated it from the Bengali original. Below, I bring you an excerpt about the poem... and you can find the full article HERE. YAM xx
And then some 30 plus years later, Tagore composed the following equally poignant piece. I shall first read the entire translation into English, untitled, that Tagore himself made.
I was walking along a path overgrown with grass, when suddenly I heard from some one behind, "See if you know me?"
I turned round and looked at her and said, "I cannot remember your name."
She said, "I am that first great Sorrow whom you met when you were young."
Her eyes looked like a morning whose dew is still in the air.
I stood silent for some time till I said, "Have you lost all the great burden of your tears?"
She smiled and said nothing. I felt that her tears had had time to learn the language of smiles.
"Once you said," she whispered, "that you would cherish your grief for ever."
I blushed and said, "Yes, but years have passed and I forget."
Then I took her hand in mine and said, "But you have changed."
"What was sorrow once has now become peace," she said. [7]
The Bengali original was published in 1919 in the magazine Sabuj Patra and then in the volume called Lipika (1922), which is a collection of prose poems or in some cases actually short, short stories. The Lipika version of the piece corresponding to what I just read is entitled "First Sorrow" (pratham sok). There are a number of lines in the middle of the original work left out of Tagore's English poem. In fact, nearly half of the original has been omitted. I cite here the entire Bengali poem, [8] as printed in Tagore's collected works, with an accompanying translation, his English in italic type and my rendering of the elided passages in plain type.
I was walking along a path overgrown with grass, when suddenly I heard from some one behind, "See if you know me?"
I turned round and looked at her and said, "I cannot remember your name."
She said, "I am that first great Sorrow whom you met when you were young (twenty-five)."
Her eyes looked like a morning whose dew is still in the air.
I stood silent for some time till I said, "Have you lost all the great burden of your tears?"
She smiled and said nothing. I felt that her tears had had time to learn the language of smiles.
I asked, "Still today you've kept with you that youth of mine when I was twenty-five?"
Said she, "Here, just look, my garland."
I could see, not a petal had fallen from the garland of that springtime back then.
I said, "Mine has become completely withered, but my youth at twenty- five is still this day as fresh as ever, hanging there about your neck.
Slowly, she took off that garland, placing it around my neck. "Once you said," she whispered, "that you would cherish your grief for ever." I blushed and said, "Yes, but years have passed and I forget."
She added, "He who is the bridegroom of my inner thoughts, he had not forgotten. Since then, I've sat here secretly beneath the shadows. Accept me now."
Then I took her hand in mine and said, "But you have changed."
"What was sorrow once has now become peace," she said.
He speaks in the original of his youth of age 25, and asks whether she has kept that youth of his with her. She replies by calling attention to the garland around her neck, a garland that is as fresh now as it was back then. His, however, has dried up in the intervening years. She then takes the still fresh garland from her neck and places it around his.
A poem mentioning : age, names, tears, smiles, grief, sorrow, peace - the whole range of Life's feelings.
ReplyDeleteWhat was sorrow once has now become peace. Beautiful. Thanks for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteMaybe the poem was not called the Fugitive - lol. Sounds like the first gal has some information. Still love the poem.
ReplyDelete