Poems of Rabindranath Tagore 2

leave out my name from the gift
if it be a burden
but keep my song

April like a child
writes hieroglyphs on dust with flowers
wipes them away and forgets;

my mind starts up at some flash
on the flow of its thoughts
like a brook at a sudden liquid note of its own
that is never repeated

up in the mountain stillness surges up
to explore its own height;
in the lake movement stands still
to contemplate its own depth

the departing night’s one kiss
on the closed eyes of morning
glows in the star of dawn

maiden thy beauty is like a fruit
yet to mature
tense with an unyielding secret

sorrow that has lost its memory
is like the dark dumb hours
that have no bird songs
but only the cricket’s chirp

bigotry tries to keep truth safe in its hand
with a grip that kills it…
wishing to hearten a timid lamp
great night lights all her stars

though he holds in his arms the earth-bride
the sky is ever immensely away

Rabindranath Tagore (1928)