Gitanjali | Page 9

call back, my lord, call back this pervading silent heat, still and
keen and cruel, burning the heart with dire despair.
Let the cloud of grace bend low from above like the tearful look of the
mother on the day of the father's wrath.
Where dost thou stand behind them all, my lover, hiding thyself in the

shadows? They push thee and pass thee by on the dusty road, taking
thee for naught. I wait here weary hours spreading my offerings for
thee, while passers-by come and take my flowers, one by one, and my
basket is nearly empty.
The morning time is past, and the noon. In the shade of evening my
eyes are drowsy with sleep. Men going home glance at me and smile
and fill me with shame. I sit like a beggar maid, drawing my skirt over
my face, and when they ask me, what it is I want, I drop my eyes and
answer them not.
Oh, how, indeed, could I tell them that for thee I wait, and that thou
hast promised to come. How could I utter for shame that I keep for my
dowry this poverty. Ah, I hug this pride in the secret of my heart.
I sit on the grass and gaze upon the sky and dream of the sudden
splendour of thy coming--all the lights ablaze, golden pennons flying
over thy car, and they at the roadside standing agape, when they see
thee come down from thy seat to raise me from the dust, and set at thy
side this ragged beggar girl a-tremble with shame and pride, like a
creeper in a summer breeze.
But time glides on and still no sound of the wheels of thy
chariot.
Many a procession passes by with noise and shouts and glamour of
glory. Is it only thou who wouldst stand in the shadow silent and
behind them all? And only I who would wait and weep and wear out
my heart in vain longing?
Early in the day it was whispered that we should sail in a boat, only
thou and I, and never a soul in the world would know of this our
pilgrimage to no country and to no end.
In that shoreless ocean, at thy silently listening smile my songs would
swell in melodies, free as waves, free from all bondage of words.
Is the time not come yet? Are there works still to do? Lo, the evening
has come down upon the shore and in the fading light the seabirds
come flying to their nests.

Who knows when the chains will be off, and the boat, like the last
glimmer of sunset, vanish into the night?
The day was when I did not keep myself in readiness for thee; and
entering my heart unbidden even as one of the common crowd,
unknown to me, my king, thou didst press the signet of eternity upon
many a fleeting moment of my life.
And today when by chance I light upon them and see thy signature, I
find they have lain scattered in the dust mixed with the memory of joys
and sorrows of my trivial days forgotten.
Thou didst not turn in contempt from my childish play among dust, and
the steps that I heard in my playroom are the same that are echoing
from star to star.
This is my delight, thus to wait and watch at the wayside where shadow
chases light and the rain comes in the wake of the summer.
Messengers, with tidings from unknown skies, greet me and speed
along the road. My heart is glad within, and the breath of the passing
breeze is sweet.
From dawn till dusk I sit here before my door, and I know that of a
sudden the happy moment will arrive when I shall see.
In the meanwhile I smile and I sing all alone. In the meanwhile the air
is filling with the perfume of promise.
Have you not heard his silent steps? He comes, comes, ever comes.
Every moment and every age, every day and every night he comes,
comes, ever comes.
Many a song have I sung in many a mood of mind, but all their notes
have always proclaimed, 'He comes, comes, ever comes.'
In the fragrant days of sunny April through the forest path he comes,
comes, ever comes.

In the rainy gloom of July nights on the thundering chariot of clouds he
comes, comes, ever comes.
In sorrow after sorrow it is his steps that press upon my heart, and it is
the golden touch of his feet that makes my joy to shine.
I know not from what distant time thou art ever coming nearer to meet
me. Thy sun and stars can never keep thee hidden from me for aye.
In