Listen to the world’s best poetry read out loud.
Poem 11 from ‘Gitanjali’
Poem 11 from ‘Gitanjali’ - Rabindranath Tagore
Poem 11 from ‘Gitanjali’
Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads! Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut? Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee!
He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground and where the pathmaker is breaking stones. He is with them in sun and in shower, and his garment is covered with dust. Put of thy holy mantle and even like him come down on the dusty soil!
Deliverance? Where is this deliverance to be found? Our master himself has joyfully taken upon him the bonds of creation; he is bound with us all for ever.
Come out of thy meditations and leave aside thy flowers and incense! What harm is there if thy clothes become tattered and stained? Meet him and stand by him in toil and in sweat of thy brow.
From 'Gitanjali' (Song Offerings) Formerly issued (1912) in a limited Edition by the India Society, Macmillan & Co.,1913. Recording used with kind permission of the British Library.