Farewell

by Rabindranath Tagore

Flower 

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. 

Though its colour be not deep and its smell be faint, use this flower 

in thy service and pluck it while there is time. 

A Moments Indulgence 

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 sighs and murmurs; and 

the bees are plying their minstrelsy at the court of the flowering grove. 

Now it is time to sit quite, face to face with thee, and to sing 

dedication of life in this silent and overflowing leisure. 

Closed Path 

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 melodies break forth from the heart; 

and where the old tracks are lost, 

new country is revealed with its wonders. 

Farewell

I have got my leave. Bid me farewell, my brothers! 

I bow to you all and take my departure. 

Here I give back the keys of my door 

---and I give up all claims to my house. 

I only ask for last kind words from you. 

We were neighbors for long, 

but I received more than I could give. 

Now the day has dawned 

and the lamp that lit my dark corner is out. 

A summons has come and I am ready for my journey.