20. TO EBENEZER JOSEPH
I once espied a shrub with flowers bright,
Pleasant to view but void of liquid sweet.
A hov'ring bee on one flow'r didst alight
And thought to have found nectar's blissful seat.
His pilgrimage from flow'r to flow'r he plied,
Drawn by lucent tints pleasing to compound sight;
And O! in vain, in vain he sadly sighed,
For in none he found ambrosial delight.
But then a gale the surrounding didst mete
With fragrance of a pale flow'r unespied.
O towards it the bee his wings didst beat,
Whose livid hue its sweetness had belied.
I present thee that flow'r Gitanjali;
What it means to me, may it mean to thee.
21. TO THE JOSHUA FAMILY
When this infirm self had holily been
Endued with life, the soul eterne affin'd
Ever since with the dark spirit of Spleen:-
Hence Joy seldom her steps hither inclin'd.
Yet from the heart proceeds a holy light,
The light of Hope which shews me a place where
I shall dote on fair Solitude and might
Feel the breath of God in the ambient air,
And dwell sunder'd from mortal ties and pains;
And the sorrow'd heart lie for ever free.-
But your loving gesture bound me in chains,
From which I strive not to gain liberty.
And wherever I be in Solitude,
Thoughts of ye shall remain in gratitude.
22. THE BEGGAR'S EPITAPH
Here I lie as marks this mossy stone;
Here I lie sans the soul
And flute aand begging bowl -
Only these I had to call my own.
Stay still a moment now - thou be blest -
O stay! not to shed a tear,
But with bent ear to hear
How I lived till Death me-laid to rest.
In the village as I strode along
With bowl across neck hung,
I played the flute and sung -
Sometimes my own, oft a borrow'd song.
The village folk were kind enow
My begging bowl to fill;
And hence mine heart was still
With peace, and sadness would not allow.
But ere Death had sealed mine eyes to rest,
Whilst my black beard grew grey,
Mine heart was more bent to pray
With hopes to reach the isles of the blest.
Fare thee well! and one thought of me save,
Lest thou stray not again
Here to this marshy plain;
Lest I lie forgotten in the grave.
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