Religion
Song XLVII: There is a strange tree
Translated by Rabindranath Tagore, with Evelyn Underhill (1915) · From Songs of Kabir (1915)
There is a strange tree, which stands without roots and bears fruits without blossoming;
It has no branches and no leaves, it is lotus all over.
Two birds sing there; one is the Guru, and the other the disciple:
The disciple chooses the manifold fruits of life and tastes them, and the Guru beholds him in joy.
What Kabîr says is hard to understand: "The bird is beyond seeking, yet it is most clearly visible. The Formless is in the midst of all forms. I sing the glory of forms."
Cite this poem
MLA
Kabir. “Song XLVII: There is a strange tree.” Translated by Rabindranath Tagore, with Evelyn Underhill. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/kabir/46/.
Chicago
Kabir. “Song XLVII: There is a strange tree.” Translated by Rabindranath Tagore, with Evelyn Underhill. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/kabir/46/.
Read this poem with the Codex →
More by Kabir
- Song I: O servant, where dost thou seek Me?
- Song XX: To what shore would you cross, O my heart
- Song XL: He is dear to me indeed who can call back the wanderer to his home
- Song LXII: Who has ever taught the widowed wife to burn herself on the pyre of…
- Song LXXXI: In the beginning was He alone, sufficient unto Himself: the formless