Religion
Fruit-Gathering 53: I have kissed this world with my eyes
Translated by Rabindranath Tagore (1916) · From Fruit-Gathering (1916)
I have kissed this world with my eyes and my limbs; I have wrapt it within my heart in numberless folds; I have flooded its days and nights with thoughts till the world and my life have grown one,—and I love my life because I love the light of the sky so enwoven with me.
If to leave this world be as real as to love it—then there must be a meaning in the meeting and the parting of life.
If that love were deceived in death, then the canker of this deceit would eat into all things, and the stars would shrivel and grow black.
This translation is printed as prose in its source edition.
Cite this poem
MLA
Tagore, Rabindranath. “Fruit-Gathering 53: I have kissed this world with my eyes.” Translated by Rabindranath Tagore. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/tagore/566/.
Chicago
Tagore, Rabindranath. “Fruit-Gathering 53: I have kissed this world with my eyes.” Translated by Rabindranath Tagore. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/tagore/566/.
Read this poem with the Codex →