Religion
Gitanjali 95: I was not aware of the moment
Translated by Rabindranath Tagore (1912) · From Gitanjali (1912)
I was not aware of the moment when I first crossed the threshold of this life.
What was the power that made me open out into this vast mystery like a bud in the forest at midnight!
When in the morning I looked upon the light I felt in a moment that I was no stranger in this world, that the inscrutable without name and form had taken me in its arms in the form of my own mother.
Even so, in death the same unknown will appear as ever known to me. And because I love this life, I know I shall love death as well.
The child cries out when from the right breast the mother takes it away, in the very next moment to find in the left one its consolation.
Cite this poem
MLA
Tagore, Rabindranath. “Gitanjali 95: I was not aware of the moment.” Translated by Rabindranath Tagore. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/tagore/94/.
Chicago
Tagore, Rabindranath. “Gitanjali 95: I was not aware of the moment.” Translated by Rabindranath Tagore. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/tagore/94/.
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