Song Offerings

Just finished reading the book I have recently added to my list of favorites:
GITANJALI (song offerings) by Rabindranath Tagore.
(it's also available on the net!) [http://www.schoolofwisdom.com/gitanjali.html]
Ah, this piece of reading material truly captivates my heart! (Just can't get enough of it!)
Here are some excerpts:

LET ME NOT FORGET
As my days pass in the crowded market of this world and my hands grow full with the daily profits,
let me ever feel that I have gained nothing---let me not forget for a moment,
let me carry the pangs of this sorrow in my dreams and in my wakeful hours.
...
When my rooms have been decked out and the flutes sound and the laughter there is loud,
let me ever feel that I have not invited thee to my house---let me not forget for a moment,
let me carry the pangs of this sorrow in my dreams and in my wakeful hours.

LOST TIME
On many an idle day have I grieved over lost time. But it is never lost, my lord.
Thou hast taken every moment of my life in thine own hands.
Hidden in the heart of things thou art nourishing seeds into sprouts,
buds into blossoms, and ripening flowers into fruitfulness.
I was tired and sleeping on my idle bed and imagined all work had ceased.
In the morning I woke up and found my garden full with wonders of flowers.

LAST CURTAIN
I know that the day will come when my sight of this earth shall be lost,
and life will take its leave in silence, drawing the last curtain over my eyes.
Yet stars will watch at night, and morning rise as before,
and hours heave like sea waves casting up pleasures and pains.
When I think of this end of my moments, the barrier of the moments breaks
and I see by the light of death thy world with its careless treasures.
Rare is its lowliest seat, rare is its meanest of lives.
Things that I longed for in vain and things that I got---let them pass.
Let me but truly possess the things that I ever spurned and overlooked.

Gitanjali has combined poetry and praying in a way I could never have imagined possible in the literary world... This work is indeed impressive!!!


... Gitanjali ...