THE LAST PRAYER

Thou hadst no servants to attend on Thee;Then why this pomp of household state for me?Coarse fare and scanty was Thy portion, Lord;Then why for me this richly-furnished board?Thou hadst not where to lay Thy head to rest;Then why should I of mansions be possessed?Ah, hapless I! What is this tyranny?How dost Thou laugh and make a mock of me!Ah, take from me this burden that doth bowMy head! blest ocean of all love art Thou!I speak in anger, Lord; yet, if Thou tooReject my prayer, what can Thy servant do?Saith Dāsa, Christ, upon Thy pallet-bedGrant me a little space to lay my head.Nārāyan Vāman Tilak.

Nārāyan Vāman Tilak.

Lay me within Thy lap to rest;Around my head Thine arm entwine;Let me gaze up into Thy face,O Father-Mother mine!So let my spirit pass with joy,Now at the last, O Tenderest!Saith Dāsa, Grant Thy wayward childThis one, this last request.Nārāyan Vāman Tilak.

Lay me within Thy lap to rest;Around my head Thine arm entwine;Let me gaze up into Thy face,O Father-Mother mine!

So let my spirit pass with joy,Now at the last, O Tenderest!Saith Dāsa, Grant Thy wayward childThis one, this last request.

Nārāyan Vāman Tilak.

As the moon and its beams are one,So that I be one with Thee,This is my prayer to Thee, my Lord,This is this beggar’s plea.I would snare Thee and hold Thee ever,In loving wifely ways;I give Thee a daughter’s welcome,I give Thee a sister’s praise.As words and their meaning are linked,Serving one purpose each,Be Thou and I so knit, O Lord,And through me breathe Thy speech.O be my soul a mirror clear,That I may see Thee there;Dwell in my thought, my speech, my life,Making them glad and fair.Take Thou this body, O my Christ,Dwell as its soul within;To be an instant separateI count a deadly sin.Nārāyan Vāman Tilak.

As the moon and its beams are one,So that I be one with Thee,This is my prayer to Thee, my Lord,This is this beggar’s plea.

I would snare Thee and hold Thee ever,In loving wifely ways;I give Thee a daughter’s welcome,I give Thee a sister’s praise.

As words and their meaning are linked,Serving one purpose each,Be Thou and I so knit, O Lord,And through me breathe Thy speech.

O be my soul a mirror clear,That I may see Thee there;Dwell in my thought, my speech, my life,Making them glad and fair.

Take Thou this body, O my Christ,Dwell as its soul within;To be an instant separateI count a deadly sin.

Nārāyan Vāman Tilak.

It is the hour of sunset, and the skyIs robed in purple, as a lovely brideWith ruby lips and veil thrown half aside,Waiting for her sweet lord with longing eye.The air is fresh and fragrant, and the seaIn smiling joy its boundless bosom heaves,With ringing music of the rising waves;And far from here its weary whisper leavesThe broken echo of a world that raves;Its murmur hushed in new-born notes of glee.. . . . . .Lulled by the laughter of the sky and earth,The heart forgets her sorrow and suspendsHer breath in silent rapture and descendsUpon the soul the vision of its birth.Immeasurable waters! and the skyImmeasurable! and this wondrous lightIn rainbow smiles of India, all around—Resting and rocking and rolling in delight,And swelling with the mirth of many a soundThat fills the ocean’s ears unceasingly.. . . . . .And now the mantle of approaching nightFalls gently o’er the drowsy eyes of day;The roseate glow of evening melts away,Softly beyond the western waves, to white.Now o’er the earth a veil of mysteryIn silver silence all around is spread;And not a sound is heard or sight is seenExcept the lingering echoes hither ledOf boatmen’s shouts, and distant lights betweenThe mingling bosoms of the sky and sea.. . . . . .The moon hath risen, and the stars appear,And heaven is watching with the eyes of light;And in my heart a newer hope is brightWith varied splendours of the atmosphere.The mind is hushed and all its motions ceaseOf wayward fancy and unquiet thought;And in the happy island of the soulAwakes a joy in radiance unforgot—Which o’er the world’s tumultuous uncontrolDoth smile, and softly whisper, “Here is Peace!”Nanikram Vasanmal Thadani.

Nanikram Vasanmal Thadani.

FOOTNOTES:[1]The new leaves are red,arethe rosy kisses. Also,palasand pomegranate both have red blossoms.[2]This poem deliberately takes off from the loveliest of all Bengali popular songs, Ramprasad’s “This day will surely pass, this day will pass” (seeBengali Religious Lyrics, Thompson and Spencer, Oxford University Press).[3]India has six seasons to our four.[4]Urvasi, in older (i.e.Sanskrit) mythology, is a famous courtesan and dancing-girl at the court of Indra, King of the Gods. Her adventures were many; she was often sent to lure sages aside from their devotions, lest they obtained super-divine powers and threatened the dominion of the Gods (see stanza 4). But in Tagore’s poem she is very much more than her legendary character. The poem is a tangle—Indian mythology, modern science, European romance. She is the cosmic spirit of life, in the mazes of its eternal dance; she is Beauty dissociated from all human relationships; she is that world-enchanting Love which (though not in Dante’s sense) “moves the sun and other stars,” is Lucretius’shominum divumque voluptas, Alma Venus, is Swinburne’s “perilous goddess,” “sea-foam-born.”I have adopted a quasi-metrical form which I hope will indicate the general outline of the stanza in which this magnificent ode is written.[5]When the Gods churned the Ocean, to recover the lost nectar of immortality, Urvasi first appeared, one of many good and bad things that came to light. With the nectar came out poison, which threatened the life of all creatures, till Siva drank it to save the worlds. Tagore has invented Urvasi’s responsibility for the nectar and poison being brought forth; at any rate, I know of no other authority for line 4 of this stanza.[6]A jasmine.[7]In Sanskrit mythology, heaven, the atmosphere, and earth; in later mythology, generally heaven, earth, and the underworld.[8]In Indian mythology, there are Mounts of Sunrise and Sunsetting.[9]From theMādhabī.[10]Sanskrit Urvasī.[11]I.e.thevīnā, the lute.[12]From theKanyādhūp.[13]From thePatralekha.[14]From thePatralekha.[15]“Spring fifth” is the fifth day of the light fortnight of the month of Māgh, when Sarasvati, the goddess of letters and wisdom, who loves thevīnā, lute, is worshipped. The month of Māgh corresponds to January-February.[16]I.e. the goddess who carries thevīnā, or lute, in her hand.[17]The thousand-headed snake of Heaven.[18]Seli, or the small round string made of black wool that Guru Nanak used to wear at times.[19]Samādhiis the mystic’s “ecstasy,” in which all consciousness of the material world is lost and the soul is face to face with the Real.

FOOTNOTES:

[1]The new leaves are red,arethe rosy kisses. Also,palasand pomegranate both have red blossoms.

[2]This poem deliberately takes off from the loveliest of all Bengali popular songs, Ramprasad’s “This day will surely pass, this day will pass” (seeBengali Religious Lyrics, Thompson and Spencer, Oxford University Press).

[3]India has six seasons to our four.

[4]Urvasi, in older (i.e.Sanskrit) mythology, is a famous courtesan and dancing-girl at the court of Indra, King of the Gods. Her adventures were many; she was often sent to lure sages aside from their devotions, lest they obtained super-divine powers and threatened the dominion of the Gods (see stanza 4). But in Tagore’s poem she is very much more than her legendary character. The poem is a tangle—Indian mythology, modern science, European romance. She is the cosmic spirit of life, in the mazes of its eternal dance; she is Beauty dissociated from all human relationships; she is that world-enchanting Love which (though not in Dante’s sense) “moves the sun and other stars,” is Lucretius’shominum divumque voluptas, Alma Venus, is Swinburne’s “perilous goddess,” “sea-foam-born.”I have adopted a quasi-metrical form which I hope will indicate the general outline of the stanza in which this magnificent ode is written.

I have adopted a quasi-metrical form which I hope will indicate the general outline of the stanza in which this magnificent ode is written.

[5]When the Gods churned the Ocean, to recover the lost nectar of immortality, Urvasi first appeared, one of many good and bad things that came to light. With the nectar came out poison, which threatened the life of all creatures, till Siva drank it to save the worlds. Tagore has invented Urvasi’s responsibility for the nectar and poison being brought forth; at any rate, I know of no other authority for line 4 of this stanza.

[6]A jasmine.

[7]In Sanskrit mythology, heaven, the atmosphere, and earth; in later mythology, generally heaven, earth, and the underworld.

[8]In Indian mythology, there are Mounts of Sunrise and Sunsetting.

[9]From theMādhabī.

[10]Sanskrit Urvasī.

[11]I.e.thevīnā, the lute.

[12]From theKanyādhūp.

[13]From thePatralekha.

[14]From thePatralekha.

[15]“Spring fifth” is the fifth day of the light fortnight of the month of Māgh, when Sarasvati, the goddess of letters and wisdom, who loves thevīnā, lute, is worshipped. The month of Māgh corresponds to January-February.

[16]I.e. the goddess who carries thevīnā, or lute, in her hand.

[17]The thousand-headed snake of Heaven.

[18]Seli, or the small round string made of black wool that Guru Nanak used to wear at times.

[19]Samādhiis the mystic’s “ecstasy,” in which all consciousness of the material world is lost and the soul is face to face with the Real.

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