PoetryFree BooksAuthors

Stray Birds III (21–30)

by Rabindranath Tagore
From Stray Birds (1916)

21. They throw their shadows before them who carry their lantern on their back.

22. That I exist is a perpetual surprise which is life.

23. "We, the rustling leaves, have a voice that answers the storms, but who are you so silent?"

24. Rest belongs to the work as the eyelids to the eyes.

25. Man is a born child, his power is the power of growth.

26. God expects answers for the flowers he sends us, not for the sun and the earth.

27. The light that plays, like a naked child, among the green leaves happily knows not that man can lie.

28. O Beauty, find thyself in love, not in the flattery of thy mirror.

29. My heart beats her waves at the shore of the world and writes upon it her signature in tears with the words, "I love thee."

30. "Moon, for what do you wait?"

This poem is in the public domain. Source text: Project Gutenberg.

More poems by Rabindranath Tagore

Keep reading

📰 From our blog: reading tips

📝

Famous Children’s Books Every Kid Should Read (and Which Are Free)

Read →
📝

What to Read: A Guide to the World’s Classics, Country by Country

Read →
📝

What to Read for Russian Classics: Where to Start, Reading Order & Free Books

Read →
📝

What to Read for British Classics: Where to Start, Reading Order & Free Books

Read →

All reading tips & book lists →