Gitanjali: Song 23

In Song 23, Tagore continues with the theme of a lover-speaker awaiting the arrival of her beloved on a dark, rainy, monsoon night. The poet assumes the identity of a woman lover and waits for God — the solitary wayfarer. In the beginning, she wonders if her beloved would have undertaken a journey on such a tumultuous night when the sky is thundering dangerously. Eager for a meeting, she opens her door, every now and then, gazing at the darkness.

The speaker is convinced that his beloved is walking towards her but doesn’t know whence and how he will come. She knows not by which shores and paths her beloved will chart a path towards her house.

Art thou abroad on this stormy night on the journey of love, my friend? The sky groans like one in despair.

I have no sleep to-night. Ever and again I open my door and look out on the darkness, my friend!

I can see nothing before me. I wonder where lies thy path!

By what dim shore of the ink-black river, by what far edge of the frowning forest, through what mazy depth of gloom art thou threading thy course to come to me, my friend?