MUCH have you given to me,
Yet I ask for more -
I come to you not merely for the draught
of water, but for the spring;
Not for guidance to the door alone, but
to the Master's hall;
not only for the gift of love,
but for the lover himself.
****
' I go to bath in the sea in the redd'ning dawn,
along the tree-bordered path.'
'Traveller, where is that sea?'
'There where this river end its course,
where the dawn opens into morning,
where the day droops to the dusk.
'I know not how to count them.
They are travelling all night with their lamps lit,
they are singing all day through land and water.'
'Traveller, how far is the sea?'
'How far is it we all ask.
The rolling roar of its water swells to the sky
when we hush our talk.
It ever seems near yet far.'
'Traveller, the sun is waxing strong.
'Yes, our journey is long and grievous.
Sing who are weary in spirit ,
sing who are timid of heart.'
'Traveller, what if the night overtakes you'
'We shall lie down to sleep
till the new morning dawns with its songs,
and the call of the sea floats in the air.'
***
Poems from Tagore's 'Crossing'
Photos were taken at my favorite 'hermitage' : the Kappad Beach (at Calicut Coast). This is the beach where the Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama landed in 1498, to rewrite the maritime history of India.
