From the cave of darkness deep
To the bright of the Sun I peep;
Wonderstruck towards myself, I
Turn my eye.
The intent that kept its spark
Amidst infinite dark
In Man’s weal and woe
In life’s perennial flow
On the Earth’s stage
From age to age;
Whither today it carries me
To the bank of uncertainty,
For a new dawn
To the threshold of a new revelation?
Through the gaps of light and shade
I glimpse that unknown, though fade.
The signal of that distant nebulous
Through my veins does pass,
Its final implication
Be it beyond my intuition;
Yet, that is my today’s offering,
That my music to you may bring.
Original poem: Utsarga (=Oblation) in Bengali of the book ‘Senjuti’ written in 1938 by Rabindranath Tagore
Translator’s note:
This is the poem of dedication of the book Senjuti by Rabindranath Tagore to Dr. Nilratan Sarkar, a renowned physician of that time.
The following quote from the Poet’s speech at Magh festival at Santiniketan held annually to celebrate the establishment of Brahmo Society, preaching the Brahmo faith launched by Raja Rammohan Roy in the early nineteenth century underlines the spirit of this poem – “He who is true, in His light I’ll visualize today’s celebration as extended to the whole world; this venue is the entire Earth’s – it has no narrowness.”
One day arose India’s hymn in her Tapoban (wilderness where took place study and worship in ancient India) - “I have known that Glorious Person from beyond the darkness.”
Tagore’s faith in this vision of Upanishad was intact even when he was on the verge of death which he took as a further manifestation of the Truth inherent in Creation of which he was a part.
