Lady, the days I spent in this faraway land
You filled them with honey
From a foreign land
When I came as a wayfarer
You welcomed me
How easily you made me your own
You smiled on me
As in the evening sky
An unknown star sweetly smiles
From the heaven above
Standing at the lonely window
When I looked at the southern sky
A stream of heavenly light
Carried this message
‘We know you O guest,
Since the day you emerged from the dark
You have been in the quest of light.’
In the same voice you also said,
‘I know you my friend, you are known to me.’
I don’t know your language
I have heard your song –
‘As a guest the poet seeks love everywhere
He is my dearest guest forever!’
Translation of the poem Atithi from the collection Purabi by Rabindranath Tagore. Addressed to Victoria Ocampo, the poet’s most devoted South American admirer, it was written on 15th November, 1924 at Buenos Aires where the ailing poet spent about two months as her guest. The collection itself was dedicated to her whom he endearingly called Vijaya. The original is at http://www.rabindra-rachanabali.nltr.org/node/12528.
