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by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)
Translation by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)

If you would be busy and fill your...
Language: English  after the Bangla (Bengali) 
Our translations:  GER
If you would be busy and fill your pitcher, 
come, O come to my lake.
The water will cling round your feet and babble its secret.
The shadow of the coming rain is on the sands, 
and the clouds hang low upon the blue lines of the trees 
like the heavy hair above your eyebrows.
I know well the rhythm of your steps, 
they are beating in my heart.
Come, O come to my lake, if you must fill your pitcher.

If you would be idle and sit listless 
and let your pitcher float on the water, 
come, O come to my lake. 
The grassy slope is green, and the wild flowers beyond number.
Your thoughts will stray out of your dark eyes 
like birds from their nests.
Your veil will drop to your feet.
Come, O come to my lake if you must sit idle.

If you would leave off your play and dive in the water, 
come, O come to my lake.
Let your blue mantle lie on the shore; 
the blue water will cover you and hide you.
The waves will stand a-tiptoe to kiss your neck 
and whisper in your ears.
Come, O come to my lake, if you would dive in the water.

If you must be mad and leap to your death, 
come, O come to my lake.
It is cool and fathomlessly deep.
It is dark like a sleep that is dreamless.
There in its depths nights and days are one, 
and songs are silence.
Come, O come to my lake, if you would plunge to your death.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in The Gardener, no. 12, first published 1913 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Based on:

  • a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941) [text unavailable]
    • Go to the text page.

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

  • by Ann Marie Callaway (b. 1949), "Come to my lake", 2001 [ soprano, bass, chorus, and piano ], from Songs From the Gardener, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Raymond Hanson (1913 - 1976), "If you would be busy", op. 39 no. 3 (1959/60) [ tenor and piano ], from Seven songs from The Gardener , no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-11-05
Line count: 31
Word count: 265

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