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

The tame bird was in a cage
Language: English  after the Bangla (Bengali) 
The tame bird was in a cage, 
the free bird was in the forest.
They met when the time came, 
it was a decree of fate.
The free bird cries, 
"O my love, let us fly to wood."
The cage bird whispers, "Come hither, 
let us both live in the cage."
Says the free bird, "Among bars, 
where is there room to spread one's wings?"
"Alas," cries the cage bird, "I should not know 
where to sit perched in the sky."

The free bird cries, "My darling, 
sing the songs of the woodlands."
The cage bird says, "Sit by my side, 
I'll teach you the speech of the learned."
The forest bird cries, "No, ah no! 
songs can never be taught."
The cage bird says, "Alas for me, I know not 
the songs of the woodlands."

Their love is intense with longing, 
but they never can fly wing to wing.
Through the bars of the cage they look, 
and vain is their wish to know each other.
They flutter their wings in yearning, 
and sing, "Come closer, my love!"
The free bird cries, "It cannot be, 
I fear the closed doors of the cage."
The cage bird whispers, "Alas, 
my wings are powerless and dead."

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in The Gardener, no. 6 [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):

    [ None yet in the database ]


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-11-07
Line count: 30
Word count: 205

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