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

Would you put your wreath of fresh...
Language: English  after the Bangla (Bengali) 
Would you put your wreath of fresh flowers on my neck, fair one?
But you must know that the one wreath 
that I had woven is for the many, 
for those who are seen in glimpses, 
or dwell in lands unexplored, 
or live in poets' songs.

It is too late to ask my heart in return for yours.

There was a time when my life was like a bud, 
all its perfume was stored in its core.
Now it is squandered far and wide.
Who knows the enchantment that can gather and shut it up again?
My heart is not mine to give to one only, 
it is given to the many.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in The Gardener, no. 37 [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: 2010-11-11
Line count: 13
Word count: 112

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