by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)
Translation by André Gide (1869 - 1951)

Pluck this little flower and take it,...
Language: English  after the Bangla (Bengali) 
Pluck this little flower and take it, delay not! 
I fear lest it droop
and drop into the dust.
[I may not find]1 a place in thy garland,
but honour it 
with a touch of pain  from thy hand and pluck it. 
I fear lest the day end 
before I am [aware]2,
and the time of offering go by.
Though its colour be not deep 
and its smell be faint, 
use this flower in thy service 
and pluck it while there is time.

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1 Hinton and some editions of Tagore: "It may not have"
2 Hinton (in early performances of the work): "awake"

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Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Poom Andrew Pipatjarasgit [Guest Editor]

This text was added to the website: 2004-01-17
Line count: 13
Word count: 86

Language: French (Français)  after the English 
Cueille cette frêle fleur, prends-la vite !
de crainte qu'elle ne se fane
et ne s'effeuille dans la poussière.
S'il n'y a point place pour elle dans ta guirlande,
fais-lui pourtant l'honneur
du contact douloureux de ta main ; cueille-la.
Je crains que le jour ne s'achève
avant que je ne m'en doute et que le temps
de l'offertoire ne soit passé.
Bien que sa couleur soit discrète
et que timide soit sa senteur,
prends cette fleur à ton service
et cueille-la tandis qu'il en est temps.

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Researcher for this page: Geoffrey Wieting

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-12
Line count: 13
Word count: 85