Thou hast made me known to friends whom I knew not. Thou hast given me seats in homes not my own. Thou hast brought the distant near and made a brother of the stranger. I am uneasy at heart when I have to leave my accustomed shelter; I forget that there abides the old in the new, and that there also thou abidest. Through birth and death, in this world or in others, wherever thou leadest me it is thou, the same, the one companion of my endless life who ever linkest my heart with bonds of joy to the unfamiliar. When one knows thee, then alien there is none, then no door is shut. Oh, grant me my prayer that I may never lose the bliss of the touch of the one in the play of many.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 63, first published 1912 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 63 [text unavailable]
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 ]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in French (Français), a translation by André Gide (1869 - 1951) , no title, appears in Gitanjali (L'Offrande lyrique), no. 63 ; composed by Henriette Puig-Roget.
Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-11-03
Line count: 14
Word count: 138
Tu m’as fait connaître à des amis que je ne connaissais pas. Tu m’as fait asseoir à des foyers qui n’étaient pas le mien. Celui qui était loin, tu l’as ramené proche et tu as fait un frère de l’étranger. Le cœur me faut quand je dois abandonner ma demeure coutumiére ; j’oublie alors que là-bas le passé habite encore dans l’avenir et que là aussi, toi, tu habites. À travers naissance et trépas, dans ce monde ou dans d’autres, où que ce soit que tu me guides, c’est toi, le même, l’unique compagnon de ma vie infinie qui, toujours, avec des attaches de joie, relie mon cœur à l’insolite. Pour celui qui te connaît, nul n’est plus étrange ou hostile : plus une porte n’est fermée. Oh ! accorde-moi cette grâce : permets que je ne perde jamais cette félicité du toucher de l’unique, parmi le jeu de la diversité.
H. Puig-Roget sets stanzas 1-2
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Rabîndranâth Tagore. L’Offrande lyrique (Gitanjali). Traduction d'Andre Gide, 7th edition, Éditions de la nouvelle revue française, 1917.
Text Authorship:
- by André Gide (1869 - 1951), no title, appears in Gitanjali (L'Offrande lyrique), no. 63 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in English by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 63, first published 1912
Based on:
- a text in Bangla (Bengali) by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 63 [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Henriette Puig-Roget (1910 - 1992), "Là-bas", stanzas 1-2 [ voice and piano ], from Douze mélodies sur des poèmes de l'Offrande lyrique de Tagore, no. 7 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2025-03-30
Line count: 14
Word count: 147