Deity of the ruined temple | Deity of the ruined temple!

by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)

Translation by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941)

Deity of the ruined temple!

Language: English after the Bangla (Bengali)

Our translations: GER

Deity of the ruined temple!
The broken strings of Vina 
sing no more your praise. 
The bells in the evening proclaim 
not your time of worship. 
The air is still and silent about you.

In your desolate dwelling 
comes the vagrant spring breeze. 
It brings the tidings of flowers -- 
the flowers that for your worship are offered no more.

Your worshipper of old wanders 
ever longing for favour 
still refused.
In the eventide, when fires and shadows mingle 
with the gloom of dust,
he wearily comes back to the ruined temple 
with hunger in his heart.

Many a festival day comes to you in silence, 
deity of the ruined temple.
Many a night of worship goes away 
with lamp unlit.

Many new images are built by masters of cunning art
and carried to the holy stream of oblivion 
when their time is come.

Only the deity of the ruined temple 
remains unworshipped in deathless neglect.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Rabindranath Tagore (1861 - 1941), no title, appears in Gitanjali, no. 88, 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), no title, appears in গীতাঞ্জলি (Gitanjali), no. 88 [text unavailable]
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Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

by Albert Biales (1929 - 2012), "Deity of the ruined temple", 1982, first performed 1982 [ soprano and orchestra or piano ], from When the Creation Was New, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Marie Luise Gothein (1863 - 1931) , first published 1914 ; composed by Ján Móry, Stefan Wolpe.
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-11-13
Line count: 26
Word count: 155