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

I know thee as my God and stand apart
Language: English  after the Bangla (Bengali) 
Our translations:  GER
I know thee as my God and stand apart --
I do not know thee as my own and come closer. 
I know thee as my father 
and bow before thy feet -- 
I do not grasp thy hand as my friend's.

I stand not where thou comest down 
and ownest thyself as mine, 
there to clasp thee to my heart 
and take thee as my comrade.

Thou art the Brother amongst my brothers, 
but I heed them not, 
I divide not my earnings with them, 
thus sharing my all with thee.

In pleasure and in pain I stand not by the side of men, 
and thus stand by thee. 
I shrink to give up my life, 
and thus do not plunge into the great waters of life.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

Based on:

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 ]

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: 17
Word count: 126