Where the Mind is Without Fear
Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection:
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is lead forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action–
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.
What is anxiety playmate?
What is anxiety playmate? Playmate, what is agony?
You all say day and night ‘love, love’-
Tell me, playmate, what is love! Is it only torment?
It is only shedding tears? Is that only sorrow’s breathing?
Why then in what expectation of joy
People hopefully embrace such sorrow?
In my eyes all is handsome,
All fresh, all spotless, blue sky, darkgreen wood
Liberal moonlight, soft flower-every thing like me.
They only smile, only sing, wish to die after a sportive game-
knows no pain, knows no crying, above all kinds of agony.
Flowers laugh while they get shed, moonlight smilingly disappears,
In the sea of light the star, all smiles, does his form abandon.
Who is happy like me? Come playmate, come near to me-
The joyous song of a happy heart will feed your mind with solace.
If everyday you cry, why not laugh for a single day-
Forget all sadness for at least a day, let all of us sing together.
Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913.
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Don’t know what’s love but just want to say awesome………………. 07092012 11.29am
Se piangi tutti i giorni, perché non ridere per un solo giorno-
Dimentica tutta la tristezza per almeno un giorno, lascia tutti noi cantare insieme .Grazie..grazie per la condivisione..grazie!
Simply beautiful:)
For all who want to read more of Tagore’s poems from Gitanjali I am posting a link here. This book is probably his most significant work.
http://www.schoolofwisdom.com/history/teachers/rabindranath-tagore/gitanjali/
both poems are beautiful!
“If everyday you cry, why not laugh for a single day-
Forget all sadness for at least a day, let all of us sing together.”
just what i needed to read for my broken heart! i wont cry today!!
if a smile can change the attitude of a person a laugh can perform miracles!
hi.thanks bt i need a full each line explaination of where the mind is without fear .pls can any one tell.
i just came back from a play on tagore’s works. and started browsing bout his works online, when i found the same thought being resonated in ur post as i saw in the play!! Irony
the first poem is awesome and i remeber it by heart as this poem was taught to us in school assemble as a prayer…the second poem is a joy too…
am not really fond of reading poems…but I truly appreciate these two…thank you.
its never too late to start aiming for the high goal and set to action some steps to creating an environment where,”Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high”. we can begin with those close to us physically and emotionally. i am committing myself to continue and persevere in living out my present motto: treat others with respect, compassion, and loving kindness…just the way Jesus does.
I love the 2nd poem! I had a college friend who graduated this past Spring, whenever she would come to my dorm she would push open the door and say “Come play with me!” lol. I loved it when she would come over and just take me on an adventure and away from my studying for a while to just take a walk outside, play a card game or like the poem suggests just sing our hearts out. I miss her a lot, and after reading this poem I wrote her a letter with the poem inside. Thank you so much for posting <3
Perfeito amado Paulo….bjsss e boa semana pra você…
me encanto ….el el segun poema What is anxiety playmate? ….admiro muchisimo jeje te voy ha seguir siguiendo en el twitter aunqueno entiende portugues y tenga traducir …..jeje derrepente salgo aprendiendo algo del portugues …me encanta gracias por compartir tus poemas con el mundo ….desde ECUADOR (guayaquil)
What a wonderful playmate!
Beautiful poems, I love more the second one, maybe sounds more Romantic. I wonder whether the poems were written in English. If not, how much they lost in trsnslation, and how they sound in original.I read poems excellent in the written language, and very different once translated…???
They were written in English, Tagore was an Indian writer in English language.
Lovely poems… By the way the poems were originally written in Bengali Language… Tagore though had composed some English verses, but he was predominantly a poet in Bengali Language and most of his famous works are in the same language.
Tagore was an Indian writer in Bengali(Bangla) language. These poems were originally written in Bengali later translated into English. The second one is actually lyrics of a song.
What a poem! Thank you, Mr. Coelho …
Dear Paulo,
Thank you for posting this two great poems from greatest literary giant. I read them and I like them.
Maybe a poet understands another poet words.
This is not a comment, just a flow of useless words.
Happy time and Enjoy !!!
God blesses you !
And again, I find your choice of words like a comforting blanket around my naked shoulders. Thank you!
…Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake….
Blessings,
/Alexandra
“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
..
..
Forget all sadness for at least a day, let all of us sing together.”
wonderful lines, sadly they remain as valid today 100 years after tagore, as they were when tagore first perceived them. gauri raised a querry – why don’t we get it, why do we look at these beautiful lines and still remain the same. possibaly because we are living as unawares as generations gone by. if we are aware of the sheer im-probablity of our existance in this vast universe, how many billions of factors had to be just right for us to be, then we will also be grateful just to be, without being anything in particular, just like the moonlight or the sun; then we too could just fall like leaves smiling.
all said & done removing the thin veild which keeps us enmeshed in our illusions, is not that easy to remove, for few have been able to do it since time immemorial. Even maharshi ( a great seer as tagore was fondly called by gandhi, in return tagore called him mahatama, later both these names caught on ) when he was dying, dies with as if a complaint on his lips ” lord, i am yet to sing teh song which wants liberation from within me, i am yet to sing teh song for which i came, all these years gone by seem like just setting the musical instruments in order; now when all instruments seem proeprly tuned, u are calling me back, i am yet to sing teh song for which i came.”
so it is not easy to
“In my eyes all is handsome,
All fresh, all spotless, blue sky, darkgreen wood
Liberal moonlight, soft flower-every thing like me.
They only smile, only sing, wish to die after a sportive game-
knows no pain, knows no crying, above all kinds of agony.
Flowers laugh while they get shed, moonlight smilingly disappears,”
it is not easy to disappear smilingly till …….u appreciate your own existance ! just as it is, when u are happy just to be, without being anything in particular !
love
Wow, The sheer beauty of the words that you have written allows me to just be and appreciate my own existence, thank you, peace and love
Thank u Paulo for the beatiful poems. They are truly inspirational!$
Aksh, you take the words from my mouth. I have so often been in awe of the sheer improbability of life on this planet, and that of me being in existance at all! It is an exhiliarating thought of just how fortunate we are to be alive, how short life is, and how each moment is an opportunity to enjoy in its transience. There is so much beauty in the ephemeral nature of life!
You expressed what is in my mind. many times i miss appreciating the freedom i have by looking at the misgivings of others…and my own too. i have wasted a lot of energy trying to make others conform to my liking…of course i do it secretly. and i think these make it difficult for me to live out this way of life of freedom and peace…much less to be able to be a source of positive influence to the world.
“Flowers laugh while they get shed, moonlight smilingly disappears,..”
we are all on our way to death, to our act of disappearance.. till this moment comes, let’s laugh, smile, while ‘time’ is taken from us, while minutes are ‘shed’ from our lives..
without fear in our minds, and our head held high..
I feel the winds of change..
God Bless you FOREVER , dearest Paulo
Love and Gratitude
Annie
HI annie !
how old would u be, if u didnot ‘know’ your date of birth, hwo concerned would u be with time being taken away from you if u did not know that u r going to die; children enjoy their time, not because they ahve any sense of urgency, just because that is teh simplest way to be !
winds of change !! tagore perceived those lines 100 years ago, and they remain as valid, even more so today, hope changes begin and people strat living and enjoying just as they are, without postponing it to some future when they wiil be……something.
love
Dear aksh
if i didn’t know that i am going to die, i believe I would suspect it, since all around us changes, blossoms and withers, as the flowers of Tagore..
and I believe it’s really not about how old one is (though if there is no time – which in fact there is no time- then actually we cannot have this term of ‘old’ or years).. but since we have this illusion of time, for me it’s really about how much time we have to accomplish what we want, how much to attain the ‘form/shape’ that we want to become before we disappear.. that’s why it’s urgent.. ..
but no bomb ticking urgent..more like anxious urgent to be part of this transformation.. even the moon takes a full shape before it disappears.. SO i want to attain at full shape too before i disappear smiling
[and urgent only because we have this notion of time.. if there is no time, then nothing is more urgent than anything other, except this time now i am writing this in the PRESENT]
Love and Gratitude
Annie
The new moon arrives smiling
Becomes bright and all full of itself
In the loving light of the sun
In its waning… smiles again
Lunatic love, weaves hearts with its silver loom
Diving, each into the other, an effervescent loon
All too soon the dark ocean devours the drunk moon
Sleep in peace, you naked lover of the evening doom
Don’t be like the painful moon
Without your own luminescence
Rather be a light unto yourself
Not a pale reflection of another
Bless you Lovely One
LoveM ;)
“On the seashore of endless worlds children meet. The infinite sky is motionless overhead and the restless water is boisterous. On the seashore of endless worlds the children meet with shouts and dances.
They build their houses with sand and they play with empty shells. With withered leaves they weave their boats and smilingly float them on the vast deep. Children have their play on the seashore of worlds.
They know not how to swim, they know not how to cast nets. Pearl fishers dive for pearls, merchants sail in their ships, while children gather pebbles and scatter them again. They seek not for hidden treasures, they know not how to cast nets.
The sea surges up with laughter and pale gleams the smile of the sea beach. Death-dealing waves sing meaningless ballads to the children, even like a mother while rocking her baby’s cradle. The sea plays with children, and pale gleams the smile of the sea beach.
On the seashore of endless worlds children meet. Tempest roams in the pathless sky, ships get wrecked in the trackless water, death is abroad and children play. On the seashore of endless worlds is the great meeting of children.
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/tagore/gitnjali.htm
With loving kindness,
Satora
“Where the Mind is Without Fear”
…답가 (答歌)…
“Lamp of the East”
In the golden age of Asia
Korea was one of its lamp-bearers
And that lamp is waiting to be lighted once again
For the illumination in the East.
“What is anxiety playmate?”
…답가 (答歌)…
“Song of Defeated”
My Master has asked of me to stand at the roadside of retreat and sing the song of the defeated.
For she is the bride whom he woos in secret.
She has put on the dark veil, hiking her face from the crowd, the fewel glowing in her breast in the dark.
She is forsaken of the day, and God’s night is waiting for her with its lamps lighted and flowers wet with dew.
She is silent with her eyes downcast; she has left her home behind her, from where come the waiting in the wind.
But the stars are singing the love song of the eternal to her whose face is sweet with shame and suffering.
The door has been opened in lovely chamber, the call has come;
And the heart of the darkness throbs with the awe of expectant tryst.
ㅡRabindranath Tagore, a hidden meaning of songㅡ
http://orumi.egloos.com/2486482
http://orumi.egloos.com/4313830
Paulo Coelho está para o esotérico, assim como Bill Gates está para a informática, ambos criaram sistemas operacionais, Bill Gates criou a melhor interface entre o homem e a máquina com o windows e seus softwares, Paulo Coelho criou a melhor interface entre o homem e sua alma com o Alquimista e seus livros!
Obrigado por escrever! Grazie Mille!!!
Keep that way…allways!!!
From the first line ‘ Where the mind is without fear’ the energy of freshness starts flowing and continue throughout .
“In my eyes all is handsome,
All fresh, all spotless, blue sky, darkgreen wood
Liberal moonlight, soft flower-every thing like me.”
Deep meaning in these lines.
Bhagavad-Gita:5:18
The humble sage, by virtue of true knowledge, sees with equal vision a learned and gentle brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater [outcaste].
We all are one. Even though we’re more important than animals.
Congratulations.
DRD
this is another misconception of mankind.
luckily it is changing.
Aren!t you more important than a bird?
I am.
God values us differently from animals…praise God.
They only smile, only sing, wish to die after a sportive game-
knows no pain, knows no crying, above all kinds of agony.
Flowers laugh while they get shed, moonlight smilingly disappears,
In the sea of light the star, all smiles, does his form abandon.
….i just wish we had the same strength to do the same..it takes allot to suffer and nothing but joy to give up what u mostly enjoy….wonder why we still dont get it!
gauri Hi !
take heart dear ! they say it’s a just a thin veil which separates us from ‘geeting it’. u too will see moonlight as smiling and disappearing joyously, if u are aware of yoru own existance ! It’s a vast universe, life is very rare, if u look at the improbablity of your own existnace u will be dumbfounded, just being will fill u with gratitude and then moonlight will dance and smile with you, just like it does with tagore.
love
Why do we western people think that you can read the world in English ? we must read it in it’s original form.
Very Beautiful and awakening poems… :)
You are beautiful!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2999417569188182518#
Freedom
(No one owns you)
You are so beautiful!
Paulo, never forget the rules of universe.
?????
“Forget all sadness for at least a day, let all of us sing together”.
Quem canta seus males espanta…
Adoro cantar!
bjs,
Carmo.
thanks for the share. wonderful poems…:-)
Thanks for sharing these. The English translations do not always do justice to Tagore’s work, but I think these are some of the best of the lot. Here is another of my other favorites:
When the heart is hard and parched up, come upon me with a shower of mercy.
When grace is lost from life, come with a burst of song.
When tumultuous work raises its din on all sides shutting me out from beyond, come to me, my lord of silence, with thy peace and rest.
When my beggarly heart sits crouched, shut up in a corner, break open the door, my king, and come with the ceremony of a king.
When desire blinds the mind with delusion and dust, O thou holy one, thou wakeful, come with thy light and thy thunder.
thanks the poems are beautiful….. if every home adopts the first poem all will experience bliss for sure !!!
Wonderfull write up..thanks for sharin Sir….
“Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth …”
yeah, it was a poem for india becoming independent.
and today:
it is universal …
just trying to look for a break, as in the second poem.
thanks, Paulo for those two beautiful poems by tagore
Katie ! hi
had tagore been here to see the moral degradation of teh ruling elite, where 7.2 billion dollars are spent of organising a failed games show, when 70 % villages don’t have a school worth its name or a health centre worth anything, tagore & gandhi would have been sorry !
love
this is what I meant: the poem is still true today, and true in other areas of this world …
The second one is in fact a song the first had inspired Mahatma Gandhi in his struggle for freedom.
Its a wonderful poem by Geethanjali .. Though many years have passed , Countries are still sleeping .
Wonderful share Paulo a Early morning Inspiration . Thank you !
Pffffooooowwwaaaahhhhhh!!!!!
What a very beautifull & thruth Poems!!!!
Thnx very,very much for sending & forewarding this!!!
Thank You…..very thought provoking!
Maravilhoso querido, ta tudo lindo por aqui! Amo você. Beijos!
the first poem is emotionally connected to India’s freedom movement .. thanks for posting it ..
that makes my day !
Thank you I found both profound, yet I truly related to the second poem “forget all sadness for at least a day”
These are Beautiful Poems, very beautiful.
Thank you, thank you for these two beautiful awesome poems.
With all my love,
♥♥
From the first poem. The UN should set up a state where people live in a country like is explained here! A state where people are free to express themselves and to work towards science and thought.
HI kealan !
unfortunately, world is not a place of idealists, it’s aplace for realists, like even a paulo Coelho has to be backed by a massive ad campaign, without that a paulo Coelho remains a author selling just 1000 copies.
love
aditya
Yes it is very true. It is something nice to think about, but every civilization has had its problems. To a lesser extent I suppose there are always University’s and there are plenty of University cities in peaceful countries where people can just be themselves and express their ideas.
“In my eyes all is handsome,
All fresh, all spotless, blue sky, darkgreen wood
Liberal moonlight, soft flower-every thing like me.”
Great lines, I wish we all live like that and embrace all humanity as one.
How true. how about starting within our families. one obstacle I see is our own desire…hidden desire…to make others conform to our own liking/expectation.