This Day Will Pass
I know this day will pass,
This day will pass—2
That one day, some day,
The dim sun with tender smiling
Will look in my face,
Looking his last farewell.
Beside the way the flute will sound,
The kine will graze on the river-bank,
The children will play in the courtyards,
The birds will sing on.
Yet this day will pass,
This day will pass.
This is my prayer,
My prayer to Thee:
That ere I go I may learn
Why the green Earth,
Lifting her eyes to the sky,
Called me to her;
Why the silence of the Night
Told me of the stars,
Why the Day’s glory
Raised waves in my soul.
This is my prayer to Thee.
When Earth’s revolutions
For me are ended,
In the finishing of my song
Let me pause a moment,
That I may fill my basket
With the flowers and fruits of the Six Seasons;3
That in the light of this life
I may see Thee in going,
That I may garland Thee in going
With the garland from my own throat—
When Earth’s revolutions for me are ended.
Rabindranath Tagore.