O Earth, again to that thy wholeness where
Life sprouts and buds and blossoms every day
In a hundred thousand ways, where songs are sung
To a hundred million tunes, and dances throb
To beats of innumerable symphonies...
Will not my joy of soul add just a shade
Of greenness to thy lovely woods? a spark
Of brightness to thy morning rays?...Will not
The forest, in a hundred years from now,
Carry my heart-throb in the tender folds
Of its green foliage?...
And will not the men
And women who will live in far-off times
Find something of me in them? Shall not I
Appear upon their faces as the light
Of smile? as youthful freshness in their limbs?
As sudden gladness in their sweet spring days?
As the soft glow of love in warm young hearts?...
I have not had enough. There yet remains
A mystery unsolved, a wonder still
Unguessed. I am, Earth-Mother, in thy arms
A child that looks astonished at thy face.
~ Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali
