Sunday, December 6, 2009

A Hundred Years From Today

PICT0024 by Joel Duggan
PICT0024 by Joel Duggan



With less than 24 hours before the beginning of the Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen, listen to the words of Rabindranath Tagore reaching forward beyond a century with utter faith and "gladsome greetings" that we of course would know the buzzing of the bees and the rustling of the leaves.

But a hundred years from today?

We must become worker bees now to save this heaven on Earth for those who will call it their home in a hundred years and beyond.




(Recitation by Samuel George)


A Hundred Years from Today

-by Rabindranath Tagore

A hundred years from today
who are you, sitting, reading a poem of mine,
under curiosity’s sway -
a hundred years from today?

Not the least portion
of this young spring’s morning bliss,
neither blossom nor birdsong,
nor any of its scarlet splashes
can I drench in passion
and despatch to your hands
a hundred years hence!

Yet do this, please: unlatch your south-faced door,
just sit at your window for once;
basking in fantasy, eyes on the far horizon,
figure out if you can:
how one day a hundred years back
roving delights in a free fall from a heavenly region
had touched all that there was -
the infant Phalgun day, utterly free,
was frenzied, all agog,
while borne on brisk wings, the south wind
pollen-scent-brushed
had suddenly arrived and in a flash dyed the earth
with all youth’s hues
a hundred years before your day.

There lived then a poet, ebullient of spirit,
his heart steeped in song,
who wanted to open his words like so many flowers
with so much passion
one day a hundred years back.

A hundred years from today
who is the new poet
whose songs flow through your homes?
To him I convey
this springtime’s gladsome greetings.
May my vernal song find its echo for a moment
in your spring day
in the throbbing of your hearts, in the buzzing of your bees,
in the rustling of your leaves
a hundred years from today.

This poem written in 1896 by Rabindranath Tagore(1861-1941) Indian poet, playwright and essayist;won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913.




This is Number Seven in a randomly-posted, continuing series of quotes by Tagore. Everything he wrote is golden.
Number One
Number Two
Number Three
Number Four
Number Five


12 comments:

Owen said...

Really enjoyed this Lydia, my god, where will the world be a hundred years from now ? It is so hard to imagine, we will be gone, our children probably gone, and their children, if any, would be quite well on in years... so hard to conceive of... Which perhaps helps understand why so many of our race seem to take the position, "After us, the deluge"...

Looking to the Stars said...

I LOVED this! Thanks for sharing it :)

Rhiannon said...

Wow...wasn't familiar with Tagore, but now I will be. Ahead of his time? Yep! We better get our act together and face the realities of what we humans have done to this planet.

Lydia, I've got a song on my blog that I'd like to share with all my dear blog friends for the Holidays. Hope you'll drop by and give it a listen.

That rose I spoke to you about is still hanging in there. It's unbelievable in this cold! I went and took a photo of it today, as it's right near my front window.

Love,

Rhi

Lydia said...

@Owen- I've been thinking a lot about the 100 years from now thing all day. Your comments were haunting and I thank you for the thoughtful offering.

@Looking to the Stars- I am so glad this struck a chord with you today.
Wishing you a wonderful week ahead.

@Rhi- O, that precious rose. I hope you post the photo of it on your blog if it turns out.
Am really tired tonight so signing off line now. Will come hear your song tomorrow.

Anonymous said...

Hello Lydia,again:)i have a award presend to you my blog,because I want to now you better.It is Chrismas angel.What do you like to live there?

Kim said...

This is a great post. I hope there's enough change in the works to make one hundred years from now a possibility.

Nancy said...

Very cool. I have Autobiography of a Yogi on my bookshelf. Have you read that one?

Let's hope some real changes will come out of Copenhagen.

Lydia said...

@Kata- Thank you! I will come to your blog to see the angel.
I think you asked what I like about where I live. I like living close to the ocean and the mountains. I like Oregon's forests and high desert. It is a beautiful place. :)

@Kim- You expressed my hopes exactly, Kim. Seems impossible to believe sometimes that we know this time in the history of the planet...

@Nancy- Why, no, I have not read that book. Here goes another on my list for 2010.
Yes, strong hopes for Copenhagen...

Anonymous said...

The poem is so wonderful... And you selected a perfect one for the perfect time... I wonder if the poem was originally written in English or Bengali... As far I know that the most of his works are written in Bengali language... I had the opportunity to visit one of his adobe named "kuthibari" which is situated in Kustia (A district of Bangladesh). It has a pond nearby and a river too which is no so far away... The Poet used to write poem sitting beside that pond and at the bank of that river. He passed many days at that place.

Lisa Nanette Allender said...

What I find sooo disheartening are the folks who actually believe Climate-Change does Not exist--or that it is a "small matter". It's tragic that people(usually fundamentalist/right-wing)are in such denial...
And a shame that hacked e-mails with professors and researchers venting got twisted into "manipulation", by the press. A liberal press, indeed.
Interesting how they "got leaked" just before the big conference in Copenhagen. Surely it is no "coincidence".

Lydia said...

@Riyadh- It is extremely special to have you comment about Tagore's poem and to provide additional information about him and the kuthibari that you visited! Do you think any of his poetry was published in English? I just assumed not...

@Lisa- Yes, that there are those in denial about this most important of all issues seems to run counter to our very humanity.
(Good point about the "liberal" press running with that story...)

Anonymous said...

You can see the pictures of Kuthibari in one of my Facebook photo album named "Journey to Kustia". Actually I don't have clear conception about that. As far I can recollect he passed many days in abroad... That's why I thought he might have done some works in English too.

ShareThis

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails