Once I suddenly found
In the fading light of an auspicious twilight
Death’s right hand is intertwined
Around the shoulder of life
They are tied with a blood-red bridal knot
I recognized them both -
I saw death the bride
Is taking the supreme gift from her groom life
To carry it beyond eternal time.
Translation of poem 37 from the collection Rogshajyay (In Sick Bed) by Rabindranath Tagore. Written at Udayan, Santiniketan, in the morning on 4th December, 1940, a few months before the poet’s death in August 1941. To fully appreciate how a seer’s vision has been expressed in supreme poetry one has to read this marvelous poem in the original at http://www.rabindra-rachanabali.nltr.org/node/12976
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