My Desires Are Many by Rabindranath Tagore (Summary)

 

My Desires Are Many

by Rabindranath Tagore

(Summary)

 

This lyric talks about desires and man's state when God refuses to grant his desires. God knows what is good for man and in refusing, He is merciful and not cruel. God makes, man strong and teaches him how to attain purification from worldly desires.

 

My Desires Are Many

My desires are many and my cry is pitiful,

but ever didst thou save me by hard refusals;

and this strong mercy has been wrought into my life

through and through.

 

Day by day thou art making me worthy of the simple,

great gifts that thou gavest to me unasked;

this sky and the light, this body and the life and the mind

saving me from perils of overmuch desire.

 

There are times when I languidly linger

and times when I awaken and hurry in search of my goal;

but cruelly thou hidest thyself from before me.

 

Day by day thou art making me worthy of thy full acceptance

by refusing me ever and anon,

saving me from perils of weak, uncertain desire.

 

Summary

The idea conveyed, in this lyric, is how God, by not granting our wishes, has shown his mercy. Tagore says, that he has many desires and he cries pitifully to God for their fulfillment. But then by not granting his wishes, God has saved him from these desires and now God's strong mercy has become an integral part of his life.

Then the poet says, that God has also granted him many gifts though he has not asked for them and God is slowly making him worthy of His gifts. These gifts include the sky and the light, his human body, a mind and the spirit of life. Through these simple gifts God has saved him, from the dangers that a man is prey to, due to the vice of desiring too much.

The poet says, that in his search for God, his goal is to reach God but the goal is never fulfilled because God has hidden Himself from the poet's sight and he finds that in this, God is being cruel.

Tagore again says, that God by refusing to grant his wishes, strengthens him and makes him worthy of receiving God's full acceptance. God does so slowly day by day, and saves the poet from the dangers of uncertain desires.