I Must Launch Out My Boat by Rabindra Nath Tagore (Text & Summary)

I Must Launch Out My Boat

by Rabindra Nath Tagore

(Text & Summary)

This lyric talks about the poet's longing for his union with God and about his waiting for death. Tagore says he must start his voyage soon. He is sorry for his lazy hours on the shore. The poet then says that spring has come, flowered and gone. The poet's youth has gone. He is like those wilted flowers, that cannot be offered in prayer. He is moving towards death and then a union with God.

I Must Launch Out My Boat

I must launch out my boat. The languid hours pass by on the shore ⎯ Alas for me!

The spring has done its flowering and taken leave. And now with the burden of faded futile flowers I wait and linger.

The waves have become clamorous, and upon the bank in the shady lane the yellow leaves flutter and fall.

What emptiness do you gaze upon!

Do you not feel a thrill passing through the air with the notes of the far away song floating from the other shore?

Summary

In this poem Tagore presents a picture of a man/himself waiting to go to God's presence. He has been waiting for this moment of union for a long time. On the shore, he was waiting to launch his boat. The soul has to cross the sea of eternity to reach God. The poet compares himself to a flower who having flowered in spring is now faded and can no longer be used in worship. He is now old and about to die and has not yet started his voyage. He knows that his death and divine union with God is near because the waves are rising and making noises which means it is the right time for him to launch his boat. Yellow leaves falling down indicate the autumn of his life. The waves are calling him. Tagore asks himself to launch his boat and to start his journey soon. He asks himself if he doesn't feel a thrill of joy upon hearing the song calling him from the distant other shore.

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