I Came Out Alone by Rabindranath Tagore (Text & Summary)

 

I Came Out Alone

by Rabindranath Tagore

(Text & Summary) 

This is the 30^th song of Tagore’s Gitanjali. In this poem, Tagore talks about how his pride and ego stops him from his attempt to find total communion with God. The message that Tagore wishes to convey is that this pride and ego need to be given up in order that man can fulfill his quest for spiritual salvation.

 

I Came Out Alone on My Way

I came out alone on my way to my tryst. But who is this that follows me in the silent dark?

I move aside to avoid his presence but I escape him not.

He makes the dust rise from the earth with his swagger; he adds his loud voice to every word that I utter.

He is my own little self, my lord, he knows no shame; but I am ashamed to come to thy door in his company.

 

In this poem, Tagore talks about pride and worldly attachments stopping him from coming into God's presence. He says, in the voice of the beloved, that he had gone to meet his lover God at the appointed place but then he saw that some body was following him silently in the dark. This other person adds his loud voice to every word that the poet utters. The poet says, that this other person, following him is his own self, his own inner pride and ego and this part of his self has no shame. The poet, addresses God that he is ashamed to come into God's presence with his pride.