I Thought That My Voyage Had Come to Its End by Rabindra Nath Tagore (Poem & Summary)

 

I Thought That My Voyage Had Come to Its End

by Rabindra Nath Tagore

(Poem & Summary) 

This is the 37^th song of Gitanjali. In this song, Tagore expresses his belief in God and his belief that his art rest on God's grace.

 

I Thought That My Voyage Had Come to Its End

I thought that my voyage had come to its end at the last limit of my power, ⎯ that the path before me was closed, that provisions were exhausted and the time come to take shelter in a silent obscurity.

But I find that thy will knows no end in me. And when old words die out on the tongue, new melodies break forth from the heart; and where the old tracks are lost, new country is revealed with its wonders.

 

Tagore, in this poem, tells his readers how God inspires him to sing new songs when his old ones are exhausted. He, at one point, thought that his life's journey and his power had come to an end. He felt that the road before him had closed and therefore it was now time to take shelter in death.

The poet, then realizes that the power given by God in him has not died. Even if his old songs die out, new songs, new melodies come forth from his heart, just like when an old road come to an end and are lost, we find that we have come to a new country and we marvel at its wonders.