Prisoner, Tell Me, Who Was It by Rabindranath Tagore (Text & Summary)

 

Prisoner, Tell Me, Who Was It

by Rabindranath Tagore

(Text & Summary) 

This is the poem no 31 of Gitanjali. In the poem, Tagore speaks of the chains of the worldly wealth, power and possessions. Man's soul is a prisoner in his own body, a prisoner of his pride and vanity. He assumes that the power of this wealth will make him greater than everybody in God's eyes. Tagore wants to say, that man is meant to serve his spirit, his soul and not just his body. Man needs to free himself from all pride and greed in order to come into God's presence.

 

Prisoner, Tell Me, Who Was It That Bound You?

"Prisoner, tell me, who was it that bound you?"

"It was my master," said the prisoner.

"I thought I could outdo everybody in the world in wealth and power, and I amassed in my own treasure-house the money due to my king. When sleep overcame me I lay upon the bed that was for my lord, and on waking up I found I was a prisoner in my own treasure-house."

"Prisoner, tell me who was it that wrought this unbreakable chain?"

"It was I," said the prisoner, "who forged this chain very carefully. I thought my invincible power would hold the world captive leaving me in a freedom undisturbed. Thus night and day I worked at the chain with huge fires and cruel hard strokes. When at last the work was done and the links were complete and unbreakable, I found that it held me in its grip."

 

In this poem Tagore talks about the conflict between the two opposing parts of man. The poet addresses the prisoner, the soul caught within the body and questions him as to who had imprisoned him. The soul answers, that his lord and master God had imprisoned him. He had thought that with great wealth and power he would be able to excel over all else and others. Therefore, he amassed a lot of wealth and when tired he felt asleep at the place assigned for God and therefore when he woke up, he found that God had imprisoned him in a physical body and the physical world.

The poet further questions the imprisoned soul who was it that had made his unbreakable chain that bound the soul. The soul answers that he himself had created the chain thinking that with this he would be able to gain greater power and live in freedom, but after having made the chain, he found that he himself was bound by this chain.