When The Heart Is Hard by Rabindranath Tagore (Text & Summary)

 

When The Heart Is Hard

by Rabindranath Tagore

(Text & Summary) 

In this poem, Tagore prays God for divine enlightenment and inspiration. He compares himself to hard and parched land and God's mercy to a shower of rain that brings relief to a drought affected area. He compares God's grace to a burst of song that instantly brings a smile and happiness to man. Tagore glorifies God as that supreme power that can bring peace and rest even in the midst of loud noisy sounds and violet commotion.

The song is a prayer of needy man who prays for the warmth and care of his Father and whose parched-up heart is craving for spiritual courage and mind needs the peace.

 

When The Heart Is Hard

When the heart is hard and parched up, come upon me with a shower of mercy.

When grace is lost from life, come with a burst of song.

When tumultuous work raises its din on all sides shutting me out from beyond, come to me, my lord of silence, with thy peace and rest.

When my beggarly heart sits crouched, shut up in a corner, break open the door, my king, and come with the ceremony of a king.

When desire blinds the mind with delusion and dust, thou holy one, thou wakeful, come with thy light and thy thunder.

 

This is the Gitanjali Poem no. 39. In this poem, Tagore prays for divine inspiration and asks God to bless him and to shower his love upon him. He says, that when his heart becomes hard, cruel and dry of all charm, he calls upon God to come with a song as an inspiration. He prays God for His silence, peace and rest when he is disturbed by loud annoying noises on all sides.

Tagore says, that when he sits alone, locked up in a corner then he calls upon God to come to him like a king. Tagore calls upon God to come to him with thunder and lightning and wake him up when his worldly desires had thrown him into hazy confusion. The thunder would warn the poet and then His lightening would enlighten the poet.