Featured Poems

Featured Poem: ‘I thought that my voyage had come to its end’ by Rabindranath Tagore

Written by Rachael Norris, 6th June 2022

Today’s Featured Poem is 'I thought that my voyage had come to its end' by Rabindranath Tagore read by The Reader's Teaching and Learning Coordinator, Lisa.

This poem is featured twice on The Reader Bookshelf for 2022-23 - it's in the anthology Through the Corridors of Light: Poems of Consolation in Time of Illness, edited by John Andrew Denny, as well as in Gitanjali, a collection of poems by the author, Rabindranath Tagore, which have been translated from the original Bengali. I find that it speaks to me because we've all had experiences in life where we think we've been at 'the last limit of my power', be it over something big and challenging, or maybe on a day or week where lots of little things add up and make us feel like we can't deal with any further pressures. Yet there's hope to be found here, mostly in an inner reserve of strength and persistence that comes from 'thy will'.

I also really like that the new is always lying in wait here, ready to come to light after what has previously been has passed. Perhaps we're not even aware of these new and different melodies and destinations until we are faced with a challenge, change to be gone through or an obstacle to overcome. It gives me comfort to know that, quite often in life, good things can emerge from difficulty.

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.

Rabindranath Tagore