Rabindranath Tagore

Name: The Cycle of Spring
Author: Rabindranath Tagore

Summary

“The Cycle of Spring”, is a work by Rabindranath Tagore. It explores elements such as quatrains, Sruti-bhushan and Dada.

Quotes from The Cycle of Spring (Rabindranath Tagore)

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ We came out to capture somebody, but now we feel the longing to be captured ourselves.
Ah, here comes the Minstrel. Where have you brought us? The breath of the wayfaring world touches us here,—the breath of the starry sky.
We came seeking a new form of play. But now we have forgotten what play it was.
We wanted to catch the Old Man.
And everybody said that he was terrifying, a bodiless head, a gaping mouth, a dragon eager to swallow the moon of the youth of the world. But now we are no longer afraid. The flowers go, the leaves go, the waves in the river go, and we shall also follow them. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ King, it is we alone who can truly bear those sufferings, because we are like the river that flows on in gladness, thus lightening our burden, and the burden of the world. But the hard, metalled road is fixed and never-changing. And so it makes the burden more burdensome. The heavy loads groan and creak along it, and cut deep gashes in its breast. We Poets call to every one to carry all their joys and sorrows lightly, in a rhythmic measure. Our call is the Renouncers' call.
Ah, Poet, now I don't care a straw for Sruti-bhushan. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ Yes, the very dust of the earth is tingling with youth, and yet there's not a single touch of Spring in the whole of Dada's body. [45]
Dada
Oh, do stop this fooling. What a nuisance you are making of yourselves! We aren't children any longer.
Chandra
Dada, the age of this earth is scarcely less than yours; and yet it is not ashamed to look fresh.
Dada, you are always struggling with those quatrains of yours, full of advice that is as old as death, while the earth and the water are ever striving to be new.
Dada, how in the world can you go on writing verses like that, sitting in your den? ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ But we shall crown you, Dada, with a crown of new leaves.
We shall put a garland of jasmine round your neck.
And there will be no one else except ourselves who will know your true worth.
The Song of the Festival of Spring
[In which all the persons of the drama, not excepting Sruti-bhushan, unite on the main stage in the dance of Spring.]
Come and rejoice, for April is awake.
[134] Fling yourselves into the flood of being, bursting the bondage of the past.
April is awake.
Life's shoreless sea is heaving in the sun before you.
All the losses are lost, and death is drowned in its waves. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ There is life in my song, which cries, "In joy and in sorrow, in work and in rest, in life and in death, in victory and in defeat, in this world and in the next, all hail to the 'I exist.'"
Well, Poet, I can assure you, if your play hasn't got any philosophy in it, it won't pass muster in these days.
That's true, King. The newer people, of this modern age, are more eager to amass than to realize. They are, in their generation, wiser than the children of light. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ Well, Poet, what do you want to do now?
King, I'm going to have a race through those cries, which are rising outside your gate.
What do you mean? Famine relief is for men of business. Poets oughtn't to have anything to do with things like that.
King, business men always make their business so out of tune. That is why we Poets hasten to tune it.
Now come, my dear Poet, do speak in plainer language. [24]
King, they work, because they must. We work, because we are in love with life. That is why they condemn us as unpractical, and we condemn them as lifeless. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ It is not those who have plunged deep down into the Pundit's Ocean of Renunciation, nor those who are always clinging to their possessions; it is not those who have [25] become adepts in turning out quantities of work, nor those who are ever telling the dry beads of duty,—it is not these who win at last. But it is those who love, because they live. These truly win, for they truly surrender. They accept pain with all their strength and with all their strength they remove pain. It is they who create, because they know the secret of true joy, which is the secret of detachment. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ When we are out for adventure, we must leave behind all fears, all quatrains, all Pundits, and all Scriptures.
(They sing.)
We are out on our way
And we fear not the Robber, the Old Man.
Our path is straight, it is broad,
[63] Our burden is light, for our pocket is bare,
Who can rob us of our folly?
For us there is no rest, nor ease, nor praise, nor success,
We dance in the measure of fortune's rise and fall,
We play our game, or win or lose,
And we fear not the Robber.
[65]
ACT II SONG-PRELUDE [Spring's Heralds try to rob Winter of his outfit of age.] ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ And yet you have been reading my poems all this while!—There is renunciation in our words, renunciation in the metre, renunciation in our music. That is why fortune always forsakes us; and we, in turn always forsake fortune. We go about, all day long, initiating the youths in the sacred cult of fortune-forsaking. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ But, Poet, do you really mean to say that the highway of the open world is the pathway of renunciation? [20]
Why not, King? In the open world all is change, all is life, all is movement. And he who ever moves and journeys with this life-movement, dancing and playing on his flute as he goes, he is the true Renouncer. He is the true disciple of the minstrel Poet. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ What do you mean, Poet?
The youth of these middle-aged people is a youth of detachment. They have just crossed the waters of pleasure, and are in sight of the land of pure gladness. They don't want to eat fruit, but to produce it. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ In flood of flowers,
In unseen urge of new life towards the light.
Its stirring thrills the sky, and the silence of the dawn is moved.
Morning
[The rear stage is now darkened. On the main stage, bright, enter a band of youths whose number may be anything between three and thirty. They sing.] [43]
The fire of April leaps from forest to forest,
Flashing up in leaves and flowers from all nooks and corners.
The sky is thriftless with colours,
The air delirious with songs. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ Song of the Bamboo
O South Wind, the Wanderer, come and rock me,
Rouse me into the rapture of new leaves.
I am the wayside bamboo tree, waiting for your breath
To tingle life into my branches.
O South Wind, the Wanderer, my dwelling is in the end of the lane.
I know your wayfaring, and the language of your footsteps.
Your least touch thrills me out of my slumber,
Your whisper gleans my secrets.
(Enter a troop of girls, dancing, representing birds.) [41]
Song of the Bird
The sky pours its light into our hearts,
We fill the sky with songs in answer. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ We shall never stir one step outside the limit of the Pundit's Scriptures.
What a mistake we made. We thought that moving itself was something heroic.
But really not to move, that is heroic, because it is defying the whole moving world.
Brave rebels that we are, we shall not move. We shall have the audacity to sit still, and never move an inch.
"Life and youth are fleeting," the Scripture says. Let life and youth go to the dogs, we shall not move. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ We have never gazed upon the earth before with such intentness.
When we run forward at full speed, our eyes keep gazing in front of us, and we see nothing on either side of us.
If things did not move on and vanish, we should see no beauty anywhere.
If youth had only the heat of movement, it would get parched and withered. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ Chandra
But, Ferryman, you promised to come out with us. Yet, if once Dada [82] begins to quote his quatrains, there will be——
Ferryman
Go along with you. None of your madness here. We are fortunate now in having met our master. Let us improve the occasion with good words. We are all of us getting old. Who knows when we shall die?
All the more reason why you should cultivate our company.
Chandra
You can always find another Dada. But when once we are dead, God will never repeat the blunder of another absurdity like us again. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ Your Majesty, Sruti-bhushan knows its value to a farthing. Come, Sruti-bhushan, make haste. Let us collect all the wealth you need for your Treasury of Devotion. For wealth has the ugly habit of diminishing fast. If we are not quick about it, little will remain to enable us to observe our renunciation with all splendour.
Yes, Vizier, let us go at once. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ I don't know where that blind Minstrel has landed us at last.
It seems as though these stars in [109] the sky above us are the gazing of countless eyes we met in all forgotten ages. It seems as if, through the flowers, there came the whisper of those we have forgotten, saying Remember us.
Our hearts will break if we do not sing. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ Chandra
It means this song.
(They sing.)
We move and move without rest,
[75] We move while the wanderers' stars shine in the sky and fade.
We play the tune of the road
While our limbs scatter away the laughter of movement,
And our many-coloured mantle of youth flutters about in the air. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ Your drama and your songs,—have they different subjects, or the same?
The same, King. The play of Spring in nature is the counterpart of the play of Youth in our lives. It is simply from the lyrical drama of the World Poet that I have stolen this plot.
Who, then, are the chief characters?
One is called the Leader.
Who is he, Poet? [37]
He is the guiding impulse in our life. Another is Chandra.
Who is he?
He who makes life dear to us.
And who else?
Then there is Dada, to whom duty is the essence of life, not joy.
Is there any one else?
Yes, the blind Minstrel. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ Chandra
But surely, Dada, you are talking nonsense. Time itself is Play. Its only object is Pas-time.
Dada
Then what is Work? [53]
Chandra
Work is the dust raised by the passing of Time.
Dada
Leader, you must give us your answers.
Leader
No. I never give answers. I lead on from one question to another. That is my leadership.
Dada
Everything else has its limits, but your childishness is absolutely unbounded.
Do you know the reason? It is because we are really nothing but children. And everything else has its limitations except the child.
Dada
Won't you ever attain Age? ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ Do you own defeat at the hand of youth?
Yes.
Have you met at last the ageless Old, who ever grows new?
Yes.
[105] Have you come out of the walls that crumble and bury those whom they shelter?
Yes.
(Another group sings.)
Do you own defeat at the hands of life?
Yes.
Have you passed through death to stand at last face to face with the Deathless?
Yes.
Have you dealt the blow to the demon dust, that swallows your city Immortal?
Yes.
(Spring's flowers surround him and sing.)
The Song of Fresh Beauty
We waited by the wayside counting moments till you appeared in the April morning. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ First Youth
What did he look like?
Oilman
Black. More black than our brother here, the Watchman. Black as night, with two eyes on his breast shining like two glow-worms.
That won't suit us. That would be awkward for our Spring Festival.
Chandra
We shall have to change our date from the full moon to the dark moon. [85] For the dark moon has no end of eyes on her breast.
Watchman
But I warn you, my friends, you are not doing wisely.
No, we are not.
We are found out again. We never do anything wisely. It is contrary to our habit. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ And Sruti-bhushan? Shall I ask him?
No, King, no. Decidedly, no. I have no grudge against him. Why should I inflict this on him?
Very well, Poet. Off with you. Make your stage preparations.
No, King. We are going to act this play without any special preparations. Truth looks tawdry when she is overdressed.
But, Poet, there must be some canvas for a background.
No. Our only background is the mind. On that we shall summon [35] up a picture with the magic wand of music.
Are there any songs in the play?
Yes, King. The door of each act will be opened by the key of song. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ Ah, that was fine.—Dada goes to read his quatrains to the village people, and Chandra has disappeared,—for what purpose nobody knows.
Minstrel
He said, "Men have always been fighting for a cause. It is the shock of that, which ruffles the breeze of this Spring."
The shock?
Minstrel
Yes, the message that man's fight is not yet over. [115]
Is this the message of Spring?
Minstrel
Yes. Those, who have been made immortal by death, have sent their message in these fresh leaves of Spring. It said, "We never doubted the way. We never counted the cost: we rushed out: we blossomed. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ The best way to disperse the famished people is with food, not force.
(Guard enters.)
May it please Your Royal Highness.
What's the matter, Guard?
May it please Your Royal Highness, here is Sruti-bhushan, the Pundit, coming back with his Book of Devotions.
Oh, stop him, Vizier, stop him. He will undo everything. Don't let him come upon me unawares like this. In a moment of weakness, I may suddenly find myself out of my depths in the Ocean of Renunciation. Poet! Don't give me time for that. Do something. Do anything. Have you got anything ready to hand? Any play toward? Any poem? Any masque? ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ Has that made Chandra mad?
Minstrel
He said——
(The Minstrel sings.)
The Spring flowers have woven my wreath of victory,
The South wind breathes its breath of fire in my blood.
The voice of the house-corner wails in vain from behind.
[116] Death stands before me, offering its crown.
The tempest of youth sweeps the skyharp with its fingers ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ See that the rich province of Kanchanpur is settled on the Pundit.—What's the matter now outside there? What are they crying for?
If it please Your Majesty, it is the people.
Why do they cry so repeatedly? ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ Sruti-bhushan, what is my Vizier whispering to you?
He tells me, King, to instruct you in the ways of fortune. [10]
What instruction can you give?
There is a verse in my book of devotions which runs as follows:
Fortune, as fickle as lotus-flower,
Closes her favours when comes the hour.
Oh, foolish man, how can you trust her,
Who comes of a sudden, and goes in a fluster?
Ah, Pundit. One breath of your teaching blows out the false flame of ambition. Our teacher has said:
"Teeth fall out, hair grows grey ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ Truth looks tawdry when she is overdressed. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ They are all within. In the heart of the white dwell all the colours of the rainbow.
Oh, Poet, do be quiet. You disturb me when you talk like that.
King, if this youth fades, let it fade. Another Queen of Youth is coming. And she is putting a garland of pure white jasmines round your head, in order to be your bride. The [18] wedding festival is being made ready, behind the scene.
Oh, dear, Poet. You will undo everything. Do go away. Ho there, Guard. Go at once and call Sruti-bhushan.
What will you do with him, King, when he comes?
I will compose my mind, and practise my renunciation. ”

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Source: Gutenberg

Rabindranath Tagore, The Cycle of Spring

“ King, Vizier, General (Bijoy Varma)
Chinese Ambassador, Pundit (Sruti-bhushan)
Poet (Kabi-shekhar) , Guards, Courtiers, Herald
The stage is on two levels: the higher, at the back, for the Song-preludes alone, concealed by a purple curtain; the lower only being discovered when the drop goes up. Diagonally across the extreme left of the lower stage, is arranged the king's court, with various platforms, for the various dignitaries ascending to the canopied throne. [2] The body of the stage is left free for the "Play" when that develops. ”

Rabindranath Tagore

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Quotes from The Cycle of Spring (Rabindranath Tagore)

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