Epigrams
By Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore was born in Calcutta, India into a wealthy family. As a teenager, he attempted to study law in London, but he decided to return to India and instead pursue a career as a writer, philosopher, and educator. He achieved some success by the age of 51 in his native of Calcutta through his poetry, songs, and plays. He returned to England for the first time since leaving in 1878 and decided to begin translating his poetry into English. He encountered an artist friend who he had met back in India, Rothenstein, and with much persuasion shared his poetry. Upon reading his friend's poetry, Rothenstein talked his friend W.B. Yeats into reading the works of Tagore in a hand-written notebook and later that year, Gitanjali was published in a limited edition by the India Society of London. He quickly became an instant sensation among London's literary circles and the world. He had a strong spiritual presence, his words evoked beauty, and his poetry was unheard of. The opportunity to peer into the mysticism of Indian culture through his words was revealed to the West for the first time in history. In less than a year, he would be nominated and would ultimately win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913.

I will close my door to shut out all possible errors.
"But how am I to enter in?" cried Truth.
"I obey not law, I am free!"—this is the boast of Dream.
Truth says sadly to him, "That is why thou art false."
Dream says, "Truth is bound in an endless chain of necessity."
Truth says, "That is why I am perfectly true."
Favor complains, "I give but never receive."
Mercy says, "I give, but never ask."
Thou in the ditch hast an unlimited supply of mud,
But what has he who walks above thee?
The wasp murmured in contempt: "How ludicrously small are the honeycombs the bees make!" "Try to make a honeycomb still smaller," said the bee.
"What costly preparations are for me," says the canal;
"Rivers come rushing without ever being asked." "Sir Canal," say his courtiers to him, "The poor rivers are made only to supply you with water."
The First takes the hand of the Last in a frank friendship.
The Second keeps proudly aloof.
The Echo always mocks the sound—to conceal that she is he debtor.