# LIII explained — Gitanjali

> Chapter companion for Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore.

## What happens

The poet contrasts the beauty of a jeweled wristlet with the far greater beauty of the divine sword, which embodies power, terror, and the ecstasy of sacrifice.

## Themes in this chapter

### Beauty of the Ordinary and Nature

The wristlet's beauty is acknowledged but surpassed by the sword's natural and cosmic imagery.

### Death and Immortality

The sword is linked to the final stroke of death and the ecstasy of pain, suggesting transcendence.

## Character check-ins

### The Poet

The speaker who admires and contrasts the divine ornaments and sword.

### The Divine

Addressed as 'lord of thunder,' possessor of the beautiful yet terrible sword.

## Key lines

> Beautiful is thy wristlet, decked with stars and cunningly wrought in myriad-coloured jewels. But more beautiful to me thy sword with its curve of lightning like the outspread wings of the divine bird of Vishnu, perfectly poised in the angry red light of the sunset.

Your jeweled bracelet is lovely, but your lightning-shaped sword, like Vishnu's eagle, is even more beautiful in the sunset's red glow.

_Contrast between ornamental beauty and the beauty of divine power._

> It quivers like the one last response of life in ecstasy of pain at the final stroke of death; it shines like the pure flame of being burning up earthly sense with one fierce flash.

The sword trembles like life's final joyful cry at death, and blazes like a pure fire that consumes all earthly desires.

_The sword symbolizes the ecstatic and purifying nature of death._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/gitanjali_se/chapters/liii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/gitanjali_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/gitanjali_se/chapters